In this article, we breakdown the hand that was played between infamous poker player Martin Kabrhel and another poker player under the nickname “Jellyfish”. The hand was played on the Hustler Casino Live YouTube channel two days ago, and it is one of the situations that happen very rarely in poker. Let’s get into the breakdown!
Preflop Action
The game is $100/$200/$400 No Limit Hold’em, and there was an open to $6,000 from Jellyfish in HJ with As8h, a call from Jeff the Cash in CO with 6s6c, and a Squeeze to $27,000 from Martin Kabrhen in LJ holding AcTd. Jellyfish called, and Jeff the Cash folded.
Here, I would say that open from Jellyfish to $6,000 or 15 bbs is too big for the hand he has, even if they are playing 500 bbs deep. Call with pocket sixes from Jeff the Cash is also a bit on the loose side, as there are enough players behind who can squeeze and force him to fold, losing 15 bbs.
The squeeze from Martin Kabrhel is also on a loose side, but there is obviously a meta that everybody plays looser than they are supposed to. The final call from Jellyfish is really bad, as his hand is almost always dominated here, and calling 67.5 bbs to see the flop with a dominated hand is just a death wish in terms of poker.
The Flop
The flop came Qs3s3h, which is excellent for Martin as he is going to have AA, KK, QQ, AQ, AQs, KQ, KQs, and potentially A3s in his range, and it is really hard for his opponent to hit this board as he also has Ac blocker to this opponent’s AQ, AQs combos, and Jellyfish shouldn’t have almost any 3x here, maybe A3s here and there.
Martin continued with a $18,000 c-bet on the flop, which is a correct play, and Jellyfish called with backdoor flushdraw and an overcard. I just don’t like the call as Jellyfish might be already drawing dead, and even if he gets a spade on the turn, it’s hard for him to realize his equity as the pot is big and he will have to play a lot on the turn to see the river, which he will miss a lot of the time. It just seems like a play that is torching money on fire..
The Turn
The turn came 4s, which helps Jellyfish, but Martin decided to fire another bet of $60,000, and Jellyfish was in a hard spot. Once he called on the flop and got the spade on the turn, it’s getting even harder for him to fold now.
I don’t really like Martin’s continued aggression on the turn, as there are not many hands that his opponent would be folding, which continued on the flop. He can force folds from pocket pairs from JJ to 88 without a spade, but every Qx and strong flush draw has to continue the way the hand was played. After a long tank, Jellyfish makes the call.
The River
The river comes 9h, which is a brick and only helps some pocket nines floats, which should be there only with a spade. Marin stays committed and fires a third barrel bluff, which actually turns out to be a value bet as Jellfish has only an ace high bluffcatcher, that doesn’t even beat some bluffs. After five minutes of thinking, Jellyfish goes for a shocking call, and Martin wins the pot of $379,300.
I think both players made some mistakes in the hand, but Jellyfish is obviously a very sticky player, and if Martin knew that he should never bluff this type of player, but play strictly for value. On the other hand, Jellyfish went into the tank a few times in the hand, as obviously his instincts were telling him that his hand was very close or not good enough.
Martin should make a note from this hand that will make him a lot of money in the future, and Jellyfish should learn a lesson that there is a fold button.
