Alec Torelli: How To Play The Nuts

Alec Torelli’s Hand of the Week this week, takes a look at an interesting hand which was sent in to him by Guido, our hero for the hand. After somewhat overplaying their low unsuited six-five preflop, Guido hits it in a big way post-flop when the board runs out seven-four-three with two spades giving them a straight in a three-way pot.

Torelli takes this as an opportunity to talk about extracting value in these spots where you have strong hand and multiple opponents. As always the goal is to maximize your expected value in all these spots, not just how Guido could have won this hand.

Because on the flop Guido is in the cut-off facing a bet from the small blind, with the button to act behind him, there are two conflicting considerations Torelli walks us through. On the one hand protecting the straight against the flush draws and the sets looking to upgrade to a full-house or quads, and on the other is the desire not to scare off those exact hands which are calling from behind and putting money in Guido’s pocket.

This particular spot he reckons calls for serious aggression – the button is calling a reraise with the same hands he will call if you flat. So go ahead and extract value.

It is interesting to compare this to the way Torelli himself plays a similarly strong hand which is vulnerable to draws in a multiway pot on Poker Night in America. In the Poker Night hand without the aggression shown by the villains in the Guido hand, Torelli is forced to check out of position to allow his opponents to draw or bluff, catching a little, before ramping up the aggression on the river.

The question of whether he should have put in a bet on the turn is somewhat vexed and one has to avoid being influenced by the knowledge that his opponents both have hands they call with in this spot.

Both hands illustrate the disadvantage of having to act before a villain you want to stay in the hand with you. This kind of calculation is what pros like Torelli are especially good at.

What do you think - does Torelli’s advice to Guido apply to the Poker Night hand? Does betting his set in the latter spot earn him as much in the long run as Guido’s raise in the first hand? Answers in the comments.