Hold'em with Holloway, Vol. 106: Check-Jamming at RIU Reno w/ Jamie Kerstetter
The Run It Up Reno VIII at the Peppermill Casino is in full swing �� click here to check out PokerNews dedicated live reporting portal �� and will culminate this weekend with the $600 Main Event.
The festival actually started with a $440 buy-in Mini Main Event, and it was in that tournament I witnessed my LFG Podcast co-host Jamie Kerstetter play an interesting hand. It happened in Level 10 (600/1,200/1,200) of the Day 1a flight when action folded around to Kerstetter (24,000) in the small blind and she just limped holding A?J?. Joel Danforth (180,000) was in the big blind and checked his option, and the pair saw the flop come A?J?6?.
"I don't like giving people free equity."
"I think I had a stack that was going to be all right for a limp-shove if he wanted to raise it up," Kerstetter said when asked why she didn't either raise or shove preflop. "To be honest, though, he was not a candidate to be raising light, so that probably wasn't the best play."
As it happened, Kerstetter checked, Danforth bet 2,200, and Kerstetter called to see the 9? on the turn.
"I called because I felt like if he had any kind of ace he'd continue betting on another street, so it was an easy call," she explained.
Again, Kerstetter checked and Danforth bet 4,100. Kerstetter then woke up with an all-in check-raise to 19,600 and the action was back on Danforth.
"I had a stack that was pretty natural to shove," she said. "I figured any ace or some draws would convince themselves to call."
She got her wish as Danforth opted to go with it.
"I'll gamble with you," he said before calling and tabling Q?10? for an open-ended straight draw.
"Usually that's when I pick up my bag and say, 'I'll see you guys in the next flight,'" Kerstetter joked.
However, she was ahead with her top two pair and actually improved to a full house on the J? river.
"When you're out of position you have to do stuff like that."
I asked her if it ever crossed her mind just to call another bet on the turn instead of check-jamming. She admitted that it did but that she concluded it wasn't the optimal line.
"I don't like giving people free equity. It was a very dry flop and then the turn put out some draws," she offered. "With my stack especially, I feel like the extra 15K goes in there quite a bit when I'm very far ahead and he has an ace and is drawing dead sometimes. It's better to put it in there."
She continued: "When you're out of position you have to do stuff like that because the river you're probably gonna check and he's going to check behind with a worse ace. I think the turn is the spot where he can convince himself that I have some kind of draw and that I'm trying to push him off of his hand."
For more on RIU Reno from both Kerstetter and myself, be sure to check out the LFG Podcast. Later this week we'll be recording a special episode from the RIU Reno VIII.
Images courtesy of Run It Up.
