Stupid or smart Bubble play?

[DaffyDuck]

Some debate among some friends regarding this hand. SNG bubble. I think the button raiser is an idiot. Others think his play was appropriate. He had AKo.

UTG has 1060.
Button has 3375.
SB has 5410.
BB has 155.

SB posts the small blind of 100.
Button posts the big blind of 155, is all-in.

Pre-flop:

UTG folds.
Button raises to 400.

Thanks,

Bob

[david050173]

Why do you think he is an idiot? If he just calls (155 right?), the SB will play about anything. By raising, the SB will fold more (most) hands. Risking 155 to win 255 with AK against a random hand is a good gamble to take. Eliminating the BB helps UTG the most, followed by the button and SB. If the BB wins, it isn't a major concern to the button. The BB still has a stack which he doesn't really have to worry about and his presence will make UTG play tighter.

Now if he was raising with 72o you could definitely argue he is an idiot.

[Bigwig]

He may very well be an idiot, but not for this raise.

[lstactnhero]

first time, long time.

daffy, i believe you're talking about a hand that i was involved in. david's reply sums up my thinking. the last thing i wanted was for you to complete with xx and then hit Kxx on the flop. much better to define your hand preflop, with an easy laydown if you come over the top.

you mentioned that you hated to lay the hand down. i'm curious to know what it was.

. lstactnhero

[lorinda]

You should remember that the button has enough chips not to be worried about what the 1000 stack thinks.

His main priority is to get close enough to the big stack to win the thing as his chances of cashing are very high already.

Lori

[DaffyDuck]

Hey lstactnhero! It was the hand with you lol. I thought a lot about this hand and really wondered what the right play was after we talked about it on the table.

I'm getting more opinions supporting your way of thinking then mine so I think I may be on the wrong side of this one.

Also, I didn't really think you were an idiot because I honestly thought you were a good player. I apologize for the poor choice of words.

Bob

[DaffyDuck]

Oh, and I only had QT. I didn't hate laying the hand down per se. I just hated losing the chance of having 2 of us to try and knock him out.

Honestly, I thought about putting you all-in. Not because I felt strongly about my hand but because I wondered whether you would risk going out right there. If I put you all-in and won the side pot and the BB won the main pot he would have made the money and you would have bubbled out. Of course, I didn't know you had AK but if you had a lesser hand you might have folded to my raise. I just couldn't do it with QT.

Nice playin with ya. Hope to see you around.

Bob

P.S. I would have won the pot :-)

[david050173]

Don't be results focused. AK wins 2/3s the times against QT. You would have been risking 3500 chips to win <700 since he is folding if he doesn't have AA (maybe KK). And if he does have those he figures he is going to beat one of you. As the big stack you want to keep the BB around. As soon as he is gone, UTG is pushing with just about anything which makes your life easier. Life is a lot better when you can steal from him at will.

[raptor517]

i dont understand why you think he is an idiot. you have 5k chips, and he doesnt want to get involved too much with you, by letting you limp with crap hands. if he makes it 400 to go, and you reraise, he can get away from it very easily. his raise is just fine right there, because he puts 100 dead into the pot against any 2 cards with ak. ill do that all day. you shouldnt be worried about knocking out the small stack right now, you have 5k chips. there is absolutely no reason for him not to raise.