Was Jamming All-In in the GGMillion$ With Queen-High GTO Approved?
With seven players remaining in the $10,300 GGMillion$ online at GGPoker, Alexander Kirichenko and Aren Bezhanyan clashed in a pot that resulted in Kirichenko jamming all-in on the turn with queen-high and an open-ended straight draw. Was Kirichenko's shove GTO Approved? What about how Bezhanyan played what turned out to be a set of sixes? PokerNews ambassador Lukas Robinson uses the powerful GTO Wizard software to delve into the actions of each player.
Before Robinson casts his eye over the action, let's take a look at how the chips were distributed and the vast sums of money the seven finalists were fighting for.
Blind Levels: 25K/50K - 6K Ante
Stack Sizes and Positions
| Player | Position | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aleks Ponakovs | UTG | 6,706,571 | 134bb |
| Alexander Kirichenko | LJ | 1,276,073 | 25.5bb |
| B Binder | HJ | 1,717,414 | 34.3bb |
| Hinaru | CO | 2,280,746 | 45.6bb |
| Aren Bezhanyan | BTN | 1,670,635 | 33.4bb |
| Adrian Mateos | SB | 1,252,694 | 25.1bb |
| Eric Yanovsky | BB | 2,021,867 | 40.4bb |
Payouts
- 1st: $306,251
- 2nd: $240,126
- 3rd: $188,279
- 4th: $147,627
- 5th: $115,752
- 6th: $90,759
- 7th: $71,163
Pre-flop Action
Alexander Kirichenko opened to 100,000 from the Lojack (LJ) holding Q♥J♣. Aren Bezhanyan called from the button (BTN) with 6♠6♦. Both the small blind and big blind folded, and it was heads-up to the flop.
Post-Flop
Flop (317,000 Pot): 10♠9♦6♥
Action: Kirichenko checked. Bezhanyan bet 130,000. Kirichenko raised to 350,000, and Bezhanyan called.
Turn (1,017,000 Pot): 4♦
Action: Kirichenko moved all-in for 820,073, and Bezhanyan called, his stack covering Kirichenko's.
River (2,657,146 Pot): 8♠
Fortune favoured the brave, this time. While Kirichenko won the hand and Bezhanyan lost, how did both players actually play this hand according to the GTO Wizard solver? Let’s take a closer look.
Pre-flop Analysis
Alexander Kirichenko opened to 100,000 from the LJ holding Q♥J♣. GTO Approved ✔️
LJ Opening Range:
QJo represents the weakest offsuit opening combination from the LJ, while also folding a significant portion of the time.
Aren Bezhanyan called from the BTN with 6♦6♠. GTO Approved ✔️
BTN Range vs LJ 2bb Raise:
Even against a standard LJ opening range, 66 is mostly a call. However, in this hand, the cutoff (CO) is sitting out, which means the LJ could open even wider, making flatting 66 an even more profitable play.
Post-flop Analysis
Flop (317,000 Pot): 10♠9♦6♥
Kirichenko checked the flop. GTO Approved ✔️
The solver recommends mostly checking the range on this board out of position from the LJ. Let’s compare the two ranges to see why.
LJ Range (Left) vs BTN Range (Right)
Above, you can see why the solver recommends a heavy checking strategy from the LJ. On this specific flop, the BTN’s range has the advantage in Expected Value (EV), equity, and overall hand strength, holding a higher percentage of "Best Hands" combinations.
Recommended Strategy and EV for QJo on the flop
Although the solver suggests some low-frequency bets with all QJo combos, checking shows the higher EV overall.
Bezhanyan bet 130,000 on the flop. GTO Approved ✔️
The solver then recommends almost the opposite strategy for the BTN, opting for a near-range stab on this board after an LJ check.
Recommended Strategy and EV for 66 on the flop
The 40% bet sizing chosen by Bezhanyan is perfect with 6♦6♠. Many hands betting for value in the BTN range require significant protection, which is why this sizing is preferred over a smaller size.
Kirichenko raised to 350,000. GTO Disapproved ✖️
The LJ mostly continues with a call against this continuation bet, although hands like KJo and KQo are occasionally used to raise as bluffs on this board.
Recommended Strategy and EV for QJo vs the c-bet from BTN
Some QJo combos can raise, but they mostly prefer the all-in sizing, which is used at a very low frequency. Specifically, Q♥J♣ achieves the highest EV by calling rather than raising. So while Kirichenko wasn’t far off in his play here, the solver suggests using KQo or KJo for this spot instead.
Bezhanyan called the 350,000 raise. GTO Approved ✔️
Some hands do prefer to jam against this raise, mostly 10xXx hands that need protection against draws. Meanwhile, 66 is a pure call on the flop in this spot.
Turn (1,017,000 Pot): 4♦
The Solver Suggested LJ’s turn Range
Since QJo never raises non-all-in on the flop, no combos appear in the turn range. I will therefore nodelock some QJo combos to raise non-all-in on the flop so we can analyse what the solver recommends for these combos on the turn.
Kirichenko moved all-in for 820,073 with Q♥J♣. GTO Approved ✔️
The solver recommends two options for the LJ on the turn with this range: check or go all-in.
Recommended Strategy and EV for QJo on the turn
As shown above, going all-in has a much higher EV than checking. QJo has enough equity when called and also forces many better hands to fold, as illustrated in the BTN’s range below.
Bezhanyan calls the all-in with 6♦6♠. GTO Approved ✔️
66 is an easy call to the all-in, but it’s interesting to see how much of the BTN’s range now has to fold on the turn, which is what makes the all-in play with QJo a +EV decision.
River (2,657,146 Pot): 8♠
Conclusion
Bezhanyan executed the hand flawlessly, lining up with the GTO Wizard solver at every decision point. Kirichenko also played the spot at an elite level, but his one significant deviation: raising the flop c-bet to 350,000 rather than calling, ended up being the biggest EV leak in the hand.
If you want to level up your final table game and learn to play like these two pros, use the link below to download GTO Wizard for free today.
