Episode 198: Chase Bianchi

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Chase Bianchi’s career as a professional poker player came in fits and starts, as we went back and forth between playing for a living and working as a dealer and supervisor. That all changed when he won a bracelet in a $1000 No-Limit Hold’Em WSOP event and suddenly found himself bankrolled for some big games! In this interview, we talk about the arc of Chase’s career, his decision to move to Maryland, and the role that faith plays in his life.

Chase sticks around for a special strategy segment featuring a 10/25 NLHE hand in which Andrew was also involved!

You can follow @Chase_Bianchi on Twitter and rail him on Twitch!

Andrew would appreciate, and is offering prizes for, donations to the Bay Area Urban Debate League.

Timestamps

0:30 – hello
13:36 – chase

Strategy

Utg opens 75, main opponent calls HJ, AlphaNit calls BU, we call 65cc in sb, BB calls.
5 way flop($375) 8d 6h 4c checks to villain he bets 175, AlphaNit calls, we call, 2 folds.
3 way turn($900) 7d. We check, villain bets 350, AlphaNit fold, we call.
HU river 7x. We check, villain bets 475 with 1500 behind. Hero?

6 thoughts on “Episode 198: Chase Bianchi”

  1. Andrew,

    Can you elaborate on your recommendation to check-raise the flop in the strat hand? I’m wondering what the plan is on various turn cards if the flop bettor calls and you fold (or vice versa). Are we firing on a brick? On an ace? And what happens if we get 3-bet on the flop; are we getting stacks in or folding? Curious because I’m still uncomfortable with aggression out of position and its probably because I’d be lost on the turn here once I’m called.

    • I’m not Andrew, but here’s my shot at the question:

      The idea of putting this hand into a check-raising range is that (i) we hit this flop pretty hard and (ii) once it goes bet-call in a field of this size, a pair of sixes isn’t so likely to be good and it’s not _so_ easy to improve our hand, so it might make sense to put this hand in the bluffy part of a check-raising range.

      So, let’s suppose that our k/r range is (a) four combinations of 75s, (b) six combinations of sets (maybe we do something else with 1/3 of the combinations), (c) two combinations of 86s, and (d) 10 combinations of bluffs. (No, I don’t know that 10 is the best number of bluffs to have; I bet the optimum is significantly more than that.)

      Note that because a lot of our value hands don’t like it when a straight card hits, it’s nice to choose our bluffs so that they _do_ like it when a straight card hits. That’s yet more reason to choose 65s (also it blocks some opposing value).

      A lot of our value hands will follow through when a blank hits, so I’d follow through with many of my bluffs, also. If there are any A7s-type hands in the bluff part of my k/r range, I’d probably check those and keep betting with bluff powerhouses like this pair of sixes. Conversely, if an Ace hits, that might put 65s nearer the bottom of my range on the turn, and I wouldn’t feel bad about checking (again this is sensitive to how I’m putting together my flop k/r range).

      I’d default to folding to a flop 3-bet against all but the most exploitable opponents; we have plenty of hands that can stack off for value, and there’s nothing wrong with k/r/f a hand like this.

      Thanks for the question!

  2. As I listened to your podcast, I didn’t understand how you ruled out boats for the Villain OTR. I understand your hand reading figured this out, but I’m still not sure I would have dropped 78s for the player pool in my Motor City 2-5 game. I think 87s is in his range PRE (flat calling a known strong utg open with a reasonable speculative hand) and OTF (to be called by draws and possible weaker made hands like A6s or to end the hand). Hitting two pair OTT, wouldn’t villain want to continue to charge flush and straight draws with a bet?

    I’m not saying flating 87s is a good play. I just think it happens a lot (at least at 2-5). I’d probably fold this with only a UTG open in.

    I also feel 9Ts remains in his range and I would be inclined just to call OTR as opposed to the shove discussed.

    Can you help me understand how you ranged the villains flop, turn, and river bets?

    • I think that most villains and most good players would check two pair on this turn. It’s hard to get value from worse hands and you’re likely to get raised by plenty of better hands. Moreover, protection isn’t _that_ big a concern. The flush draw is backdoor and there aren’t _that_ many nines in opponents’ ranges.

      Moreover, even if Villain did bet the turn with two pair, I’d expect a bigger river bet once he fills up (again, both in theory and as a matter of how people actually play).

      Thanks for this question–we passed over this point pretty quickly on air, if I remember correctly.

  3. Just wanted to point out how good Andrew & Nate have gotten at interviewing. Chase Bianchi and Ellen Sutton required such different skills on the part of the interviewers to ensure an entertaining and correctly paced interview and Andrew and Nate handled it masterfully. The experience of almost two hundred interviews shows. Keep up the great work, guys! You’re crushing it!

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