Stud/8 Hand Reading

I was playing a little HORSE yesterday and made a read/laydown that might be standard/uninteresting for serious Stud/8 players but that made me happy. The villain, Berry Johnston, won the 1986 WSOP main event, and actually he and I played together live at Day 1 of the 2006 WSOP, though I’m sure he doesn’t know that.

Frankly, he’s pretty loose in Razz and Stud/8, so I didn’t make too much of the fact that he called two bets cold on 3rd street. His 3-bet out of nowhere on 4th street threw up some red flags, though. At first I was concerned he might have rolled-up 3’s, but obviously 5th street eliminated that possibility. However, his next most likely hand was a buried pair bigger than Q’s.

Even with the pot as big as it was, I wasn’t getting anywhere near the right odds to chase after two pair. For one thing, if my read was correct, Queens up would be no good anyway. And there was only one Queen left in the deck, so my odds of drawing to trips were pretty slim.

FullTiltPoker Game #7320121581: Table Hill (6 max) – $10/$20 Ante $1.50 – Limit Stud H/L – 20:19:34 ET – 2008/07/21
Seat 1: FanProphet ($521)
Seat 2: spadez67 ($89.10)
Seat 3: Berry Johnston ($300.25)
Seat 4: Pink DuffleBag ($2,307)
Seat 6: Foucault ($573.25)

*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to Foucault [Ks Qs] [Qh]
Dealt to FanProphet [Qc]
Dealt to spadez67 [Td]
Dealt to Berry Johnston [3c]
Dealt to Pink DuffleBag [5c]
Berry Johnston is low with [3c]
Berry Johnston brings in for $3
Pink DuffleBag completes it to $10
Foucault raises to $20
FanProphet folds
spadez67 folds
Berry Johnston calls $17
Pink DuffleBag calls $10

*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to Foucault [Ks Qs Qh] [4c]
Dealt to Berry Johnston [3c] [Qd]
Dealt to Pink DuffleBag [5c] [7d]
Foucault checks
Berry Johnston checks
Pink DuffleBag bets $10
Foucault raises to $20
Berry Johnston raises to $30
Pink DuffleBag calls $20
Foucault calls $10

*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to Foucault [Ks Qs Qh 4c] [3s]
Dealt to Berry Johnston [3c Qd] [3d]
Dealt to Pink DuffleBag [5c 7d] [2h]
Berry Johnston bets $20
Pink DuffleBag calls $20
Foucault has 15 seconds left to act
Foucault folds

*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to Berry Johnston [3c Qd 3d] [Th]
Dealt to Pink DuffleBag [5c 7d 2h] [4s]
Berry Johnston checks
Pink DuffleBag bets $20
Berry Johnston calls $20

*** 7TH STREET ***
Berry Johnston checks
Pink DuffleBag bets $20
Berry Johnston calls $20

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Pink DuffleBag shows [Ac Kh 5c 7d 2h 4s Ts] Ace King high, for high and 7,5,4,2,A, for low
Berry Johnston shows [Ah Ad 3c Qd 3d Th 8c] two pair, Aces and Threes, for high
Berry Johnston wins the high pot ($137.25) with two pair, Aces and Threes
Pink DuffleBag wins the low pot ($137.25) with 7,5,4,2,A

For what it’s worth, Pink’s play here is pretty awful on 3rd and 4th streets. AK5 is garbage for a starting hand, especially from first position with several babies left to act behind you.