Poker Stories: Winning Big at Higher Stakes

No matter where you’re at in your poker journey, there comes a point in which you’re just crushing the games you’re playing. If you’ve built up a big enough bankroll, it might be time to take a shot at some higher stakes!

In a recent vlog by PokerfaceAsh, we get to see this in action. At the 52 Social casino in Round Rock, Texas, she decides to buy into a $2/5 cash game for $1000, a bigger stack than normal in a bigger game than she’s used to.

It doesn’t take too long for her to get into the swing of things. Here’s what happened on the very first hand of the session.

All the Action

The action starts with an open raise from UTG +3, who is holding the KTd. Another active player flats behind with 97o, and another vlogger named Ryan Depaulo 3-bets from the cutoff with A5c to $125. It then folds around to Ash in the big blind.

She looks down at pocket jacks: the biggest of the medium pairs. Deciding that she’s getting the right pot odds, she decides to call the $120 to go with JdJs.

Photo: Science

The flop is a dream come true: AJ9 rainbow. Flopping middle set on an ace-high board is a great position, since it’s certainly possible that someone else could have flopped top pair and will pay off value.

Keeping her hand disguised, Ash is the first to check. The other plays think for a while before checking, and Ash is surprised that nobody decided to put in the continuation bet.

The turn is another juicy one: another 9. Now Ash is holding a full house, the second nuts, and she needs to ratchet up her value game, so she decides to make a smallish bet of $170, just a bit under half a pot bet.

Now it’s back on her opponent, the guy holding 97o, who can’t believe his luck: he just improved his bottom pair into a set! It doesn’t take long for him to snap off the all-in, and Ash can hardly contain her excitement as she makes the call.

Flipping up her hand, her opponent chuckles and says “very nice hand”. When the river brings a brick, a 3, Ash scoops up one of the biggest pots of her life, netting $662 after the very first hand.

When you go up in the stakes, you never know what could happen!