avid Benyamine crushed theASHMAN103 in a Hold’em session this weekend thanks in large part, as we’ll see in this edition of the snapshot, to a monster hand at an opportune time.

Players: theASHMAN103 vs. David Benyamine

Game: $200/$400 No-Limit Hold’em, Heads-Up, Full Tilt Poker

Stack Sizes:

Seat 1: David Benyamine $101,681
Seat 2: theASHMAN103 $121,483

(Hand history and stats from MarketPulse Biggest Pots section.)

The Setup

David Benyamine and theASHMAN103 hit the $200/$400 tables on Sunday for four hours of “grueling” heads-up action and it was Benyamine emerging victorious, booking a $241,000 win.

This hand earned him $100,000 of that score. It begins as all heads-up hands do – with a raise from the button. Benyamine brings it in for $1,200 from the button/small blind and theASHMAN103 three-bets to $4,800. Benyamine chooses to flat-call and they see a flop.

On a flop of 5 4 T theASHMAN103 continuation bets $8,300 and Benyamine smooth-calls.

The turn comes K and theASHMAN103 bets $21,900. Benyamine goes into the tank before eventually raising all-in. theASHMAN103 wastes no time in calling off his remaining $66,681.

When the cards are turned over Benyamine has K 3 for a pair and a flush draw and is behind theASHMAN103′s 5 4 for bottom two pair.

The river comes the 2, though, and Benyamine makes a winning king-high flush – good enough for $203,362 and “biggest Hold’em pot of the week” honors.

The Breakdown

Benyamine starts out with a raise off the button to $1,200 with K 3. This hand is obviously not the strongest, but he has the button and the button is always good for a raise heads-up.

theASHMAN103 elects to three-bet to $4,800 from out of position with 5 4. Suited connectors are great three-bet hands. They win big pots when they flop big, and since the stacks are deep there’s even more potential for payoff.

Also, he knows Benyamine is raising the button very light. Thus there is a small chance Benyamine could give up pre-flop.

Benyamine makes the call despite being three-bet when holding a weak hand because he will be in position throughout the rest of the hand. Benyamine knows, due to the big stacks, that if he can hit a big hand he can get paid off a tidy sum.

The flop comes down 5 4 T and theASHMAN103 continuation bets $8,300 with his two pair.

Many players would slow-play in this situation, thinking, “I’ve flopped a monster and need to get paid off now.” This is incorrect.

The correct play is to bet it out. If you three-bet pre-flop you are going to bet the flop normally even if you miss. If you are checking in a situation that you normally bet in, it sets off alarm bells among good players.

You should play your made hands and your bluffs the same way. It makes your play more difficult for your opponent to read.

Benyamine elects to flat-call in position with the second nut-flush draw and an overcard. Most players raise in this spot but Benyamine elects to just call.

He may have feared that theASHMAN103 would reraise his raise. With the stacks so deep, he could be forced to fold, forfeiting his equity in the pot. So he chooses to smooth-call and see a turn card.

The turn brings the K. TheASHMAN103 continues his aggression by firing $21,900. His hand is still likely good against the bulk of Benyamine’s range. He is making this bet for value and hopes Benyamine will pay him off with a worse hand.

Benyamine makes top pair on the turn to go with his flush draw. This is a huge hand heads-up. If theASHMAN103 had top pair or JJ or QQ, Benyamine would now have the best hand.

If, however, Benyamine was still behind, he would still have 14 outs to improve his hand. (In reality he has 16 as the two tens would give him two pair as well.)

Long story short, Benyamine holds a monster and shoves all-in for $88,581.

theASHMAN103′s two pair still figures to be best here a large percentage of the time and he knows that. Thus he makes the call after some thought.

The call turns out to be a good one as theASHMAN103′s two pair is still best. Unfortunately for him, he can’t fade Benyamine’s 14+ outs when the 2 hits the river and the $200k pot is shipped to Mr. Erica Schoenberg.

To try out some heads-up poker yourself, hit up Full Tilt Poker here and take advantage of PLG.com’s exclusive bonus offers.

Source:
Strategy Snapshot: Benyamine Torches Ashman

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