Hand Analysis: 'I Got a Bit Out of Line' Says Chris Moorman
"I got a bit out of line, I guess," says 888poker Ambassador Chris Moorman when breaking down a hand he recently played at the 888poker Live Barcelona Festival.
As he explains in the video below, the hand illustrates the value of paying attention both to players' betting patterns and their demeanor, and how it's possible to take advantage and even make unorthodox plays when it's clear you can use aggression to force less savvy opponents to give up pots.
The hand took place on during one of the Day 1 flights of the Main Event at what Moorman describes as a table mostly full of solid players.
One who was perhaps less obviously strong limped in (as he had been doing), then the player in the small blind raised 4.5x indicating he likely had a good hand. Next to act in the big blind, Moorman looked down at 8-8.
"Being that it's 888, I have to call 'cause I'm going to hit a set, right?" grins Moorman. He did call, as did the limper.
The flop came A-Q-6 with two hearts, with Moorman holding the 8♥. The small blind checked, and Moorman chose to lead out with a bet.
As he explains below, his decision to do so was partly based on his read of the limper as being someone unlikely to slow play any strong hands. The limper called, the small blind folded, and the turn brought another heart, putting three of them on the board and giving Moorman a flush draw to go with his pair of eights.
The limper was relatively short-stacked. What would you do here? Moorman chose to apply pressure and shoved, thinking the limper would perhaps fold even a weak A-x or K-Q.
"Especially in the smaller buy-in tournaments, people just instantly give off they're going to fold if you make a bet," explains Moorman.
Take a look below and hear how things played out. Listen as well to what Moorman says at the end about paying attention when opponents give that impression they'll back down to aggression, thereby making it more reasonable occasionally to "get out of line."
