NL HE Tourney Hands

Final table of a NL HE tourney, it is 6 handed.


First situation I am the chip leader with 41k on the button. It is checked to the cutoff who goes all in for 14k. I hold QQ, what is the correct play?


Second situation I am also on the button, this time 3/6 in chips with 25k. The Blinds are 1k/2k with $100 ante. I hold JJ and make it 6k to go. The SB with rougly 27k in chips goes all in and the BB folds. What is the correct play?


Results to follow, thanks in advance.

In both cases, I wouldn't fold. I call in the second hand without any real hesitation. The only caveat being if you know the SB so well that you know he is likely to hold an overpair. If overpairs are just among the possibilities, and he can also hold underpairs as well as Ax where x isn't always K or Q, then you just can't fold.


In the first case, what were the blinds and the stack sizes of the blinds? Also, for both plays of calling the 14K and raising all-in, what range of hands will the blinds need to hold to play along? If you flat call and one of the blinds makes a big reraise, will it be almost 100% certain they hold AA or KK? Once you answer these questions the right play should be apparent. Folding is probably almost never the right play.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

In the first scenario, the blinds are also 1k/2k and the SB has roughly 25k in chips and the BB 17k. Both are solid players and at this point in the tourney, would probably not move in without AA, KK, or possibly AK.


I moved all in, both blinds folded, and the cutoff turned over A 7 off to my QQ. An ace came down on the flop and there wasn't a Q to be seen.


In the second situation, I called. The SB turned over AQo and of course, an Ace flopped.


Earlier in the final table I moved in against AQ with QQ. Again, the Ace flopped.


Am I overplaying these pairs or are my opponents simply getting lucky? Before this tournament I had thought big pairs were among the best hands for late in a tournament. Now, I'm considering playing them meekly preflop and making moves only with big aces.


Thanks for your comments and help.

what you did may have been right or wrong, not enough info on chips on the table and stack sizes, payouts for each position. ideally you want your big stack to bully the little stacks and avoid those other big stacks that can hurt you badly. in a tournament it is as much about survival and moving up in position, picking your spots to be aggressive against weak or short stacked opponents. a big bet or raise by one of the big stacks at the table and i'm gone with your pairs, but against the short stacks i put em all in. avoid tangling with the stacks that can put you all in and bully the short stacks.

1) should be a clear all-in. Unless he happens to have AA, KK or AK, you have him dominated and the cutoff doesn't need much of a hand to move in here.


2) a pot-sized raise would have been to T7600. Your underbet only makes sense if you planed to fold to a reraise (which in turn only makes sense if the blinds are very tight). If you intended to call anyway, you might as well have moved in. The last thing you want with JJ is to see a flop with 1/4 of your stack in (and moving in might well have moved him off hands like KQ or AQ).


cu


Ignatius

Thanks for your feedback.


In the second situation I had previously made the raise to 6k from the button and stolen the blinds that way several times. As such, I wanted this raise to seem like another steal attempt and hoped to induce the all in as I felt I had the strongest hand. Should I have gone all in instead of trying to be crafty? Is JJ a bit too weak of a hand to be cute with?


Thanks.

> I [...] hoped to induce the all in


JJ is way too weak to deliberately trap with and provoke an all-in. In your situation, you should be perfectly happy to get the T3600 in the pot. If he calls your all-in bet, so be it - you still have a decent hand - but you should only consider this as a fallback.


You didn't mention payout structure and exact stack-sizes, but generally, in your chip position (3rd of 6), the only hands I'd really like to risk busting out with are aces and kings. Save your cute plays for the small stacks.


cu


Ignatius

Don't let these short-term results affect your play of these large pairs. In your examples you're 2.3-to-1 with QQ over A7, about 2-to-1 with QQ vs AQ. Still slight favorite with JJ over AK. You got your chips in with strong favorites in 2 of these 3 cases - just got drawn out on. Just watch out for re-raises from really tight players who will only do it with AA/KK...


If you don't want these hands late in tourneys, give them to me! Hang in there....


Dr. J

Dr. J

I don't understand how QQ can be a bigger favorite over A-7 than A-Q. True, there is one less queen in the deck, but it would seem the A hand has more outs with the 7 than with the Q. What am I missing?

Straight Potential and the halved risk of losing to a set on ace-high boards more than make up for the additional "out" to make trip 7s.


cu


Ignatius