Gavin Griffin didn’t want to talk about this hand because “I don’t want people to know I make plays like that.”
But when you spot an opponent’s error, it’s a play you indeed make.
With blinds at $50-$100 at the 2007 World Series of Poker main event, Griffin, a Darien native who won a WSOP bracelet in 2004 at age 22 to become the youngest winner in history, was on the button with A-J offsuit.
A player in early position raised to $300. The player to Griffin’s right called. Griffin re-raised to $1,250.
“I’m re-raising because the guy who opened had been raising a lot and the guy to my right was cold-calling a lot, so I really didn’t think they had to have too much in that spot,” Griffin said.
GAVIN GRIFFIN
ACE OF CLUBS
JACK OF SPADES
The flop
QUEEN OF SPADES
10 OF HEARTS
8 OF SPADES
The turn and river
10 OF CLUBS
5 OF DIAMONDS
The original raiser folded. The cold-caller cold-called again.
“I think the guy probably has a small pair or K-J suited, K-10 suited, suited connectors,” Griffin said.
The flop came Q-10-8, two spades, putting flush and straight draws out there.
“He leads out into me for $1,500,” said Griffin, winner of the 2007 European Poker Tour’s Grand Final in Monte Carlo. “I flopped a double-gutter with a king or a 9 (to make a straight). Maybe my ace is good, so I call.”
The turn paired the 10.
“He bet $3,500,” said Griffin, who had dyed his hair pink in support of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in September, in which he’ll participate in Los Angeles (more at gavingriffin.net). “I don’t have the ace of spades, so I easily think he could have the A-7 of spades or something like that.
“But I do have the jack of spades, so he can’t have A-J of spades or K-J of spades. If he has a queen or something like that, I’m getting close to the right price to call. Plus I still have possibly 11 outs; if he has a king in his hand, I have 10 outs. But I’m getting close to the right price to call on the turn, especially if I can get something out of him on the river.”
The river came the 5 of diamonds. Griffin’s opponent bet only $4,500 into a pot worth almost $13,000, which looks like a value bet from someone milking a straight. Griffin had nothing but an ace. He called. What’s up with that?
Turned out, he found a mistake in his opponent’s play.
“I felt it was a really weird bet,” Griffin said. “I’d played with him before, and if he’s value betting, he usually likes to bet pretty big. There was already almost $13,000 in the pot, and he only bet $4,500. It’s not a value bet for him. So I called.
“He said, ‘King-high,’ and I showed my ace-high and won the pot.”
Table talk
Double-gutter: Variation of double-gutshot, a straight draw that while not open-ended can still be completed by two different cards; in Griffin’s case, his A-J with a board of Q-10-8 meant a king or a 9 would make his hand.
