Klein vs Esfandiari
Aria Super High Roller cash game, 2015
A giant cash game in Las Vegas
The Hand
Antonio Esfandiari and Bill Klein. Blinds 300 / 600.
Before the Flop
- Blinds 300 and 600. Esfandiari has the button.
- Klein raises to 6K.
- Esfandiari raises to 15K.
- Four other players fold.
- Klein raises to 29K.
- Esfandiari calls.
The Flop
- Klein checks.
- Esfandiari bets 29K.
Klein calls. Why
Klein. A range that calls a 4-bet is mostly big pairs and big cards, and this low flop misses most of it. Middle pair with a gutshot has a fair share against that range. A raise would be called only by better.
The Turn
- Klein checks.
- Esfandiari bets 51K.
Klein calls. Why
Klein. Two pair beats every pair and every bluff. Raising turns it into a bluff against the flushes and straights that keep betting.
The River
- Klein checks.
- Esfandiari bets 118K.
- Klein calls. The famous decision
Play Klein vs Esfandiari, decision by decision
Play This Hand
The river
The Famous Decision
Klein. The price is a call to win a pot more than four times as big. Esfandiari’s line, re-raising before the flop and betting three streets on three diamonds, is exactly how a bluff that represents the flush looks. Klein’s own line, a 4-bet and then check-calls, looks like an overpair, which invites that bluff.
Klein called, and his two pair beat king-high.
The Result
Klein wins at the showdown with Two pair, Nines and Eights.
- EsfandiariK♣5♣
- KleinJ♣8♣Wins
Why It Is Famous
Bill Klein check-called three streets on a flop with three diamonds, against Antonio Esfandiari’s story of a flush, holding two pair, and won $458,500. Every figure in the report adds up to the dollar.
What to Take from It
A big bet on a scary board is a story. Price it, then ask how often the story is true. Two pair can be a bluff-catcher.
Sources
What the sources do not say. Esfandiari’s stack is not documented. Klein’s was $469,000. The straddles and the size of the table are not documented. Only the two players are drawn; the dead money (the blinds and the straddles) is counted so the reported pots add up. Every bet size comes from one report, though the pots add up at every street.
Make all three decisions, then see what really happened
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