Was this a good play or just stupid?

[KidsDad]

At my first casino no-limit tournament with a $55.00 Buy-in = 3000 in chips, I survived the first hour break with a littleless then 3k. After the break we brought in 2 other players. I was short stacked and managed a couple of steals with about 3.5k in chips. Chair 1 (off the casino's dealer) was a recent docertate grad, seats 2&3 held by raisers if a strong had developed, 4 a caller looking for straights, chair 5 was as yet unknown, I'm in in the 6th chair, chairs 7 & 8 had marginal players who would fold rather thatn take a draw, and chair 9 also a first time tournament player who caught a couple of good hands, and seemingly played solid.

On this hand, at 75/150 and in the big blind, I caught Ac-10C. My first through fourth called. I caught the tell on the 2nd & 3rd chair that they were going to fold (they did), 7th from me (dealer) also folded, and the small blind called. I raised to 300 (sensing weakness from the bettors before me), my 1st through 4th called, the small blind folded. the flop came up:

5s - Jh - Ks

I (now under the gun) checked. My first & second also checked (weak). Third bet 150, and fourth (post-grad) bet out 300 -- I raised to 500 -- thinking a pair by either 3rd of 4th position. Again I raised to 500. Third folded & fourth called. After Fourth Street, the board was:

5s - JH - Ks - 8h

2 hearts, 2 spades, and me with a straight draw, heads-up with the fourth position (away from me -- first chair); I checked, fourth bet 500 (I figured a minimal bet considering the pot); I called. On the river,

5s - Jh - Ks - 8h - 9s

I missed my straight, but severely short stacked with about 2200 against the rest of the table, minimum 5k to about 18k in chips. I checked, fourth bet 500 -- again a minimal bet, which I figured for a pair, against a flush and straight draws on the board (and considering I raised pre-flop) I went all-in (about 1,700) on a busted straight -- bluffing the flush & straight.

Fourth, after a few momnts finally called and busted me out with a pair of kings -- actually Kd-4d.

Yeah, I lost the had but considering my position and stack
was this a bad strategy, or just poorly played?

[HopeydaFish]

It sounds to me that you got yourself pot committed in a pot that you shouldn't have gotten yourself pot committed in. With 3000 chips, you could have afforded to wait for a better hand to blow your wad on.

You read correctly that your opponent only had a pair. One thing you didn't mention was how many chips your opponent had. This would have influenced his decision to call.

Whatever the number of chips he had, he called because he figured you were bluffing, for whatever reason. He didn't put you on a flush, str8 or TPTK. He's either very weak or very good. In any event, he knocked you out of the tournament, so it doesn't matter why he called.

Like I said, I think you should have been a little more patient. The blinds weren't big enough that you had to make a move right away.

[k_squared]

I agree... at the very least you should have been more patient or more aggressive. Raising pre-flop with enough to actually make a steal play right then and there would also have been good, and hopefully eliminating a hand like K-4 from contention (but with th goal of winning before the flop and taking advantage of your read that the other players were weak).

I also think that your raise of a reraise was the wrong decision. You should have folded on the flop. Not worth investing a ton of money on a draw at that point in the tournament, unless you have good control of your opponent, which you didn't.

Just a thought, either more aggresive or just get away from the hand...
-K_squared

[pmyers23]

[ QUOTE ]

It sounds to me that you got yourself pot committed in a pot that you shouldn't have gotten yourself pot committed in. With 3000 chips, you could have afforded to wait for a better hand to blow your wad on.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. You put yourself in the position to have the pot odds..with your own chips.

[K C]

You need to throw this away on the flop, not raise. You don't really have anything here, and while you say you're hoping to get a pair on the turn, a pair of tens will probably only get you in more trouble. You're working with 7 outs here on the turn, and none of them are a sure thing.

As a rule of thumb, you want to protect your tournament chips at this time, and not go fishing as the dog without the pot odds unless you're desperate.

KC
http://kingcobrapoker.com

[Reef]

why are you min. raising preflop? Your other raise was also weak