The Super High Roller Bowl is one of the most prestigious and competitive no limit hold 'em tournaments of the year. With a $300,000 entree fee anda $14,000,000 prize pool, it attracts the most elite poker players in the world. The 2018 Super High Roller Bowl was no exception. The payout structure helps explain why:
- $5,000,000
- $3,000,000
- $2,100,000
- $1,600,000
- $1,200,000
- $900,000
- $600,000
After a few big names busted out in Day 1, players in Day 2 of the 2018 Super Higher Roller Bowl included Bryn Kenney, Daniel Negreanu, Justin Bonomo, Phil Ivey, Justin Bonomo, and Fador Holz.
Here are the two most notable hands from day that saw even more big names bust, and few stack even more chips.
1. Phil Ivey bluffs Kenney and Andress on the river
Hand 66 of the 2018 Super High Roller bowl is a three way pot between Phil Ivey, Brin Kenny, and John Andress. There's quite a run out on the board and some surprising things happen. Let's get to the action.
Preflop
Adams and Negreanu fold to Kenny, in the cutoff, who open raises to 10,000 with Ks7h. This is not a great starting hand, but it's Brin Kenney, so he can make it work.
Andress calls from the small blind with Jd9d. This isn't a great hand either, and he'll be out of position after the flop, but with his small blind already in the pot, it's only 8,000 more to call, and as a suited one-gapper, it does have potential.
Ivey calls from the big bind with Qd6d. It's only 6,000 more for him to call and he is suited. Ivey is the shortest stack at the table, but still has over 35 big blinds. Kenney, who opened, has more than twice Ivey's stack.
And here comes the flop.
Flop
The flop comes Jh Ad 3d.
Two diamonds on the board means both Andress and Ivey have flush draws. Ivey's queen beats Andress' jack.
There's also a broadway straight draw on the board. KQ needs a 10 to hit a straight. Ivey's queen and Kenney's king block some combinations of KQ. 10K needs a queen to hit a straight.
Kenney and Ivey are known for playing some speculative hands, so you don't have to put either of them on an ace. I'd say Andress would be more likely to have an Ace than the other two.
Andress (54%), with middle pair and a flush draw, has the best hand right now. He checks to Ivey.
Ivey (39%) checks his queen high flush draw to Kenney, the preflop raiser.
Kenney (7%) missed this flop. He does have a backdoor straight draw, and he blocks broadway draws, but with an ace on the board and two diamonds on the board, there's no way he's thrilled about his hand. Never the less, he continuation bets 11,000 into the 34,000 pot.
The action is now back to Andress. You could make the case for a check raise here. Kenney's continuation betting range could be fairly wide, and Ivey's calling range from the big blind is almost definitely pretty wide. Andress' middle pair and jack high flush draw could fold out hands like 44-99, 67-89s, some backdoor diamond draws, some lower diamond draws, and certainly Kenny's K7 no diamonds, and some straight draws (depending on bet size), but it probably doesn't fold out too many better hands. I like keeping the pot small here from first position in a three way pot.
Ivey has to call 11,000 for a 56,000 pot. He doesn't have the nut flush draw, but the second nut flush draw is usually pretty good. Pretty easy call here in my mind. However, you could make a case for re-raising here. The check raise could fold out hands that didn't hit the board, such as K8 no hearts and 44-99 no hearts (maybe there are some suited wheel draws in there too) without needing to hit his flush or worry about getting bluffed later. However, he might also fold out hands that would give him strong implied odds, such as Jd7d-Jd10d, and he's in rough shape against JdXd and KdXd. Ivey's call seems good to me.
Now it's time for the turn.
Turn
The turn brings the Qc.
10K hits a straight. 10 combinations now have a gut shot straight draw. You could put almost any player on A10, potentially even J10s. K combinations now need a 10 to hit a straight. You could put both players on KJ or KQ, and maybe some K7s-K10s.
Given the action preflop and on the flop, and Kenney's reputation, I'd say he's most likely to have connected with the board as it is after the turn. Of coure we know that he has the worst of it.
Andress (12%) can't be happy to see that what was second pair has become third pair. He also didn't hit his flush draw. And he knows there could be straight draws looming. Not to mention the possibility of better flush draws. He checks.
Ivey (76%) improved to the best hand by pairing his queen. His queen high flush doesn't hit but there's still one card left. He checks. A bit of a slow play, but with the ace and the straight draw on the board, he doesn't have a monster.
Kenney (12%) double barrels 34,000. This is an aggressive move given both players called his bet on the flop and he only has four outs to the straight. However, given he has the king, there's a chance his opponents don't have enough to continue. Now back to Andress.
Andress calls. He can't love his hand, and with Ivey still left to act, a raise might render his 34,000 a wash if Ivey pushes. But he has outs and a decent price.
Ivey calls. After seeing Kenney double barrell and Andress call, he's got to put one or both of his opponents on straight draws or ace combos, or possibly some two pairs such as JQ. Given Ivey's stack size, he might get called by straight draws. Ivey also has show down value with the pair of queens if the straight and flush draws miss. A 6 on the river might also give him the best hand, though it's possible Andress or Kenny have betters two pairs such as JQ or possibly even AJ or AQo. I like calling given the likely hood of getting called by better hands vs worse hands.
To the river we go.
River
The river is the Kc.
No one can be happy about this card.
Kenney makes the best hand, but with four to a straight, an ace on the board, and moderate kicker issues, he's definitely not thrilled. 10 combinations make a straight. Diamond draws miss. King combinations beat Andress and Ivey's lower pairs.
Andress (0%) checks. Disappointing run out for him. Andress was never in great shape in this hand, but I think he's made the right decisions throughout.
Ivey (0%) turns what was the best hand on the turn into a bluff and goes all in with his remaining 91,000 chips! There are so many hands that beat him and there are not one but two other players in the pot! Classic Phil. He's representing the 10. Ivey could put Andress on missed diamond draws, and jack, queen, and even ace ccombinations, which would probably have to fold. Ivey could put Kenney on ace combinations that didn't hit the straight, and possibly some missed flush draws, all of which would have to fold to him.
Kenney (100%), who turned what was the worst hand into the best hand after pairing his king and no more diamonds turning over, looks frustrated. What 10 combinations does Ivey have here given the action so far? 109-10K seems possible, maybe 10d6d-10d8d, or possibly 1010 (though he might have reraised preflop or on the turn). Ace combinations? Ivey could call preflop with a lot of Ace combinations. He could check call, like he did, with A2s-A9s, hoping that straights and flushes miss. There are some two pairs that beat Kenney, too. How many bluffs does Ivey have here given the action so far? Missed diamond draws such as 4d5d-8d9d, K8-K9 (both of which would chop with Kenney), Jd7d-Jd9d seems plausible, and of course QdXd (which Ivey has). That's actually a lot of bluffs. But what about Andress, who is still left to act? It's a tough spot, and Phil probably knew it would be a lot of the time. Kenney folds the best hand even though he's getting a decent price but I don't blame him.
Andress can't call.
Ivey wins 260,000.
Someone at the table asks Ivey to show and he does. "The kids's still got it!," Negreanu yells with laughter.
Nice move by Phil. It was risky but it worked.
2. Brin Kenney hero calls Negreanu
In Hand 61 of the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl, the great Daniel Negreanu faces off against the intuitive Brin Kenny. The blinds are at 2,000 / 4,000 with a 4,000 big blind ante. Here's how the hand goes down:
Preflop
Negreanu open raises under the gun to 10,000 (2.5x the big blind) with 65c. This is probably towards the bottom of Negreanu's opening range from this position, though has been known to play some speculative hands.
Kenney calls from under the gun plus one with Q10c. This hand might be towards the bottom of Kenney's calling range from this position, however, he often plays quite exploitative as opposed to game theory optimal, and it has certainly worked well for Kenney in the past.
Adams calls with Ac10d from the big blind. This seems like a good call from Adams. While we can see that he has the best hand, given the prior action, and his position for post flop play, A10o can't seem that strong. None the less, given he's in the big blind, Adams' decision definitely makes sense to me.
Flop
The flop comes 7h 3h 3d.
It's hard to put anyone on a 3, though Kenney and Negreanu may occasionally play some 3X suited connectors here. Adams, out of the big blind, might have also decided to get creative with some 3X. 77 is possible for any player. There may also be some 78s or some A7s from Adams.
Over cards, such as AJso or KQs, have a decent probability for any player, and over pairs such as 88, 99, and 1010, are fairly probable. I would have expected Kenney and Adams to reraise with JJ or better preflop, so I wouldn't put much weight on those. There are certainly some heart combos in the ranges of all three players, though in this case, no one has a heart.
Adams (49%) checks with his two over cards. He has the best hand at this point, though could worry about better over cards from either player or over pairs like 1010 or better from Negreanu. Checking to the preflop raiser from first position makes sense to me here.
Negreanu (38%) decides not to continuation bet. He checks with his gut shot straight draw. Negreanu probably puts Kenney on a hand stronger than the one that Kenney actually has, though even his actual hand, Q10c, is better than Negreanu's at this point.
Kenney (11%) bets 14,000 with his two over cards. This is a time where position provides an advantage. After seeing Adams and Negreanu check, he probably senses weakness. His preflop call from early position can also help him represent a stronger hand than the one he has. Betting here probably takes down the pot a decent amount of the time. Kenney's play is a tiny bit aggressive, but definitely makes sense to me.
Adams folds and Negreanu calls. To the turn we go.
Turn
The turn brings the king of clubs.
Negreaunu (23%) doesn't hit his gut shot draw or a pair. He checks. After Kenney bet the flop, Negreanu can probably put Kenney on a hand that's better than Q10 no hearts. If Negreanu bets, Kenney prbably calls with a lot of those better hands. I don't see a point in building the pot with an open ender on a flush draw board.
Kenney (70%) doesn't hit a pair and no longer has two over cards. Schulman says Kenney could consider double barreling here. Depending on his bet sizing, I suppose double barreling might get Negreanu to fold his gut shot draws, low pocket pairs, or hands like QJs, J10s, 109s. However, it's less likely that Negreanu has many of those hands given his under the gun raise preflop and check-call post flop. It's more likely that Negreanu has something like KQs or 99.
Schulman notes that Kenney probably doesn't have much clarity on what Negreanu has. In addition, Kenney only has the 33 with a K kicker that's on the board!
Kenney checks and we go to the river.
River
The two of diamonds hits the board on the river. Flush and straight draws miss. No ace. No 2nd pair on the board. No queen. There's a small chance that either player is here with 22 or A2s, but the 2d is pretty much a dead card.
Negreanu (0%), after missing his gut shot straight draw, bets 40,000. The only way he can win this pot is by betting and Negreanu knows that. After Kenney checked the turn, Negreanu may have sensed weakness in Kenney. Maybe Kenney's AJ and AQ fold here. In addition, it's possible that Kenney was on a flush or straight draw and missed or has a pocket pair such as 88 or even 66 which would probably fold. I actually like Negreanu's play here.
Kenney (100%), with just the pair of threes and king high kicker on the board, doesn't immediately muck his hand. He looks skeptical. Alijad asks what Negreanu is representing. Schulman suggests 88, 99, or KX but is not sure exactly. Negreanu's line doesn't tell the story of one of those hands, but Kenney can't beat much besides a missed straight draw or low flush draw. Kenney can't even beat any ace. Given Negreanu's under the gun raise preflop, you can put some probability of him having an ace, including AKo no hearts.
Kenney calls Negreanu's 40,000 bet.
Daniel mucks and Kenney wins without hitting the board. He doesn't even have an ace! Kenney shows his Q10s no hearts and Negreanu is shocked.
It was an extremely tough call by Kenney, though it probably makes sense to do every once in a while. It certainly worked in this case!