On Day 1B of the 2017 MSPT Wisconsin State Poker Championship, which took place last November right here at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, registration was closed when, in Level 11 (800/1,600/200), Keith Heine looked down at the and he opened for 4,000 UTG+2.

John “Farmboy” Kurfman, who was next to act, then moved all in for 26,000 with what turned out to be the .

“In my opinion he was itching to get in,” Heine would later say. “To my delight, he jammed.”

Robert Yench was next to action and he called off for 12,000 with the , and then action folded to Lloyd Mandel (50,000), who called for 26,000 from the big blind with the . Heine then moved all in for his remaining 36,000 and Mandel made a reluctant call for around 10,000 more.

The board ran out and Yench got lucky to quadruple up in the main pot, while Mandel took down the sizeable side pot. Both Heine and Kurfman were eliminated in the hand.

Heine had lingering questions about the hand, so we decided to consult with poker pro Jonathan Little

MSPT: In your opinion, did Heine play this hand correctly?

Little: I certainly think he played his hand correctly. He raised from middle position with queens, which is perfectly fine and after two small all-ins and an effective all-in call, he put his 25-big-blind stack in the middle. It would take an insane amount of action to get me to fold queens preflop, and even then, you will likely be priced in to call.

MSPT: Could he have possibly just called for 26,000 preflop and then find a fold on the ace-high flop?

Little: No. The only time he loses when an ace comes is when Mandel has an ace. Mandel could easily have a worse pair, meaning Heine would be making a terrible fold on ace-high flops some amount of the time. When you have a large equity advantage, as Heine likely does, you want to get all the money in immediately.

MSPT: What do you make of Yench going with nine-seven suited in this spot? Is there any merit to him calling off with the protection of Kurfman’s shove?

Little: Nope. Nine-seven suited is an easy fold when you are against two likely strong ranges. Against two decently strong ranges, only wins about 25% of the time, which is nowhere near enough to justify getting all in unless you think you are much worse than your opponents.

MSPT: With a three-bet shove and another player calling off, not to mention Heine left to act behind him, what was Mandel’s best move holding Big Slick in the big blind?

Little: This is a tough spot for ace-king, but given stacks are quite short, I am fine getting all in. If there is a significant payout jump looming, perhaps folding would be fine. I would have made the call in his spot as well, especially if you know your opponents are getting in with hands like ace-queen and nine-seven!

PokerCoaching.com is an interactive poker learning experience from two-time WPT Champion Jonathan Little. Try it for free at PokerCoaching.com/mspt.