Tricky Spot with Top Pair for Leo Margets at 888Live Poker Festival
The 888Live Poker Festival São Paulo is well underway at the Casa Bossa - Shopping Cidade Jardim, with both the High Roller and Main Event having begun. Wednesday saw a big turnout for the R$2,500 buy-in High Roller, with the re-entry option still available for those wanting to join in today.
Among those in action in the High Roller yesterday were Sofia Lövgren and Leo Margets. In fact, those two tangled in an interesting hand that ended with Margets being eliminated, and we spoke with the Spanish pro afterwards to discuss how it played out.
With roughly 17,000 chips already in the middle and the board showing Q♠5♠3♥, the small blind checked and then Lövgren bet 6,000 from the big blind. After thinking about it for a bit, Margets moved all in over the top for just over 24,000 chips. The small blind folded, but Lövgren called the shove quickly.
Margets held A♥Q♦ for top pair, but Lövgren had her crushed with K♣K♥. The turn was the 9♥ and the river the K♦, and that was it for Margets. We caught up with her shortly after and talked a bit about the hand as well as what her plans are for the future.
According to Margets, a player opened under the gun to 1,500 and Margets flatted from the button. The small blind came along, then Lövgren made it 4,500 from the big blind.
"She's not squeezing to 4,500 with ace-king," Margets explained. "Or squeezing for the sake of squeezing because she thinks it's a nice spot. She would do it bigger, for sure."
"The [original raiser] folds and I call. I could have folded, but it's so small that I can call," she continued. "And the small blind calls as well. So it's like 17,000 [in the pot], and she bets 6,000. That's 23,000 and I have like 25,000 behind."
There was enough in the middle to put Margets in a difficult spot not wanting to let go of her top pair, top kicker.
"It's just like, 'Ughhhhh, I wanna puke!' and 'Why am I here?' I decided to shove because there was so much money in the pot."
"I guess I also considered calling, but then so many cards can slow the action," explained Margets, alluding to that Q♠5♠3♥ board. "I didn't want spades, or... if a king came. I mean, I guess I could have called, but I thought that it was big enough, the pot."
"I guess she could do the same with jacks or tens," she speculated. "I don't think she doesn't continue, for protection even probably. But then she would've raised more probably pre. So yeah... not super happy with the hand."
For Margets, she thought her biggest mistake was her preflop call. If she can get away from the hand preflop, she doesn't end up in such a tricky situation.
"The problem is that I know Sofia is a good player and she wouldn't be raising that small... squeezing that small unless she had aces, or queens, or kings," Margets said.
"But then sometimes you know, that's live poker. You need to sometimes say I don't give a shit about math. Sometimes you need to see that and say 'she's only doing that with aces or kings, and I'm done.' Because otherwise, you know I have the odds to call pre and then I call and of course I have top pair, top kicker, and there's a flush draw, and the stack-to-pot ratio is almost 1-to-1. But I know she's got aces or kings, right?"
Despite that, Margets was still happy about the tournament, with both the structure and size.
"You never plan busting, but it happens," Margets said about her run in the tournament. "But I liked it. I'm happy that in the end there were quite a few people."
"At the beginning... we were sitting at the same table as Sofia and Tiffany [Michelle], which was kind of fun," she added.
"It was a very good table. I was playing good, [and] running good which is the best. And then we changed tables and I had a couple of tough spots."
It might be a while until we see Margets back on the felt as she's embarking on a new kind of journey.
"I'm not sure when I will play again because I'm starting a new project now in Barcelona," she explained, describing her involvement in a new television show on Catalan TV.
"It's about political debates," Margets said with a wide grin on her face. "I'm going to be kind of analyzing the behaviors of the main guests and asking questions. It's a nice challenge. I've very excited, but [because of the show I'll be] committed to staying in Barcelona on Saturdays, at least for this season."
Margets thinks the next time she plays may not be until the World Series of Poker Europe. She will be finishing out the week here in Brazil though, playing both the Ladies Event and the Main Event.
We'll be staying as well, so be sure to stick with PokerNews this week for more coverage from the 888Live Poker Festival São Paulo.
