NLH Hand

PokerStars $30 Tournament


About 60 players left, prizes last table.


I have $4600, about $1000 less than average, the blinds are $200-$400, $50 ante.


I'm BB with QQ. Mid-table first-in raiser makes it $6000!? Cut-off calls. I'm new to the table and have not played with either before.


Do you muck this hand?


MS Sunshine

I called.


First-in raiser had J9o and caller had TT.


J9 wins with a straight.


I kicked myself for calling such a large bet from a first-in raiser with a caller, even though I was ahead, as it turned out.


MS Sunshine

I probably would muck it because I'm a big coward.


Chances are the raiser has ace-big, but the caller certainly has a pair. In the best situation, the raiser has something like AJ and caller has TT, so you'll win the pot about half the time, getting 2-1. But some of the time it'll be AK and JJ, so there are 8 cards out against you, reducing the odds. And some of the time one of them has KK or AA, and you're buried.


In any case, I don't think I'd run that risk with my whole stack and still a good deal of room for maneuvre.


In the absence of a read, you have to assume the caller at least has a clue about what he's doing, so he'll have KK or AA most likely.


Off to read the results now and make myself feel stupid.


Guy.

I was right, I do feel stupid now I've read the results.


Jack nine?


Guy.

No !


The very fact that someone wants to go all in for 6000 with blinds 200-400 tells you that he isn't a good player. Therefore he could have a lot of hands. The cut-off could know this too. Or he could be another lunatic.


When playing on the Internet it is often worth considering the words of Homer Simpson when evaluating your opponents' play. "It's because they're stupid. That's why everybody does everything".


Andy.

"I kicked myself for calling such a large bet from a first-in raiser with a caller, even though I was ahead, as it turned out. "


Isn't that what you welcome? You were a huge favorite (about a 70% favorite). Heck, if I could get thoss odds in the middle of every tourney I played in, I'd be a millionnaire.


The key factor here is that you do not have info on the player. As Andy pointed out, a player betting 6K all-in with 200-400 blinds is usually not a solid player. Although he could be varying his play if he has been in high gears recently, more likely than not, you have the best hand.


Without any info on a player, assume he's an idiot. Especially online.


This seemed to me like an easy call. There are only 2 hands against you are in big trouble.


Nicolas

1. Unrealistic bet for situation


2. You need chips.


3. Pretty easy call.


The bettor sounds like a real idiot. An oversize bet means he does not have a big hand. Most likely a small pair or some type of mediocre connectors like 89 9-10; 10-J.


Hope you called (got a feeling you did) and won. I'll check the results.


You or Les gonna be at the WSOP this weekend through the main event? I'll be there.


KC50

See you had the best of it.


Well I assume you at least kept your tourney record in tack? /images/smile.gif


KC50

In Mesquite this weekend.


MS Sunshine

Hey, I got a second and a 7th this week, about $1800 total this week. Out of the slump for the kid.


MS Sunshine

Is this opening all-in raise really so out of line?


Blinds 200-400, ante 50, so there's 1100 in the pot, assuming 10 players. So a pot-size raise would mean opening for 1900.


If you open for 2000, say, and are called, there's going to be 5100 in the pot when the flop comes down, so you can't even make a pot sized bet.


I know lots of people who would just go all-in in this situation.


Plus, since we're playing online, you can easily imagine getting called by all sorts of crap here, e.g. small pairs like QQ. So if I've got AA here, I may well just push in, depending on the mood of the table.


Would that be a long way out of line?


Guy.

Guy,


"Blinds 200-400, ante 50, so there's 1100 in the pot, assuming 10 players. So a pot-size raise would mean opening for 1900.


If you open for 2000, say, and are called, there's going to be 5100 in the pot when the flop comes down, so you can't even make a pot sized bet."


When you play NLHE (esp. when you play with antes), you gotta pick up the blinds and antes from time to time, otherwise you´ll get blinded out. I don´t know about you, but I don´t get a premium hand every round. So, to compensate the lack of good hands you gotta stealraise from time to time, when a good situation occurs. If you make a potsized bet with your steals and an all in raise with your premium hands, even the worst players on the internet will catch up. If you raise all in all the time, you will be caught by a premium hand pretty fast. So, as long as you have enough chips left to play strong poker when you have to fold to a reraise, you should make a potsized bet. A rule of thumb for me: With blinds of 200/400 and 50 antes, the standart raise would be 2k. If this 2k would be ~ 1/3 of my stack, I could easily fold to a reraise with a weak hand. If this 2k would be about 1/2 of my stack, I would go all in preflop, since I would play to the river with half of my stack in anyway.


Regards


Martin

Good advice, and if less than a potsize raise will do the trick, make it even smaller. As little as is necessary. On the internet a raise of less than the pot is often big enough when the antes are in play. I tend to go a little more than the total amount in the pot, e.g. blinds 200-400, antes 50, total 1000 in the pot, I make it 1100 to go if no one is in yet. If this gets called/raised, 1600 was probably going to get called/raised as well.


Andy.

Thanks Martin & Andy!


I think this is a case of me outthinking myself. I wouldn't make the all-in raise in this situation, although with 4000 I might do. However, I have heard people saying that they prefer to go all-in if the reasonable raise is a third of their stack, so I wouldn't necessarily read the player as a loony just on the basis of this one raise. when he shows J9 I might though!


About the QQ: didn't the call in front worry you? What can a cold caller possibly have here?


Guy.

Yes, the cold call worried me. That is why I thought I made a bad call even though it turned out I was ahead.


MS Sunshine