Home Game AQs Hand....

[Ian J]

Hello,

Last night, I played in a pretty well organized home game with some significant money involved. $40 buy in, unlimited $20 rebuys for the first 3 levels, and an optional add-on. 26 players started, the top 5 were being paid, and this hand took place at the final table with 8 people left.

I'm in MP and find A /images/graemlins/diamond.gifQ /images/graemlins/diamond.gif with blinds at 400/800 and no ante. I have T8400 and open for T2200. It's folded to a player in the CO who raises all-in. He has about T9k.

A little background. This player is skilled, but more on the loose aggressive side. He respects my play, but knows that I'll go after the blinds pretty hard at times with less than premium hands. Also, the blinds were not going up for another 20 minutes or so.

So, knowing that, do you call your last 6200 here?

[RobGW]

If you fold this you will ha e 6200 left with blinds at 800/400. Not a very good position. There is 12000 in the pot and 6000 to call. About 2:1 odds. I would reluctantly take the chance at doubling up and getting into a better position to win.

[durron597]

A few considerations you should consider (that you didn't post). First is your relative table position if you fold; if the stacks are very shallow and lots of people are around 10xBB, then would make me more likely to fold. Another important consideration is the steepness of the prize structure; the flatter the prize structure, the better a fold is.

However, with the information you have given me, I would say 2:1 pot odds is good enough to call given the aggressiveness of the player.

[betgo]

You are pot committed and AQs is a good hand. You have to call.

Since you have to call a reraise with anything you raise with, it is more standard to open raise allin.

[Indiscreet]

I don´t like your preflop raise. Either you flat call or you show him that you´re pot committed (bet 4 k or maybe allin)s that its clear for him winning the pot withut a showdown is not an option.
The way you played you let him put you the question to you instead of the opposite.
Flat calling has lots of benefits too. If he raise you can: a) Put him allin if you feel he is on a steal. That way you win mre money than if he folds, compared to what you would have done if he would have folded when you made the first raise.
b) Call and see the flop without risking your whole stack
c) Fold if you believe he really got the goods.
AQ is a "problem hand" (suited doesnt change that a bit in a heads up situation, especially in tourneys because you dont want to be drawing. If you are reraised the best you can hope for is a coin chip situation against pocket pair.
AK, AA, KK, and QQ are nightmares.
As an answer to your question I would say "Fold", if you aren´t convinced that he is making a play at you.

[SossMan]

icky....

was the table pretty tight?

do you have trouble stealing blinds?

were there a number of medium stacks (8x-12x)?

did the players play too recklessly on the bubble?

if 1 or more of these are true, then I would lean towards a fold. Otherwise, I can't see how you can lay this down.

I can understand your initial raise, but I don't hate a limp or even a push there either. In fact, on a table where I'm not pretty sure I'm going to take the blinds there, I like a limp the best there.
I tend to get a little cautious preflop vs. opponents that are too loose (typical home game opponents).

[Indiscreet]

Maybe I should be more specific about why I dislike your raise. Its the chip position that bother me.
If u had 15 k each with an 800 BB it would be a nice standard raise, as u could easily get away from it after the flp.
If u had a 4k stack it would also be good, as a 2,2 k raise then would be equivalent to an allin and u just have to take a stand sooner or later.
But here you commit over 25 percent of your stack with a real problem hand. If he has gt any kind of legitimate hand (AA down to 99 + AK, AQ and AJ) there are 21 holdings that beat u, and only 12 combinations (all the AJ:s) that u beat. The rest is about even money.
Even AKs is a problem hand in tourneys, when u cant rebuy (in cash games its much better). The way to play it is either see a cheap flop so u can fold if u dont hit, OR shove it all in to the middle, so you get to see five cards, alternatively win it preflop.
The same goes for AQ.