2 Hands from a $200 on Party

[Chief911]

Tonight there was something wrong with the $100 SNG's, so I slummed up and played a $200 on one of the tightest tables ever. We played level 9 4 handed for a while. =)

Here's hand 1:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t15 (10 handed)

BB (t985)
UTG (t985)
UTG+1 (t1000)
UTG+2 (t1090)
MP1 (t1295)
MP2 (t1030)
Hero (t985)
CO (t970)
Button (t975)
SB (t685)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with K/images/graemlins/club.gif, A/images/graemlins/heart.gif.
UTG calls t15, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls t15, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises to t70</font>, CO folds, Button folds, SB calls t60, BB folds, UTG calls t55, UTG+2 calls t55.

Flop: (t295) T/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 8/images/graemlins/club.gif, Q/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="blue">(4 players)</font>
SB checks, <font color="CC3333">UTG bets t250</font>, UTG+2 folds, Hero folds, SB folds.

Final Pot: t545

Results in white below: <font color="white">
No showdown. UTG wins t545. </font>


Can you play that differently? I have plenty of outs. Any A, K, or J gives me a hand, with the J giving me a dominating hand. Critique please.

Hand 2:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t500 (4 handed)

Button (t610)
SB (t6995)
Hero (t775)
UTG (t1620)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif, A/images/graemlins/club.gif.
UTG folds, Button folds, <font color="CC3333">SB raises to t1000</font>, Hero calls t275 (All-In).

Flop: (t1775) 2/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 9/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 2/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="blue">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

Turn: (t1775) 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

River: (t1775) 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="blue">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

Final Pot: t1775

Results in white below: <font color="white">
Hero has 4h Ac (two pair, fours and twos).
SB has Qs 3h (one pair, twos).
Outcome: Hero wins t1550. SB wins t225. </font>

I had to make a decision here. Play to win, or play to make 3rd place money. Also factoring in was the fact that the other lower stack had already been brought back from under 1xBB THREE times. The big stack was stealing every other hand, so he obviously did not have something good every time. I'm not a guy who plays to squeek into 3rd, and that was the driving force on this decision. Critique please.

Nick

[ChrisV]

(1) Totally standard. Your other option is raise all-in, but you'd be a braver man than I.

(2) Call is definitely right. If you fold you are trading having to win this allin for the other guy having to lose his. With A4 you have a better shot of winning this one now. That's before we even start talking about the possibility of making second place, or the other guy having the SB folded to him, etc. I'd fold a REALLY ragged hand in this spot maybe, but A4 is not close.

[viennagreen]

hand #2 is not even a decision... you should call here with any two cards automatically.. any two cards--- you don't have a choice....

and if the situation was reversed, and you were raising when there was a short-stacked big blind in that situation, you have to assume that they have to call with any two cards as well.

if the small blind didn't want to fold his hand, he should have completed with the intention of calling your all-in preflop, and bet out on the flop regardless of what fell--- that's the only way that he should have a chance of stealing this hand.

[durron597]

Hand 1: I raise a touch more preflop, but otherwise standard and fine.

Hand 2: One of the easiest calls I've ever seen.

[Daliman]

hand #1 you need to raise more. The standard formula I use is 3xBB plus 2x limpers or raisers, (although I use 4-5x BB in the early stages usually) so here, you had 3xBB=45 and 2 limps for 15=30x2=60. Minimum plausible raise here therefore is to 105. Raising only 55 more into a pot that now has 125 in it GUARANTEES the limpers call and will usually allow the blinds to call with anything helf-reasonable, which is exactly what happened.

[Jason Strasser]

Both hands seem very standard to me. I don't think anyone could argue with your play.

-Jason

[Daliman]

also, hand #2 is easiest call ever. Folding here costs MEGA EV, and it idnt like you can blind into 3rd easily.