Dream spot for Spragg as absurd cooler ends Colillas’ EPT Prague run
The probability of getting dealt pocket aces – or any pocket pair – in Texas hold’em is once in every 221 hands.
So we can only imagine the unlikeliness of what happened during the final level of Day 4 of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague Main Event, when just 20 players were remaining out of the 1,285-entry record-breaking field.
THE HAND IN QUESTION
With blinds at 40K/80K with an 80K big blind ante, Lithuania’s Marius Kudzmanas picked up pocket kings on the button and opened to 80,000 off of a 2.1 million stack.
Marius Kudzmanas kicked things off
PokerStars Team Pro Ramon Colillas then peeled ace-king offsuit in the small blind. With a stack of 1.99 million, the inaugural PSPC champion three-bet to 300,000.
Those two hands alone would have been enough for a brutal cooler, as both stacks were surely going to find their way into the middle.
Colillas bumped it up
But things got extra spicy when Marle Spragg woke up with pocket aces from the big blind and moved all in for 735,000.
This was so much more than a “once in every 221 hands” situation. This was the dream spot to treble up and make a run at the €1,030,000 first-place prize.
WEIRD DYNAMICS
Back to Kudzmanas, he had two options. He could call and potentially let Colillas come along with a weaker hand, meaning a side pot would begin. Or he could shove, isolating Spragg and putting Colillias to the test.
He chose the latter, and now Colillas had a tough decision. Or did he?
Think about it. This was a “button vs small blind vs big blind” hand against two very capable opponents. Versus their overall ranges, you’d imagine ace-king offsuit would be doing well.
“It’s such a weird dynamic,” commentator Nick Walsh explained to the audience watching at home, many of whom questioned whether Colillas could get away from it. “It’s so difficult to describe how different the game is at the highest level. The iso shove from the button can be a lot wider than I think you guys imagine.”
Colillas didn’t look happy about it, but he made the call. Moments later, he’d look sick to his stomach.
The flop came 4♠ 4♦ J♠ followed by the 2♥ on the turn, leaving Colillas drawing dead. The 10♣ club secured Spragg the pot, while Kudzmanas collected the side pot.
Spragg celebrates
With that, Spragg found herself with 2.245 million and Kudzmanas continued with 2.635 million.
Spragg has played exceptionally throughout this Main Event, and not just by dishing out coolers. Earlier in the tournament it was her who was on the wrong side of it, running her nut flush into a straight flush.
But she regrouped and rebuilt and eventually found the perfect spot.
Colillas, meanwhile, put up yet another deep run in a major live tournament.
“We fell 19th at EPT Prague,” he told his Twitter followers. “We will keep trying until one day we win it.”
