Getting Frisky With Ace-Queen Versus Erik Seidel
Here is another hand from the very first level of the $10,000 buy-in World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic — a "freezeout" event (i.e., no re-entry). This one involved me playing versus the Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel, winner of eight World Series of Poker bracelets and more than $32 million lifetime in tournaments.
With the blinds 50/100, the action began with Seidel opening for 250 from early position. It folded to me in the cutoff where I'd been dealt A♣Q♠.
Here I could have either called or three-bet. Considering how it was a freezeout event in which I tend to be a little more aggressive early, I reraised to 700. Andy Frankenberger was in the big blind and he decided to cold-call the reraise, then Seidel made it 3,350 to go.
As I talk about in the video below, at this point I know ace-queen isn't strong enough with which just to call, meaning I could either fold or reraise again as a bluff. I made it 6,000 (too small, looking back). Frankenberger folded and Seidel called.
The flop came 7♣5♣2♠ and Seidel checked. I bet 4,500 and Seidel called, bringing the pot close to 22,000. The turn was the 3♣ and Seidel checked once more.
At this point Seidel had just about the size of the pot behind and I had a little more. See what I chose to do and hear my explanation for why I did:
In this case after turning the nut flush draw, I decided to go for maximum fold equity. No one wants to go broke early in a major event without a premium hand!
Jonathan Little is a professional poker player and author with over $6,400,000 in live tournament earnings. He writes a weekly educational blog and hosts a podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittle.
