Is there anything more fun than watching two of the best cash-game players in the world battle it out?
In this hand, played online just this past week, Ike Haxton and Phil Ivey both have strong holdings.
One of them, however, turns out to be a little stronger than the other.
Flop to River
The game is Pot-Limit Omaha $250/$500.
Effective stacks are $55,000, equaling 110 BB, which isn’t actually very deep.
Ivey sits in the small blind/on the button and gets
K
K
K
K
8
8
2
2
He raises to $1,500. Haxton across the table re-raises to $4,500 but Ivey doesn’t stop here. He makes it $13,500 to go.
Haxton calls. There’s now already $27,000 in the pot and both players have around $40,000 left. The flop is
7
7
J
J
8
8
Haxton takes the lead with a bet of $9,000. Ivey moves all-in and Haxton calls with
A
A
J
J
10
10
9
9
Turn and river are the
8
8
and the
4
4
The $110,000 pot goes to Ike Haxton.
Hand Analysis
It’s a big clash between these two world-class players and they’re both showing their aggressive approach to the game.
Did Ivey even have a chance to get away from this hand without losing his whole stack?
Pre-flop Ivey starts out by raising to $1,500 and then 4-bets when Haxton reraises him.
With a pair of kings and two completely disconnected cards he wouldn’t mind getting it all-in pre-flop as he would be the favorite most of the times — unless he’s up against aces or well-connected hands.
Haxton on the other hand holds A♦ J♠ T♦ 9♥, which is very strong — especially in a heads-up match.
But he’d like to see a flop first before he makes any final decisions.
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3.4% Equity is Not Good
The J♦ 8♦ 7♠ flop is pretty good for Ivey. Of course Ivey can’t be sure he’s still be ahead with his pair of kings but he’s also drawing to the second nut flush, which serves as a kind of life insurance for him now.
However, Haxton flops the jackpot. He’s now holding the nuts plus he’s redrawing for the nut flush.
Not surprisingly Haxton decides to bet. He bets a third of the pot and Ivey pushes all-in.
If he had only called there would be $44,000 in the pot and Ivey would have been priced in anyway. By pushing he can at least put the pressure back on Haxton.
But Haxton has the nuts and his opponent surely didn’t appreciate his hand when he saw it. As even his flush draw is worthless a lot of his outs are poisoned and Ivey only has 3.4% equity.
No Chance of Getting Out
This is pretty much the worst-case scenario in PLO.
You’re playing a draw that’s supposed to give you additional outs in case you’re behind, but your draw is dominated and you need runner runner cards to win.
The 8♣ on the turn doe actually bring some excitement, as it enhances Ivey’s chances to win to 15%, but then the river blanks out and Haxton wins the $110,000.
Ivey had no chance of getting out of this, though.
Folding on the flop here would be ridiculous as Haxton could just as well have way worse hands than he actually does.
If he, for example, had two diamonds in his hand he would only be a 75:25 favorite even if he had flopped the straight!
And that would still be one of the better hands he’s betting with in this spot.
Conclusion
Ivey storms headfirst into a flopped monster by Ike Haxton in what was one of the largest pots of the month.
Not only does Haxton flop the best hand, he’s also holding the redraw to the nuts, which is so important in Pot Limit Omaha.
Holding a strong hand himself, even Phil Ivey can’t avoid disaster here.
