7's and a shortish stack

[bosoxfan]

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t100 (7 handed)

BB (t1805)
UTG (t2340)
MP1 (t1030)
MP2 (t1360)
CO (t545)
Button (t160)
Hero (t760)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7/images/graemlins/club.gif, 7/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
<font color="CC3333">UTG raises to t200</font>, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, CO folds, Button folds, Hero calls t150, BB calls t100.

Flop: (t600) 5/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 5/images/graemlins/club.gif, 4/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(3 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">Hero bets t560 (All-In)</font>, BB folds, UTG calls t560.

Turn: (t1720) 2/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="blue">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

River: (t1720) Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

Final Pot: t1720


I called with the intention of pushing any raggedy flop. Should I have just pushed this pre-flop?

[Jackarama_]

imo i would push preflop

[NorCalJosh]

what was your read on the big stack prior to the hand? if he was a sound player, making the minraise UTG might smell a bit fishy to me personally i suppose... calling the raise is about 1/5th of your stack... i dunno. could you explain your exact reason for pushing preflop jackarama?

[ilya]

Fold preflop.

[bosoxfan]

Since the BB increased to 100 if anyone raised it was a min raise so it didn't seem strange to see this. I called rather than pushed because the raise tells me it's a decent hand at least and with my stack I felt I had virtually no folding equity.

[bosoxfan]

[ QUOTE ]
Fold preflop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Care to expand?

[ilya]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Fold preflop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Care to expand?

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure.
You have 710 after posting the SB, so calling the 150 uses up over 20% of your stack. Your call is also giving the BB great odds to call with ATC trying to flop a monster. You will have to check/fold the flop a majority of the time, leaving you with only 560 and noticeably less folding equity than you would have with 710.
Those few times when the board looks ragged enough, you will be pushing into an EP raiser who's much less likely to have been on a steal than your garden variety LP open-raiser. Not to mention that the BB will often be in there as well, and since he might have called with ATC with the pot odds he's getting, you'll have no idea whether the flop hit him even if it's ragged.
Finally, the BB might re-raise after you call, putting you to a very unpleasant decision.

The other alternative to folding is pushing. I really don't like it. As you pointed out, your folding equity is limited. UTG is not folding any overpair to your 77. True, he's not folding overcards either. But the pot is only giving you 1.28:1. Considering that you are slightly ahead at best, why take such skimpy odds?
The push looks even worse, IMO, when you consider that you've just paid the blinds and have a good stack for stealing.

[bosoxfan]

good post. thanks.

[NorCalJosh]

"Those few times when the board looks ragged enough, you will be pushing into an EP raiser who's much less likely to have been on a steal than your garden variety LP open-raiser"


that was basically the line of thinking in my whole post when i was curious about the UTG chip lead raiser. even with the min raise, he WAS chip leader, which either 1)implies great luck or 2) implies some knowledge, which means he wouldnt be raising UTG with crap. and seeing as he was the chip leader, if you pushed preflop, he could afford to call on a coinflip, and i think would be correct to do so, so pushing after his raise puts you at BEST in a coin flip situation to my way of thinking... i was thinking that a call to a check/fold if overcards flopped wouldnt be a terrible play, but after reading ilyas post i suppose folding preflop might be the best play after all.