Jonathan Little Flops a Marginal Top Pair in a Three-Bet Pot Versus Tuan Le
Here’s another hand from the same World Series of Poker event from which I shared a hand last week, Event #25: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Eight Handed which I managed to final table.
This one comes from a little bit later on Day 1 and presented an interesting situation. After an early position raise I three-bet from the button with A♥10♦. Tuan Le then cold-called my reraise from the big blind, and the original raiser folded.
Whenever someone cold calls your three-bet, you should be concerned that the caller has an incredibly strong range, especially if the caller is a strong player, as Tuan Le is. Even though I flopped top pair, marginal kicker, I do not think I want to put much money in the pot in such a situation.
Fortunately for me, checking both the flop and turn then calling a river bet worked out relatively well this time. Take a look:
I lost some chips, but it could have been much worse. A lot of players lose more in this spot by betting the flop and turn and perhaps even jamming the river, having failed to recognize their opponent’s range — after cold-calling a three-bet from out of position — must be very strong.
How would you have played this hand? Let me know in a comment below.
Jonathan Little is a professional poker player and author with over $6,200,000 in live tournament earnings. He writes a weekly educational blog and hosts a podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittle.
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