AT UTG 3-handed even stacked

[texasrattlers]

Is this an auto push. I ended up in third being called by AJ in BB. w/ blinds 200/400 and each player w/ ~4500 chips (Stars 6+0.5), I am wondering if I could have played this better.

[captZEEbo1]

no, not a push hand (in my book). This a hand that you can play better by raising 3x bb and seeing what they do on the flop. Especially at this buyin. Keep this in mind, someone is a lot more willing to call an allin with 44 pf than after the flop. If the flop comes KQ7, you bet, they're gonna have a hard time calling. Since you do have about 10x bb it's close. But in my opinion, people's flop decisions are so poor at lower buyins, you're better off seeing a lot more flops and worse off pushing allin pf.

[texasrattlers]

That's a great point about the small pockets that I have been thinking about but have not tried -- sometimes seeing something in print helps to clarify things for me. I find myself in too many race situations w/ overcards by going all in. But if I just put in a decent raise pre-flop and follow up w/ a bet on any high cards on the flop, I should be able to chase away the low pocket pairs. Thanks!

[Desdia72]

[ QUOTE ]
Is this an auto push. I ended up in third being called by AJ in BB. w/ blinds 200/400 and each player w/ ~4500 chips (Stars 6+0.5), I am wondering if I could have played this better.

[/ QUOTE ]

no, it's not an auto-push. if you have a stack that deep, you can certainly limp with it and depending on how tight the other players are, you could also 3XBB raise. if there is a reraise over the top, then you still have 3200 in chips if you fold. i just finished a SNG where i got doubled up about 3 or 4 times by a maniac who was pushing the whole table around with any two cards. every time i went over the top of him, i had the goods and i had a bead of the type of player he was and when would be a good time to push. the very last hand headsup, (blinds 75/150)i raised 3XBB to 450 with A /images/graemlins/club.gifJ /images/graemlins/club.gif and he reraised me back and i pushed all-in. he called turning over Q Jo. he ended up catching a Q on the river (which is the 6th time in the last three days i've lost a SNG on the river), but my push was based on the hands he was playing and the type of player he was and i could'nt be mad that i made my play with the best of it. an A 10 push with a deep stack, three-handed, when you don't have too is'nt sound poker.

[triplc]

[ QUOTE ]
no, not a push hand (in my book). This a hand that you can play better by raising 3x bb and seeing what they do on the flop. Especially at this buyin. Keep this in mind, someone is a lot more willing to call an allin with 44 pf than after the flop. If the flop comes KQ7, you bet, they're gonna have a hard time calling. Since you do have about 10x bb it's close. But in my opinion, people's flop decisions are so poor at lower buyins, you're better off seeing a lot more flops and worse off pushing allin pf.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is definitely a raise situation, and I think it's a marginal choice between all-in and 3 x bb. By raising all-in with this hand you've made AJ make a decision for all his chips. Some might lay it down (although maybe not at $6). You also make small pairs make the same tough decision.

By raising 3xbb, you're making it much easier for AJ to call and see the flop, same with 44. And, you're inviting a bigger (or smaller) hand to reraise all-in and put you to a decision. This can be also be a good thing, because if a tight player reraises you all-in with a really big hand, you can get away from it.

Tough call either way. Good arguments both ways if you ask me. Since he had AJ...you should have folded... /images/graemlins/smile.gif.

Play well,

CCC