$100+9 hand

[Dominic]

UB 6-handed SNG, down to three.

840MD is at seat 0 with 2395.
athenian is at seat 4 with 630.
RoyBatty (hero) is at seat 5 with 2975.

840MD posts the small blind of 50.
athenian posts the big blind of 100.
Roy Batty is on the button.

RoyBatty: Jc Jh

Pre-flop:

RoyBatty raises to 350. 840MD re-raises to 1150.
athenian folds. RoyBatty goes all-in for 2975.
840MD goes all-in for 2395. RoyBatty is returned 580
(uncalled).

Tournament all-in showdown -- players show:

840MD shows Kd As.
RoyBatty shows Jc Jh.


Flop (board: 7d 5h 8h):

(no action in this round)


Turn (board: 7d 5h 8h 9s):

(no action in this round)


River (board: 7d 5h 8h 9s 9c):

(no action in this round)




Showdown:

840MD has Kd As 8h 9s 9c: a pair of nines.
RoyBatty has Jc Jh 8h 9s 9c: two pair, jacks and nines.

Okay, I won the hand and went on to win the SNG easily. But the more I replay it, the more I think I may have had other options than simply pushing.

I had been pretty aggressive stealing the villain's blinds, as he would not, of course, play back at me with less than a premium hand. The short stack was far below us.

So when he reraised me, I went into the tank...it was possible he had a bigger PP, of course, but with AA or KK he was the type of player who would just call my raise and try and trap me on the flop...remember, he had no reason to play back at me - we would both be in the money shortly, barring a great comeback from Athenian - so I figured him for a hand that wanted to take the pot down now, either a PP or AK...he'd fold AQ or worse in this situation.

So really, the only hand I gave him credit for that I would be behind was QQ...but the more I thought about it, the more it smelled like a smaller PP...if I fold, we switch chip positions but are still far ahead of the short stack. So that is an option. But If I push and win the hand, I will be so far ahead of the short stack it would pretty much guaranteee me the win.

Now, I also considered just calling and playing the flop, since I had position and would still have over 1800 in chips if the flop was not to my liking. But I hated to give him what is pretty much a 50-50 shot of flopping overcards to my Jacks; therefore not knowing where I stood in the hand.

So I pushed.

Critiques? How was my thought process? Am I an idiot for risking getting crippled with JJ? I'm really working hard on improving my bubble play, and mid PPs in this situation is exactly what I'm having the most trouble with.


Thanks!

[Myst]

JJ is a monster hand 3-handed. Though I understand the blinds are small at this point, you seem to have all possible hands read. I dont think calling is a viable here.... you cant afford to invest a bit more than a 1/3 of your stack when a good chance overcards are gonna hit. Pushing is the only play.

[curtains]

Sometimes in life you have to gamble. Move allin, you are going to have to accept a lot of coin flips when you play these sit and gos (And very good chances this hand won't be a coin flip.)

[TylerD]

This seems like an easy all-in to me. JJ is huge three handed, he could be making this move with a smaller pocket pair AJ, AT or overcards. You are in great shape against most of these holdings and the overcards is a coin flip. If you win the coin flip you have a very good chance of winning the SnG. Sometimes its worth gambling to try to win 1st and settle with third if things don't work out.

[Dominic]

i agree that you have to gamble it up at times, but in case I didn't make it lear, only 1st and 2nd are in the money...3rd gets bupkus....

[curtains]

That makes it an even easier allin.