Was Calling With Kings GTO in Triton Jeju?

A hand played in the 100,000 dollar main event of Triton Jeju II has sparked discussion in the poker world. In the heads-up match, Nick Schulman called on the button with a pair of kings. Austrian high stakes player Bernhard Binder had opened for 3.5 million chips from the big blind with king-jack.

The hand was played after an ICM agreement. Each player had been guaranteed more than 3.08 million dollars, and 3.854 million dollars was at stake for first place. Schulman put his entire stack in, and Binder called after a long think. Schulman's kings were ahead, and he won the tournament.

Lukas Robinson reviewed the hand with the GTO Wizard solver. The solver recommends a polarized limp strategy. Strong hands set traps, while middling hands go straight to preflop all-in. Calling with a pair of kings came out as the option with the highest total expected value, because it encourages weak big blind hands to raise more.

The analysis found Binder's opening action to be mistaken. King-jack offsuit is not among the hands the solver opens to 3.5 big blinds. According to the solver, this hand should be played all-in against a limp. However, since the expected value difference between the two options is small, the decision counts as a technical mistake but its cost is low.