Blind steal in NL and no RESPECT

Here's a hand from a live NL tourney last night. We are down to 2 tables. They pay the final table. Blinds are 500-1000 and antes are 100.


I have 4200 after anteing and I have the button. It is folded to me. I look down and see the wonderful 97s. The SB has 3900 after posting his blind. The BB has 5500 after posting his blind. Up to this point I have only shown good cards. I had made a few steals in previous rounds. Last round I went all-in on the button or cutoff.


I go all-in.


SB counts his chips and thinks and decides to call. BB almost immediately calls.


We table our cards. I have the 97s. SB has Q6o. BB has J4o. Holy cow the lack of respect is hurting. The BB had just been moved a few rounds ago. The SB did have a big stack and has lost most of it over several hands.


I can't imagine defending my blinds with Q6o or J4o. Even if the blind stealer is giving an obvious tell I don't call. I wonder what goes through players minds when they make these calls.


Oh well, next tourney please.


Ken Poklitar

ohKanada@hotmail.com

"I wonder what goes through players minds when they make these calls."


How about: "this guy Ken is very solid, the only way I can get pass him is if I get lucky with a crappy hand" /images/smile.gif


Seriously, how about, they're simply bad players !


I mean, you can always make a case about reraising with a trash hand if they think you will throw it away most of the time. But calling all-in, that's another story.


Let's see if we can work out some numbers. There is 1000+500+1000+4200 in the pot, that's 6700. The SB has 3900 left so he is getting 1.7:1 pot odds. It could be close for him, considering you could have two cards lower than a qween some of the time, making him a favorite. Although, I would certainly believe you would have a hand better than a Q high most of the time, like an ace or a king or worse, a pair higher that a 6 or a hand that dominates Q6 like QJ. This is a sure fold.


The BB overcalling with J4o, well, what can I say other than : I'm moving to Seattle!


Nicolas

"I'm moving to Seattle!"


Unfortunately I am moving to Austin, Texas in the next few months.


Arghhh.


Ken Poklitar

ohKanada@hotmail.com

Strangely enough my 97s was the favorite. So I guess I can now whine about a bad beat /images/smile.gif


I simmed 9s7s(38.99%) vs Qd6h(35.58%) vs Jc4h(25.44).


Ken Poklitar

ohKanada@Hotmail.com

Is this a joke? Q6o and J4o. I have heard their were players like this but it's hard to believe.

Austin is one of the greatest places around and you'll love it. I lived their for 5 years in college. Used to be a Friday NL game with $300 buy-in but no longer. I'm in Houston if you need a game or there's always the net.

Hi Ken,


I know what happened: I once read, that there was a time (and maybe still is) Sklansky played 83o every time he was dealt this hand like it was AA. The purpose was to make it difficult for the other players to read him. Probably these two guys read the same stuff and decided that this was a good idea. Then they picked up a random hand for each other: It was Q6o and J4o. Bad luck that you run into their Aces ;-)


Regards


Martin

The beauty of this hand is that in hindsight (i.e. when the cards would have been open) nobody made a mistake (EV-wise at least) - your 97s were a small 40% favorite, so you were correct to raise (anticipating 2 callers), Q6 was obviously right to call and even J4 got correct odds to overcall.


But even in the situation given, I don't think that the blinds made much of a mistake here. Even an average player will know that you would raise with most hands in this situation, esp. considering your stack size which forces you to make a move ASAP before you lose the ability to make a meaningful raise. And then there are the antes which make a huge difference.


In fact, the SB would be hard pressed to pass Q6 here with almost 2:1 odds, as it's unlikely that he would be more than a slight dog against the possible range of hands you might hold. And just like yourself, with T3900 left, the SB cannot aford to wait much longer before making a move. The BB's overcall with J4 is clearly a mistake, but with better than 3:1 odds, not a terrible one.


Of course, in a structure without an ante, or with deeper money, both hands would have been clear folds.


cu


Ignatius