We are going to look at a classic battle with Tom Dwan and Phil Hellmuth facing off in a 4-Bet Pot on Poker After Dark.
Preflop Action
Eli Elezra: Opens from the Cut Off for $1,400 with K♠ 9♣
Phil Hellmuth: 3-Bets from the Button to $5,400 with 9♥ 7♠
Tom Dwan: Cold 4-Bets from the Small Blind to $16,100 with J♥ T♥
Everyone else then folds and the action is back to Hellmuth, who defends with his 9♥ 7♠ and takes a flop in position.
Let’s take a look at this action
Eli has a fine open from the Cut Off, K9o is a fairly playable hand from that position, however, the Hellmuth’s range starts to get a little questionable, choosing to 3-Bet even with the button with 97o is a bit wide. If we are in Hellmuth’s seat we will have many better hands to 3-Bet Eli’s raises throughout the game, something a little more playable is going to be desirable, even hands like T9s or 98s but 97o is a little below par and not going to be very playable.
Then it’s over to Tom Dwan, who probably is just taking the spot versus what is a visibly rattled Hellmuth… Making the 4-Bet with his JTs. This is a good move in my eyes, we are going to want to play this holding a decent amount of the time, so I think out of position it’s a good line to take by grabbing the reigns and getting hold of the betting lead and pushing the other players out of the pot.
Tom is going to have a balanced 4-Betting range with having hands like JTs in his arsenal of hands, he would also do this with say TT+ AQs+ so adding in hands like JTs and A5s is a good way to balance out his range to get action in the long run.
Off to the Flop
With just Hellmuth calling the 4-Bet of Tom Dwan it’s off to the flop…
T♦ Q♥ 7♦
A decent flop for Tom, flopping second pair with a backdoor flush and straight draw, what is the best way to continue for him here… Well he wants to realise his equity and he is out of position, so bloating the pot at this point makes no sense, he is never going to get 3 streets of action from a hand that he is beating, even from a titled Hellmuth.
So he decides to check it over to Phil, who has hit a piece of the board too with bottom pair, he also elects to check behind and we are off to see a turn card…
The Turn
The T♠ Hits the turn, an action card for Tom giving him trips on the board of T♦ Q♥ 7♦ T♠
So now Tom starts going for some value, betting out around 80% Pot with $27,600 which is a decent plan for his hand, however in the long term if he only does this with a value hand like hands with trips or better his checking range on the turn will be very weak in the long run and could be exploited, so it’s always good to mix in some strong checks in the long term so you won’t always be weak when you are checking.
However, in the game, Tom goes for a bet versus the tilted Hellmuth…
And Hellmuth thinking his usual game plan of everyone is always trying to outplay him makes the call, which isn’t too bad, he does have two pair which is a good bluff catcher against some of Tom’s holdings however it’s hard to see Tom showing up here with a hand like KJ, AJ or AK here too often especially with his Bet sizing, those holdings if looking to delayed C-bet would probably bet smaller looking to buy a cheap river card.
The River
The blankest River card hits with the 5♠ and Tom goes for it all Betting $119,975 into the pot of $89,500. A slight overbet of around 1.25x the Pot.
This is Hellmuth’s time to shine, trying to be a hero here and catch Tom with some huge bluff, he ends up making this huge call and losing a massive pot. However, should he call here?
Lets look at some hands Phil could have in this spot, he could have QK, AQ, AT, KT, T9, QQ, KK, AA all in his range that he might check back a flop with that would have a decent chance of winning the pot on the river, so I think being able to fold all his 7x that he gets to the river with is a fairly easy decision.
Tom would have to be turning a hand of some value like Ace-high into a bluff, as the only other natural bluffs that show up on the river are hands like J9 and KJ, however, it’s hard to see those hands not taking a stab on the flop, keeping the betting lead.
So this is a Hero call gone wrong, but sometimes players will make this type of play just to try and keep their most aggressive opponents in line. Some players will not be thinking in terms of what other hands will I have in my range on this river that could make better calls? Or How high up in my range am I?
Instead, they will just think, he bets too much, he can’t always have a real hand… However, taking a stand against players like this with hands like 97o is a bad move, we are going to want to tighten up our ranges against players that are putting in light 4-Bets and combat it with a more solid range than them to have an advantage or look to take some of our holdings and 5-Bet bluff with them.
Looking for a new Poker Site?
Get $30 free SPINS when you Sign up Today with PartyPoker!
PartyPoker has some amazing games on offer, with great cash games and tournaments alike, there is something for everyone here.
A great site if you are looking to put in some volume, offering 40% Rakeback and a great sign-up bonus and having amazing cash games including a Fast-Fold game, Six Plus Hold’em games along with PLO offerings.