Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 99: Shoving 10-6 Smack Dab Into Pocket Aces

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Feb 20, 2019 3 min read Last updated Jun 27, 2019

Recently, the World Series of Poker Circuit visited the Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee. Being a Wisconsin boy myself, it's one of the series I look forward to the most. While I got the chance to play some prelim events, a prior obligation meant I had to miss the $1,700 Main Event.

As such, I had to live vicariously through my PokerNews colleague Mo Nuwwarah, who had the chance to play and ultimately finished 15th out of 667 runners for $12,682. This finish came less than a month after he took second in the Mid-States Poker Tour Majestic Star Main Event and four months after he won his first WSOP-C gold ring.

I was sweating the updates during his run when an interesting hand occurred. On Day 2 of the tournament, Nuwwarah and Day 1b chip leader Ricky Landais, a member of the Madison Poker Community Facebook group, clashed in a big hand.

The hand took place in Level 20 (5,000/10,000/1,000). Action began when Landais raised to 26,000 from the cutoff, then Nuwwarah three-bet to 80,000 from the small blind. The player in the big blind folded, and Landais opted to four-bet shove for around 600,000. It proved a fatal decision as Nuwwarah snap-called with the goods.

Nuwwarah: A?A?
Landais: 10?6?

The flop was clean for Nuwwarah, though Landais did turn the 6? to pick up a sweat. It didn't come in though, as the river bricked to send Landais out the door in 47th place for $3,375.

Does He Regret the Shove?

"Yes guys, I did have a massive blow up, no excuses," Landais wrote on the MPC Facebook page after his bustout.

"Here's the part everyone didn't see, the tournament chip leader is two to the left of me and is super agro. He has three-bet my last four opens. The hand prior to my blow up he has Kx9x and three-bet me to which I completed with Jx10x. Flop is KxQx10x turn is a 9x giving him two pair me the straight. So, to me he is three-betting very light. This next hand, it folds to me on the button and I open, yes, 10x6x same player in the small blinds three-bets me 3x. My read is that he is still tilting from hand prior and or he is still three-betting light. I four-bet jammed him and he had AxAx. Incorrect read. Yes, it's a huge blow up but that's my read and I'm going with it."

Nuwwarah Responds

Seeing as I work with him, I reached out to Nuwwarah to get his take on the hand and a little more context leading up to it.

Nuwwarah: "He probably shouldn't be opening ten-six offsuit when there's an aggro player three-betting behind him."

"This player was moved to my table with about 950K," Nuwwarah explains. "I had something like 1.6 million at this point. I believe he is correct that I three-bet three of his opens. The first time, I can't remember positions but I three-bet K?J? in position and he peeled with Jx10x offsuit. The flop was KxJx9x with one heart. He called a bet. The turn was a Qx and we both check to the river, which was a brick. He bets, I call and lose. I was mildly annoyed, but whatever."

"Next hand comes around and a weak player limps from middle position," Nuwwarah continues. "[Landais] raises to 26K on button. SB folds, I three-bet the Q?5? and he folds. Next hand immediately after that he opens 26K cutoff, I three-bet A?A? to 80K in SB. He rips all in and we call. It comes Kx7x2x with two clubs. The turn is the 6? and river K?. He had 10?6? so he turned like 30 percent."

"His read that I was three-betting light wasn't incorrect since I just three-bet him with Q?5? the hand before," says Nuwwarah. "But yeah, he probably shouldn't be opening 10x6x offsuit when there's an aggro player three-betting behind him. Obviously, the shove was bad but he shouldn't have been there in the first place."

The moral of the story is that sometimes even the aggro bully wakes up with a premium hand every now and then �� so shover beware!

_{Images courtesy of the WSOP.}

PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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