Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 76: Matt Bretzfield Gets Tricky With Aces
Aug 15, 2018
3 min read
Last updated Jun 27, 2019
For the past four days, I've been doing some freelance live reporting at the 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open at Hollywood, Florida's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino . It was there I observed some interesting hands, some of which I'll be covering in this column over the coming weeks starting today with one from the 2018 SHRPO $5,250 Championship .
The tournament drew 914 entries. It was on Day 2 that New York's Matt Bretzfield played a big hand in Level 12 (1,200/2,500/2,500). The hand began when Bretzfield limped under the gun and the player in the hijack raised to 8,000. Carlos Rojas , who began the day with 355,500 in chips, then three-bet to 13,500 from the big blind.
Bretzfield, a pot-limit Omaha cash game grinder who relocated to South Florida in February, woke up with a limp-raise to 38,000. The player in the hijack released his hand, and Rojas called to see a 10♥ K♦ 6♠ flop.
Bretzfield: "He's calling there to either flop a set or see if an ace or king comes."
Rojas checked, Bretzfield bet 75,000, and Rojas paused for a few beats before check-raising all in for 131,500. Bretzfield snap-called.
Bretzfield: A♦ A♠ Q♠ Q♥
Rojas needed some luck for his two ladies, but was left wanting as the 8♦ bricked the turn followed by the 7♦ on the river.
I was curious why Bretzfield slow played the pocket rockets, so I decided to ask him on a break.
"The guy in Seat 8 and the guy in the big blind were consistently raising, very aggressive," he explained. "So I limped hoping the player in the big blind — who came in sixth in chips but had been losing — would raise. He'd been raising every hand. So I limped under the gun and one of the tighter players raised. When it got to Rojas he pretended he wanted to call but actually raised."
He continued: "When it got back to me, I was definitely going to raise. I thought I'd end the hand right there, take the 30K in the pot and increase my stack by 15 percent. I made a big raise, the original raiser folded, and Rojas just smooth-called. I wasn't sure if he was calling out of spite because I raised after he pretended he didn't want to raise."
"When it came king-high I wanted to end the hand. I bet 75K. I was never folding the hand, I was investing myself. When he jammed I thought he might have a set of kings, but he didn't. I don't understand why he played it that way. If he wanted to jam, he should've jammed preflop. He's calling there to either flop a set or see if an ace or king comes. The king is out there and I limp-raised preflop. I'm not doing that with jacks. The minimum I have is ace-king. I think he was more on tilt that anything."
What do you make of this hand? Let me know on Twitter @ChadAHolloway .
Image courtesy SHRPO.
Chad Holloway
PR & Media Manager
PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, host of both the PokerNews Podcast & MPST Podcast Presented By PokerNews, and 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
In this Series
1 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 1: Making Reads and Trusting Them 2 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 2: Playing in Poker Charity Events 3 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 3: Throttle Back Before You End Up Punting 4 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 4: Punish the Satellite Bubble 5 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 5: What is Proper Accumulator Strategy? 6 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 6: A Chip and a Chair Story with “SirWatts” 7 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 7: 15 Things About Poker I Wish I’d Known Sooner 8 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 8: Examining the Largest Overlay in Poker History 9 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 9: Differences Between Rebuys and Reentries 10 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 10: Five Must-Read Poker Books of 2014 11 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 11: When Will You Finally Break Through? 12 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 12: Dealing with a Target on Your Back 13 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 13: Knowing When to Call It Quits 14 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 14: Embarking on a Year-Long Weight Loss Journey 15 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 15: Navigating Multiple Decision Points in a Poker Hand 16 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 16: Chris Moorman Tells Me How Badly I Play Poker 17 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 17: Richard “nutsinho” Lyndaker on Getting It in Marginal 18 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 18: Getting Inside the Head of Poker Pro Brian Rast 19 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 19: Stupid Calls & Lucky Draws in MSPT WI Championship 20 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 20: Talking Ante-Only Strategy with Greg “FossilMan” Raymer 21 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 21: Contributing to Jonathan Little’s New Book 22 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 22: Consequences of Acting Out of Turn & Tossing in Chips 23 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 23: When It Comes to Chops, Do What’s In Your Best Interest 24 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 24: Accepting Bad Beats & Lessons in Selling Action 25 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 25: Heinz’ Ace-High Call Shows Why He's a World Champ 26 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 26: Is Keeping the Short Stack Alive Collusion? 27 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 27: Great Laydown or Bad Fold on Poker Night in America? 28 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 28: Calling Hellmuth with Jack-Deuce Offsuit 29 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 29: The Philosophy of "No-Chop" Chad 30 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 30: Preparing to Play the World Series of Poker 31 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 31: Staying on Your Grind at the World Series of Poker 32 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 32: The Perilous Decision to Call Off with Ace-Queen 33 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 33: Using Poker Skills in Reality TV Competitions 34 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 34: Esfandiari Explains How to Recover from Bad Beats 35 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 35: Tilly vs. Brunson in Super High Roller Cash Game Hand 36 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol 36: Unconventional Play Leads to Good WSOP Main Event Start 37 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 37: Lessons in Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low w/ Evan Jarvis 38 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 38: Things to Say and Do When You Bust a Poker Tournament 39 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 39: How Much Did I Have to Raise to Get You to Fold? 40 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 40: Practicing Patience in My Deep PPC Poker Tour Run 41 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 41: Analyzing a Questionable SHRPO Main Event Hand 42 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 42: Analyzing the Play of Neymar Jr. at EPT Barcelona 43 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 43: The Value of a Reliable Poker Reputation 44 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 44: John “KasinoKrime” Beauprez Rips My PLO Game Apart 45 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 45: Satellite Dilemmas -- To Call or Not to Call 46 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 46: Seiver Leverages the River in Super High Roller Bowl 47 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 47: What Untraditional Moves in Poker Might Mean 48 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 48: Thinking About the Future with Sam Grizzle 49 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 49: WCOOP Champ “Coenaldinho7” Offers Up His Biggest Hands 50 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 50: The Peril of Shoving Weak Aces 51 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 51: The Importance of Not Giving Up in Poker Tournaments 52 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 52: Does Asking “Check” Actually Constitute a Check? 53 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 53: Thomas Cannuli Impresses Even After Main Event Bustout 54 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 54: Dealers Aren’t Always Right 55 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 55: Don’t Get Married to Pocket Aces 56 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 56: Bazeley’s Survival Instinct Leads to Continued Success 57 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 57: Playing “Deuces Wild” on the European Poker Tour 58 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 58: The Wildest Hand in European Poker Tour History 59 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 59: Death, Zombies & Spending Time w/Phil Hellmuth 60 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 60: How the Unstoppable Fedor Holz Managed to Win Again 61 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 61: Lessons To Be Learned When You Hit the Big Stage 62 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 62: Steve O’Dwyer Explains the “Oreo Cookie Tell” 63 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 63: What Would Happen to a Chip Stack If a November Niner Died? 64 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 64: Forgetting One Chip -- Should It Still Be an All-In Bet? 65 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 65: Todd “sharkslayerrr” Breyfogle on Bankroll Management 66 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 66: Cash Game Pro Daniel Arfin Offers Sound Bankroll Advice 67 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 67: Honeyman Plays Kings to Keep in Opponent’s Bluff Range 68 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 68: Why Do I Even Bother Drinking at the Poker Table? 69 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 69: Is Your Favorite Poker Pro Left- or Right-Handed? 70 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 70: In Order to Live You Have to Be Willing to Die 71 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 71: How to Amass a Big Stack Early in a Poker Tournament 72 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 72: Answering User-Submitted Poker Scenarios 73 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 73: Saying Goodbye with a Top Five List 74 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 74: We're Back, Baby! 75 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 75: Jivkov on Exploiting Capped Ranges 76 Hold’em with Holloway, Vol. 76: Matt Bretzfield Gets Tricky With Aces 77 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 77: Joseph Cheong Gets Crazy with a Pair of Ladies 78 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 78: Wyoming Poker Action & Wild South Dakota Hand 79 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 79: Calling Controversy at WinStar 80 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 80: Going for Value with Matt Hunt 81 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 81: Bracelet Winner Ryan Leng on Bad Call 82 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 82: Romeopro33 Recounts XL Eclipse Victory 83 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 83: Men The Master Doesn't Get Paid 84 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 84: Harman Hits Back-to-Back Miracle Turns 85 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 85: Jamie Kerstetter on Dealing with Bounties 86 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 86: Matt Stout Develops a Limp Dynamic 87 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 87: Matt Alexander Caught in Between w/ Two Red Aces 88 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 88: John Beauprez on Why He Folded a Set of Jacks 89 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 89: Alex Aqel Lets Opponent Hang Himself with Aces 90 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 90: David Peters Makes Beastly Call Against Will Givens 91 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 91: Poker Lessons from a Game of Risk 92 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 92: My Upstuck Diagnosis by the CLC Squad 93 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 93: Alex Foxen Coolers Nick Petrangelo in SHRB 94 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 94: My $25,000 PSPC Experience at 2019 PCA 95 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 95: The Equity of Leveraging Time Extensions 96 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 96: Dan O'Brien on Developing Healthy Routines 97 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 97: Big Hands From the WSOP-C Potawatomi 98 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 98: Simon Deadman Rips Apart My NLH Tourney Play 99 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 99: Shoving 10-6 Smack Dab Into Pocket Aces 100 Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 100: The Revived Re-Entries Debate SHOW ALL 100 ARTICLES
