Covering live poker tournaments for a living affords me the chance to peer countless thousands of hands played out, lots of which provide interesting and potentially valuable insights into how players — both amateurs and professionals — play the sport. On this ongoing series, I'll highlight hands I've seen on the tournaments I've covered and spot if we will glean anything useful from them.
The Scene
Today we are going to have a look at a hand from this week's iNinja World Championship at Planet Hollywood, a marathon event for which Day 2 stretched well into day after today. It was a $250,000 guaranteed tournament with a $400 buy-in, drawing a recreational-heavy field of 1,140.
This hand comes from deep into the night, with just seven players remaining in contention for a first-place prize of greater than $73,000. It was late in Level 31 (60,000/120,000/20,000) and we picked up the action on fourth street between Collin Grubaugh (pictured above) and Joshua Steiner.
The Action
The board read 
after the turn, and Grubaugh installed a big gamble of 335,000 from the button. Steiner was within the cutoff and check-raised all in, putting Grubaugh in danger for just over 2.4 million. Grubaugh went deep into the tank and the clock was eventually called. With nine seconds remaining before his hand was dead, he dropped in some chips to call.
Grubaugh: 
Steiner: 
The dealer brought forth the 
from the deck, no help to Steiner.
"I checked the flop, I played my hand so deceptively," Grubaugh said after letting out a deep breath. "I just couldn't fold."
Concept and Analysis
We didn't see the preflop action here but we all know from Grubaugh's quote that he decided to test back the flop with top pair, good kicker. That is an example of under-representing a hand — that is, making it appear weaker than it actually is.
Betting top pair is also the usual play for many on this spot, and it's perfectly fine, but it is usually not a nasty spot to test back. Consider that Grubaugh's opponent came into the pot from late position, so he likely has some weaker hands in his range.
Also, take a look at the feel of that flop — . There's just not much available in the market besides a potential flush draw. The one cards Grubaugh probably doesn't need to see at the turn are hearts or aces.
It's helpful that the opposite overcard in this flop (a king) would truly improve Grubaugh, so there's less reason to give protection to his hand. Plus, with position, he can control the dimensions of the pot more easily if a foul card does come.
One of the ways under-representing assist you to get value later within the hand is that if your opponent calls subsequent bets with a weak holding, like ace-high or a small pair, thinking you could possibly have shown some aggression earlier for those who had something.
Joshua Steiner
Another way it may possibly get you value is from opponents who think they are able to get you to fold, figuring you've shown weakness and so they can force you out of the hand with some strong betting.
That's exactly what happens on this hand, as Grubaugh makes a worth bet at the turn with top pair, likely hoping to get called. Instead, he gets raised, and he's suddenly playing for his stack. It is a tough spot, but it's a must to get for your opponent's head somewhat and view what he thinks you have.
The shove is massive in comparison to the dimensions of the bet. In the event you haven't represented a robust hand, why would your opponent make a large shove like this if he had a large hand? So that you fold and do not pay him off?
In the end, Grubaugh summons the nerve and makes the massive demand his stack, being rewarded with an enormous pot when his opponent misses his many outs. Steiner made it tough on him, but Grubaugh followed through along with his plan, knowing he had laid the groundwork with deception on an earlier street.
It paid off too, as Grubaugh went directly to take the lion's share of a three-way chop and bank $63,876.
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