Flop Call?

No limit Holdem tournment, pays 9 in a typical payout structure ($2700 for 1st through $224 for 9th).


There are 11 of us left at 2 tables (5 at mine). Blinds are ar $500/$1000. Everyone at the table had between $6000-$10000. So basicly it is steal or die. This has been going on since we went to 2 tables with someone getting caught every now and then and busted out. The table seems to have settled on a raise to $2500 as being standard at this particular level.


I have $7000 on the button and raise to $2500 with 33. Big blind has $ 5500 after posting his BB and calls. Flop is TT5. Big Blind goes all in. Should I call? Also would It have been better to make a larger bet even though I had been making the standard raise to $2500 for several rounds? My felling is that a larger bet would be interpreted as having a weak hand that did not want a call.


Big Blind is a very solid local pro who is normally somewhat conservative, but fully capable of bluffing at the flop in this situation.

it would be easy for him to assume your bet was just to steal the blinds, and then decide to take it away from you if ant kind of scary flop hit---it did, and he did.

By posting the payout structure, I assume you are concerned with making the money more than winning the tournament. If you want to win the tournament, I would raise all-in preflop, since you are left with only $4500 if you don't play past the flop and clearly your hand leaves every board other than one with a 3 looking scary and probably having you beat.


If you are concerned mainly with making 9th place or better, I would fold pre-flop. At these limits and stack sizes, you have two more hands before moving into the blinds, which will bring you down to 5500 and most likely gets you to the final table and eventually into the money.


Unless I am reading this wrong, the big blind only has to throw in another $1500? Not much of a no-limit raise. No wonder so many are left at this limit.

I don't put him on anything where he's holding a 10. Much more likely he give you an opportunity to bet and then trap. A five in his hand is a possibility for sure, A5 or K5 suited. He could have also limped in with a small pair but unfortunately, that means he's probably bigger than you. Your only real hope here is that he's on over cards or 1 and 1 like A9. Although you are a favorite in that scenario, I just don't like a call here. Muck and try to regroup.


A bigger preflop raise might have stolen the blinds for you or knocked you out. Hard to say. But you invited action with that "standard" raise. Don't be afraid to bend the rules and be unpredictable.


I think you have to muck and live to see another hand or 2.


Keep playiing hard!

If he's capable of the line of thought laid out by Jellow, then I would feel I must call here. It is quite likely you're ahead, and you're getting almost 2.5:1 on the call. Even if you put your chances of being in the lead at only 50:50, it's a clear call.


If you estimate your chances of being in the lead at more like 35% or less, then you can fold.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

I did fold and went on to finish 8th. What swung my decision not to call was being so close to the money and the fact that even if I was right and he had nothing (which I felt was at least 50/50), he still had at least six outs to overtake me. If only five places had been paid I would have called. The real downside of not calling is that now I have set myself up for this to happen again in future tournments. Thanks for everyone's input.

By raising preflop, you are playing to win, not just cash, so not following through contradicts your play. Stealing the blinds is only marginally going to help you make the final table. I think you should have folded pre-flop if your goal was to finish in the money.