In our Poker Hand of the Week we analyze one of the sickest folds ever by Juan Pardo folding Pocket Kings Preflop to Jean Norel Thorel at Triton Poker London.
Poker Hand of the Week Setup
This amazing poker hand was played in the $125,000 Triton Series London Main Event Final Table, which featured some of the best poker tournament players on the planet such as Stephen Chidwick and Juan Pardo aka “Malakastyle” online.
We are at the Triton London Main Event Final Table with six players left and a staggering $4,100,000 up top, so there are huge ICM implications.
Stephen Chidwick and Jean Norel Thorel are the two chip leader and have Juan Pardo covered.
Poker Hand of the Week Action
Preflop:
Blinds are 100k/200k with a 200k big blind ante. Juan Pardo raises from UTG to 400,000 with K♦K♣ and Jean Norel Thorel picks up A♥A♣ in the Hijack and 3-bets to 1,000,000.
Chip leader Stephen Chidwick then 4-bets to 2,300,000 with A♠K♠ from the small blind. Jean Norel Thorel then announces All-In out of turn as it is Pardo’s turn to act.
Juan goes deep into the tank for two and a half minutes and then folds Pocket Kings Preflop!
Poker Hand of the Week Analysis
Incredible fold by Juan Pardo Dominguez. Let’s try to find out why he made it?
Juan’s UTG raise with Kings and Jean’s 3-bet with Aces is obviously standard. Steven Chidwick picks up AsKs in the small blind and since he is out of position and chip leader he understandably 4-bets.
Now the action is back on Pardo, but before he can act, Jean Norel Thorel announces All-In out of turn.
This is a huge sign of strength given the fact that Jean is second chip leader and does this against the chip leader.
There are huge pay jumps and therefore massive ICM implications. Here are the payouts:
- – $4,185,0002.
- – $2,830,000
- – $1,940,000
- – $1,582,000
- – $1,260,000
- – $970,000
ICM dictates that you shouldn’t 5-bet shove against the chip leader with anything else but top of your range in this spot.
That’s why we can narrow down Thorel’s range here to Pocket Aces and Pocket Kings and maybe Queens. However, would Jean really 5-bet shove Queens in this spot against the chip leader, when the next payout is $970K and there are a staggering $4.2 Million up top?
Juan doesn’t think so, which means it’s either Pocket Aces or Pocket Kings. Since Pardo blocks Pocket Kings this combo is highly unlikely and he correctly figures that Thorel must have Aces and makes an incredible fold.
Poker Hand of the Week Conclusion
It takes a lot to fold Pocket Kings Preflop and is an amazing sight, if a player does so and is correct.
In this spot with huge ICM implications being second chip leader and 5-bet shoving All-in out of turn, Jean Norel Thorel gave away this hand though.He basically always has Aces in this spot.
A player as good as Juan Pardo is able to put the pieces of the puzzle together correctly, which leads to the Fold of the Year 2023.
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