JJ early .. 4 hands (Party $20) [Archive] - Two Plus Two Older Archives

Benholio

10-24-2004, 07:57 PM

I am often unsure of how to proceed with pocket jacks early in a tournament, when someone else has raised or I am in early position mainly. Below are some relevant hand histories.

Hand #1
Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t15 (10 handed)

Hero (t760)
MP2 (t1045)
MP3 (t855)
CO (t640)
Button (t800)
SB (t755)
BB (t925)
UTG (t625)
UTG+1 (t770)
UTG+2 (t825)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with J/images/graemlins/spade.gif, J/images/graemlins/heart.gif.
UTG calls t15, 1 fold, UTG+2 raises to t80, Hero calls t80, 6 folds, UTG folds.

Flop: (t200) A/images/graemlins/club.gif, 3/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 6/images/graemlins/heart.gif (2 players)
UTG+2 bets t100, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t300

In this hand, I cold called about 5xBB in middle position, hoping to encourage more callers and play the hand for set value (or overpair value? as an overpair, would be shaky). Should I have possibly re-raised here to try and get heads up, or just let go of the hand?

Hand #2
Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t15 (10 handed)

CO (t915)
Button (t715)
SB (t785)
BB (t680)
Hero (t770)
UTG+1 (t720)
UTG+2 (t755)
MP1 (t725)
MP2 (t1030)
MP3 (t905)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with J/images/graemlins/spade.gif, J/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
Hero raises to t55, UTG+1 calls t55, 1 fold, MP1 calls t55, 6 folds.

Flop: (t190) 2/images/graemlins/club.gif, 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 5/images/graemlins/spade.gif (3 players)
Hero bets t200, UTG+1 raises to t665 (All-In), MP1 folds, Hero calls t465.

Final Pot: t1520

This one I am not sure about the PF play or the play on the flop. PF, should I just try to limp UTG when I get these this early? Otherwise, how good is the raise amount? (lately I have been using a bigger raise in level 1) After getting a good flop, I lead out with a pot-sized bet and get raised all-in. How is the flop bet? How is the call?

Hand #3
Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t15 (10 handed)

BB (t1130)
UTG (t790)
UTG+1 (t585)
UTG+2 (t630)
Hero (t775)
MP2 (t1020)
MP3 (t1045)
CO (t360)
Button (t880)
SB (t785)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with J/images/graemlins/club.gif, J/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
UTG calls t15, UTG+1 calls t15, 1 fold, Hero calls t15, 2 folds, CO calls t15, Button calls t15, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t105) Q/images/graemlins/club.gif, A/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 5/images/graemlins/heart.gif (7 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 bets t40, Hero folds, CO folds, Button calls t40, SB folds, BB calls t40, UTG folds.

This hand, with 2 limpers already, I decided to just limp and play for set value. Is this the right way to treat jacks this early? I don't feel comfortable raising in this position because I don't think I can limit the field enough without a really large raise.

Hand #4 (Last one)
Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (10 handed)

Hero (t860)
CO (t868)
Button (t500)
SB (t805)
BB (t822)
UTG (t525)
UTG+1 (t1115)
UTG+2 (t510)
MP1 (t1500)
MP2 (t495)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with J/images/graemlins/spade.gif, J/images/graemlins/heart.gif.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t30, 1 fold, MP1 raises to t85, 1 fold, Hero calls t85, CO calls t85, 2 folds, BB calls t55, UTG+1 calls t55.

Flop: (t440) 5/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 8/images/graemlins/club.gif, 6/images/graemlins/heart.gif (5 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP1 bets t100, Hero raises to t775 (All-In), CO folds, BB folds, UTG+1 calls t775, MP1 folds.

Another hand where I wasn't sure whether to cold-call or re-raise preflop. I am pretty comfortable with the flop play though, should I be?

Thanks for any feedback!