button in SafariIs How Alex Foxen Played Ace-King Optimal? Lucas Robinson Explores
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Lukas Robinson returns to PokerNews with another interesting hand that he's run through the premier poker training tool, GTO Wizard. In this article, Robinson uses GTO Wizard in a hand that took place during Day 1 of the $250,000 No-Limit Hold'em Super High Roller at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
The hand features two poker tournament greats: Alex Foxen in the lowjack seat with 2,700,000 chips (225 big blinds) and Aleksejs Ponakovs seated in the hijack seat with 1,500,000 chips (125 big blinds).
The blinds were 6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 big blind ante. Here's how the hand went down.
Pre-flop Action
Alex Foxen opened to 27K from the LJ with A♥K♠. Aleksejs Ponakovs three-bet to 100K with A♣2♣ from the HJ. Foxen called.
Post-Flop
Flop (230,000 Pot): J♦5♣3♦
Action: Foxen checked. Ponakovs c-bet to 86K. Foxen made the call.
Turn (402,000 Pot): K♥
Action: Foxen checked. Ponakovs bet 195K. Foxen called.
River (792,000 Pot): 4♠
Action: Foxen checked, and Ponakovs fired 650,000. Foxen quickly made the call.
Ponakovs tabled A♣2♣ for a rivered straight. Foxen could only smile and shake his head before he sent his hand into the muck, as Ponakovs dragged in the 2,092,000 pot.
A fascinating 3-bet pot between two of the most aggressive and accomplished players in the world. Let’s use the GTO Wizard solver to see whether it agrees with how both players navigated the hand.
Pre-Flop Analysis
Alex Foxen opened to 27K from the LJ with A♥K♠. GTO Approved ✔️
AK is a standard open from the LJ in this spot.
Aleksejs Ponakovs 3-bet to 100K with A♣2♣ from the HJ. GTO Disapproved ✖️
Although the solver 3-bets A2S at a very low frequency, the EV comparison below shows that three-betting has the lowest EV overall compared with folding or calling vs the LJ open.
Foxen called the 3-bet with A♥K♠. GTO Approved ✔️
Although many players would be tempted to four-bet in this spot, the deep stack depths significantly change the strategy. As a result, the solver mostly prefers calling with AKo rather than 4-betting.
Calling produces a higher EV overall than 4-betting to 23bb. The reason is that when you 4-bet this deep and face a 5-bet jam from the HJ, AKo is often put in a difficult spot. By calling instead, you also keep dominated Ax hands in your opponent’s range, exactly as happened in this hand.
Since Ponakovs chose to 3-bet wider than the solver recommends, I’ll nodelock his range to include hands such as A2s, allowing us to analyze the rest of the hand using a strategy that more closely reflects what happened in-game.
Post-Flop Analysis
Flop (230,000 Pot): J♦5♣3♦
Foxen checked with A♥K♠. GTO Approved ✔️
Foxen should pure check this flop, as the HJ still holds the overall range advantage.
Ponakovs c-bet to 86K with A♣2♣ GTO Approved ✔️
The solver recommends c-betting 81.8% of the range on this flop, primarily using the 37% sizing that Ponakovs chose in-game.
Recommended Strategy and EV for A2s:
A♣2♣ specifically mostly wants to bet, while mixing in some low-frequency checks.
Foxen called with A♥K♠. GTO Approved ✔️
Recommended Strategy and EV for AKo:
All AKo combos mostly want to call, with A♥K♠ specifically generating the highest EV overall as a call.
Turn (402,000 Pot): K♥
Foxen checked with A♥K♠. GTO Approved ✔️
The solver once again recommends a pure check.
Ponakovs bet 195K with A♣2♣. GTO Approved ✔️
The solver recommends another high-frequency betting strategy on this turn card. Let’s compare the two ranges to understand why.
LJ vs HJ Range Comparison:
As you can see, the HJ has the advantage across every category, allowing them to use a heavy betting strategy on this turn card.
Recommended Strategy and EV for A2s:
The solver prefers using the 67% sizing overall rather than the 49% sizing that Ponakovs chose in-game. However, as you can see, the EV difference between the two sizes is relatively small, making Ponakovs’ sizing a reasonable alternative in practice.
Foxen called with A♥K♠ GTO Approved ✔️
Recommended Strategy and EV for AKo:
With almost all AKo combos, calling produces the highest EV overall. However, you can see that the solver does mix in some low-frequency raises with certain combos.
River (792,000 Pot): 4♠
Foxen checked with A♥K♠. GTO Approved ✔️
Again, the solver does not recommend any donk-betting on this specific river card.
Ponakovs bet to 650K with A♣2♣. GTO Disapproved ✖️
If using a two-size betting strategy on this river, the solver prefers the all-in size alongside the 67% size. However, after adding the 82% sizing that Ponakovs used in-game, you can see that the solver chooses this size with 14% of its betting range, making it a viable option in this spot.
Recommended Strategy and EV for A2s:
Although A♣2♣ wants to value bet on this river after making a straight, the solver strongly prefers using the all-in sizing. As you can see from the EV comparison, shoving generates more EV than using the 67% sizing.
Overall, the solver prefers a polarised river strategy, with its strongest value hands and bluffs primarily using an all-in sizing, while also mixing in the smaller 82% and 67% sizes with other parts of the range.
What is a Polarised betting strategy?
- A strategy where you bet only your very strong hands and your bluffs, while checking all medium-strength hands.
- The goal is to maximize value with the best hands and apply pressure with bluffs, making it difficult for opponents to exploit your range.
Foxen snap-called with A♥K♠. GTO Approved ✔️
Recommended Strategy and EV for AKo:
The solver justifies Foxen’s snap call here while also recommending that he raise all-in for value at a high frequency relative to this bet size.
Let’s now analyze how the spot changes if Ponakovs had used the solver’s preferred all-in sizing.
LJ Response vs HJ All-in:
Recommended Strategy and EV for AKo:
All AKo combos would be pure calls vs the all-in.
Key Takeaways
- Deep stack depths make calling with AKo preferable to 4-betting preflop.
- The HJ holds the range advantage on the flop and turn, allowing for high-frequency betting on both streets.
- The solver prefers a polarised river strategy, with many strong hands choosing an all-in sizing.
- Ponakovs' 82% pot river bet is still solver-approved, despite all-in being preferred.
- Foxen's snap call with A♥K♠ is fully GTO-approved and remains a pure call even vs the optimal all-in sizing.
Check out the full hand as it played out by skipping to 01:12:00 of this YouTube video.
