On the receiving end of a welcome gift at the World Series of Poker

The following hand took place during the second level of Day 2 of the $10,000-buy-in World Series of Poker Main Event.

I had been fairly active at my table but certainly not crazy. With blinds at 300600 plus an ante of 75, I was dealt 7c 7d. With an effective chip stack of 54,000, I raised to 1,300 from first position. When I’m in first position, I much prefer raising medium pairs than either limping or folding. Developing an aggressive dynamic is usually a good thing when somewhat deep-stacked.

The player in second position, the cutoff, and the button all called. The player in the small blind — a tight, passive, straightforward player — three-bet to 4,500. I decided to call 3,200 more. Everyone else folded.

Facing a three-bet, my pocket sevens have huge implied odds. Calling 3,200 more to see a flop is the only play that makes sense, even though I likely had the worst hand. I was risking 3,200 more for a chance to potentially win around 60,000, giving me implied odds of roughly 19-1. Since I only needed implied odds of around 10-1 to justify set-mining, 19-1 was more than acceptable. I was fairly surprised to see everyone else fold. They should only fold hands that are frequently dominated, such as A-9 or K-10.

The flop came Kh 6d 2d. The small blind checked, and I checked behind.

Since I thought the small blind’s preflop three-betting range was A-A, K-K, Q- Q, A-K, and perhaps J-J and 10-10, I didn’t think betting made much sense. Even though I like to take aggressive lines of play when my opponent shows any weakness, I’m fine with easing off the gas pedal when he could easily be slow-playing A-A, K-K or A-K.

The turn was the beautiful 7s, giving me a set. My opponent bet 6,000, and I raised to 13,000.

When my opponent bet 6,000, I assumed he had a hand he perceived as strong, because I thought he would continue checking with Q- Q, J-J or 10-10. It was possible he held K-K, giving him a set that would top mine, but I decided my hand was good enough to raise.

Based purely on math, my opponent was much more likely to have A-A or A-K than K-K. I thought he would play A-A, K-K or A-K in a similar manner, thinking any of those hands must have been the nuts. Raising on the turn is the only logical play when you have a hand that is almost certainly best and you think your opponent has a strong but second-best hand that he won’t fold.

My opponent quickly re-raised all in for 36,500 more. I happily called. This was exactly what I wanted to happen.

He proudly flipped up his pocket aces, and I got a nice double up after the river blanked. If my opponent had simply continuation-bet the flop, he would have won the pot and stayed in the tournament. His mistake was lucky for me.