WPH #524: Will POCKET ACES Lose Over $500,000????

Linus Loeliger is one of the most feared cash game players in the world have consistently dominated the highest stakes both online and in the live arena. In this hand, we follow the action from Loeliger’s opponent Handz’s point of view. Handz chooses to slow-play the best Texas Hold’em starting hand, but he finds himself in a tough spot with pocket aces after Loeliger unloads the clip. Will Handz’s sneaky play work out well for him, or will his aces get cracked?

When you are deciding whether to slow play pocket aces, it is advised to do so when the stack-to-pot ratio is shallower. This keeps your opponents’ bluffs in and ensures that you are unlikely to fold on almost any flop. It also helps keep your range balanced, as you are not only calling with medium-strength hands but also with the strongest preflop hand in poker.

Linus Loeliger ‘LLinusLLove’ is a professional poker player from Switzerland. He has over $7,600,000 in live tournament earnings putting him in the top 200 on the all-time money list. His biggest cash of $3,900,000 came at the 2022 $200,000 No Limit Hold’em – Coin Rivet Invitational, during Triton Cyprus he finished runner-up to PokerStars sponsored professional Sam Grafton ‘SamSquid’. He has been one of the best online cash game players in the world for many years. Loeliger is known by his online nickname ‘LLinusLLove’. Since 2019, Linus has played on over 12 live streamed cash games and is up over $600,000.

Handz is an American poker player and investor known for his frequent appearances in high stakes cash games on Hustler Casino Live. He has openly attributed the majority of his wealth to fortunate & well timed investments in cryptocurrency and other ventures. Since 2022, Handz has played on over 15 live streamed cash games and is down over $1,300,000.

Triton Poker was founded in 2015 by Paul Phua and Richard Yong; their aim was to attract a healthy mixture of recreational poker players and seasoned poker professionals. Part of what makes the Triton Series so special is that it’s open to a wide range of poker players – not just a select few. They envisioned Triton as a series of poker events providing excellent entertainment value for audiences passionate about poker. Some of the most famous poker players to have appeared at Triton events have been Phil Ivey ‘RaiseOnce’, Tom Dwan ‘Durrr’, Patrick Antonius ‘The Finn’, Michael Addamo ‘imluckbox’, Chris Brewer, Jason Koon ‘JAKoon1985’, Tony G, Dan Cates ‘Jungleman’, Doug Polk ‘WCGRider’, Stephen Chidwick ‘stevie444’, Linus Loeliger ‘LLinusLLove’, Isaac Haxton ‘philivey2694’, Mikita Badziakouski ‘fish2013’, Timofey Kuznetsov ‘Trueteller’ and many more.

This invitation cash game took place between August 4th – 10th, 2024 at the Maestral Resort & Casino – Budva, Montenegro. Some of the players to feature included: Phil Ivey ‘The Tiger Woods of Poker’, Linus Loeliger, Elton Tsang, St Wang, Andy Ni, Aaron Zang, Handz, Paul Phua, Elizabeth Chen, Tony Guoga ‘Tony G’, Dan Cates ‘Jungleman”. Rob Yong, Mikhail Petrov, Tan Xuan and Joe Zou.

Preflop: With a $4,000 straddle on, Handz raises to $10,000 with pocket aces from under the gun +1. Elton Tsang calls from the big blind with pocket sixes and Linus Loeliger 3-bet squeezes from the straddle to $50,000 with a mystery hand. Handz decides to slow play his pocket rockets and just calls. This allows Tsang to set mine with his pocket pair and they head to the flop three multi-way.

Flop – Qs Jh 5d: Loeliger is first to act and fires out a continuation bet of $40,000 with his unknown hand. Handz just calls with an overpair and a backdoor straight draw to Broadway. Tsang, with his pair of sixes now has third pair after two overcards appear on the flop correctly finds the fold. Loelig