Decisions, Decisions: Ace-King Versus Shove Five-Handed in WSOP Main
The 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event final table provided numerous hands of interest to poker players who enjoy discussing strategy. And with all 442 of them shown (with hole cards) over three nights on ESPN, every move made by the final nine players received scrutiny both as they aired and in the days since.
The protracted heads-up match between eventual winner John Cynn and runner-up Tony Miles featured a number of intriguing hands among the 199 the pair played, during which there were around a dozen lead changes, lots of aggressive play, and some bold bluffs including on the final hand.
Prior to that epic duel, Miles was involved in another interesting hand with 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Joe Cada when they had reached five-handed.
Cada had just raised from the cutoff on the previous hand to win the blinds and antes (he had pocket kings). Just a few hands before that Cada had shoved the river in a hand versus Cynn to earn a fold. We saw on the stream Cada was bluffing with K♣Q♣ on a 3♦6♠5♣3♣2♠ board (and that Cynn folded J♣10♥, meaning Cada actually was bluffing with the best hand), although that one had yet to be broadcast when the big hand between Cada and Miles arose.
Here were the stacks to start the hand between Cada and Miles — what turned out to be Cada's final hand of the tournament:
| Player | Chips | BBs |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Dyer | 168,500,000 | 168 |
| Nicolas Manion | 84,400,000 | 84 |
| Tony Miles | 54,700,000 | 55 |
| Joe Cada | 47,800,000 | 48 |
| John Cynn | 38,375,000 | 38 |
Also worth noting (of course) were the remaining payouts: 1st - $8.8 million, 2nd - $5 million, 3rd - $3.75 million, 4th - $2.825 million, 5th - $2.15 million.
Cada was under the gun and opened for 2.2 million, then Miles who had been dealt A♥K♣ on the button three-bet to 6.9 million. It folded back to Cada who took about a minute-and-a-half before shoving all in for his entire stack of just over 47 million.
With about 10 million more than Cada to start the hand, Miles knew calling and losing would make him the table's short stack.
Miles took some time to think — looking back at the stream, it was just about five minutes total — then finally made the call to see he was racing versus Cada's 10♠10♥. A king flopped to pair Miles's hand, and when the turn and river didn't help Cada he went out in fifth.
Afterwards, PokerNews gathered a few opinions regarding the Miles's decision. Take a look:
What do you think about the decision with ace-king in this hand? Or with pocket tens?
