The following hand is one which you can learn a lot from reviewing. Daniel Negreanu faced off against Antonio Esfandiari in High Stakes Poker and nearly talked his way into a big pot loss. We are going to review this hand now and we what we can learn. This is a widely analysed hand, it will show you how to play winning poker, by watching your opponents, the previous betting sequence and the board.
Phil Hellmuth was first into the pot after it folded around to him raising the pot by $3,200 to $4,900. He holds Ad-2s. This is a slightly loose raise but he is looking for the blind steal. Daniel Negreanu, who likes to see flops, calls the bet holding Kd-Td. Antonio Esfandiari comes over the top betting $12,000 making the pot $20,100 holding a pair of Jacks, the Jd-Jc. Daniel decided to call the bet so heading to the flop there is a pot of $28,900. Hellmuth folded.
I am not sure that I like the call from Daniel here. He only has King Ten and whilst it is suited he would be losing to AK, AA or KK here. Antonio has chosen to go over the top of two good players; Negreanu must suspect he holds a monster. His best hope is QQ or JJ, and he is still well behind. It is a good raise from Antonio. He knows Negreanu likes to see flops and is generally drawing to his hand and Hellmuth could be blind stealing as the first player into the pot.
The flop was Qs-6s-Tc.
This gives Daniel second pair with a reasonable kicker and but Antonio has a better second pair. Both have shown strength so will have to bet out, but neither player will be feeling particularly good here. Daniel is losing to all of the above hands and has not improved enough on the flop to warrant a bet. He correctly checks. Antonio must bet here, the question is what does he bet. He bets a relatively small amount, just over half the pot, putting in $15,000. I think a bet of $22,000 wins the pot here. This smaller bet size is slightly transparent in my view; it is saying I have hit a piece and want the pot. Daniel smells a rat, and moves all-in. The pot is $173,900 and Antonio must put the rest of his chips in to call.
At this point Daniel started talking. He asked what Antonio has and is surprisingly open about his own hands speculative nature. Antonio makes a great call after Daniel says “I’ll show you my hand when you fold, ok? The turn card was a 2d and the river a savage blow for Antonio, a Kd giving Daniel two pair and the pot.
Both players played the pot well, but Daniels table talk let him down and only a bad beat on Antonio saved his skin. It would have been better to say nothing and Antonio may have decided that Negreanu had check raised with an Ace knowing Antonio would bet as the pre flop raiser. This may have been enough to persuade Antonio to fold the hand after the re-raise.
The lesson for all learning players is that if Negreanu, a player who has won millions from poker, can make a mistake then we all can. When a big hand is in progress, resist the urge to say things and still quietly until the player makes their decision. This will avoid you making similar mistakes. No-one, not even Negreanu, is exempt from making these types of errors.
By Malcolm Clarke