I hate KJo, but...

[TheDrone]

$10 Pacific SNG, last hand in level 2 (blinds 15/30 going to 25/50). Hero(T610) limps on the button with KJo after MP and CO limp. SB folds, BB(T1200) min raises and all call. Limping is bad, calling the min raise is worse, yes?

Flop is K73 rainbow. BB bets T120 into a T255 pot, MP folds, CO folds, my action with T550 left? I considered three options:

(1)There is no "but...". Fold and take my medicine for messing around with KJo here in the first place. I will have 11x BB on the next hand.
(2)Get a waste basket ready to hurl into. Call and then fold an unimproved turn to a decent bet or push the remaining T430 if he checks.
(3)Push if I am ahead of the hands he could min raise preflop in the BB in levels 1/2. This could be a wide range of hands but I'm not sure. Take a bigger dose of medicine if I bust and move on to the next one feeling nicely medicated.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer here, just curious if anyone can make a good argument for the option I chose or the ones I didn't choose.

[poboys]

I hate KJo too... I often play marginal hands early in a SnG (I won't go into what I think is marginal), but when I do play these hands, I decide--before the flop--how I am going to play them after the flop.

So, for example, if I limp in LP with 87s, I know that I am only going to play if I flop a straight draw, a flush draw, or two-pair or better.

So, you limp with KJo--forget about the min raise for a sec--what is the minimum flop that you'd play? In other words, if you are not going to play top pair, then why are you getting involved in this hand at all?

If you are convinced that the min raise means the raiser has AA, KK, AK, or KQ (i.e. you are dominated) than you should fold pre-flop. I am not sure that I would draw the same conclusion, but if you do, then the only flop that would make you happy would be JJ-x right?

To answer your question, I would say, that if you are playing KJ then you have to make a play at a TP hand, or else you shouldn't play KJ to begin with.

[spentrent]

Since it's level two I'm guessing there are 9 or 10 people left? The way I look at it, even on the button in your situation, KJo is identical to 24o... while you're praying for an open-ended straight draw, you're also praying that the same flop doesn't have two of a suit. Why bother?

[adanthar]

I limp in this spot in Party SNG's. The minraise means absolutely nothing at all and can be ignored 98% of the time, especially from the BB (with the one exception of 77 from people that like sweetening the pot with any pair. If he has that, oh well.)

So, you've got position on BB, who bet half the pot, and you're either way ahead or way behind. My money is on way ahead, but unlike with AK, you can't let this guy see a free card and you need to know where you stand right now. You certainly don't want him to see a free river.

The pot is 370, you have 550 behind, and you're up against a guy that doesn't know why minraises are bad. Fine. Minimum raise yourself, to about 250; if he calls, push any turn. (You are pot committed anyway, but he sucks. May as well give him two chances to fold. Plus, he'll call a flop minraise with 99 because calling minraises at 10+1 is automatic or something.) If he pushes, look back through his hands and see how he got those extra chips; if he's loose, I'd call, if not, muck it.

I am far more afraid of a BB who *checked*, or a thinking player who limped UTG, than I am of this guy. Play this hand aggressively.

(Note: The last time I saw an SB or BB minraise yesterday, he had K7s. Take this information as you will /images/graemlins/cool.gif )