NEED HELP WITH THIS BUBBLE HAND- Stars (30+3)

[Chuckster]

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t800 (9 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

MP1 :#A500AF(VILLIAN #1)/ (t10668)
MP2 :#A500AF(VILLIAN #2)/ (t6880)
MP3 (t3981)
CO (t10638)
Button (t39350)
SB (t8053)
BB (t16600)
HERO (t17677)
UTG+1 (t21076)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A/images/graemlins/club.gif, Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
<font color="#CC3333">HERO raises to t2400</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, MP1 :#A500AF(VILLIAN #1)/ calls t2400, MP2 :#A500AF(VILLIAN #2)/ calls t2400, <font color="#666666">5 folds</font>.

What do you guys do here. I have a solid hand, but bad position. Would I have been better off limping? Maybe raising just the minimum? Maybe all-in?

Flop: (t7600) 8/images/graemlins/club.gif, 8/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 5/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">HERO bets t10400</font>, VILLIAN #1 calls t8218 (All-In), VILLIAN #2 folds.

Ok, so I missed the flop completely. We were about 12-15 places away from the money. I had both guys covered so I represented a high pair and put them to the test. Would you guys give it up here or was this correct? I had a real tight table image and had won all my showdowns with monsters (AK, QQ, etc..) What's the play here??? If I lose, I still have T7500 and can make the money still.

Turn: (t26218) J/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

River: (t26218) 6/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

Final Pot: t26218

[kuro]

Both the villains that called are short stacked and likely pot committed by just calling your preflop raise. At least one of them likely has a pocket pair. So don't make a continuation bet. Look to check/call it down and make a decision if one of them pushes.

[slickpoppa]

First of all, your preflop raise is necessary. This hand is way too strong to limp with and you want to give yourself a chance to steal the blinds. Going all-in is unnecessary because your stack is still somewhat deep (22bb) and you would like to put as little on the line necessary to steal the blinds.

Flop:
I think this is actually a pretty good flop for you. Barring any pocket pairs or AK, there are only 5 cards in the deck that beat you and they are not likely to be in anyone's hand.

You should defintely bet the flop, but the amount is kind of awkard. Ideally I think you would want to bet about 4,000 and hope that that takes down the pot. But because of the stack sizes of the villains, pretty much any bet commits you if you get reraised.

So I actually think that your bet is correct. Against a rational opponent the difference in the size of your bet would probably not make a difference; either he is going all-in or folding regardless. However, against dumb opponents your large bet shows strength and gives you the best chance of getting heads up if you get called.

If you end up getting all-in against villain #1 you are getting 2:1 odds on the pot. If he has a middle pocket pair you a 3:1 dog. However, I don;t think that you can necessarily give him credit for having you beat. Against his range of hands and considering the size of the pot, you must bet. This size of your bet was correct for the reasons mentioned above.

This is not a great situation, but given the texture of the board, I think that you must put your chips in. If your opponents have been tight and would only cold call with a PP, then you might want to check and see what happens. However, in my experience I don't think you can give your opponents that much credit. I have seen a lot of people make calls like that with KJ, QT, etc.

[schwza]

i would play it as you did.

[IRV]

Very easy. Type in the chat box. "There is only 1 hand that can beat mine and if you have it, good luck to you" Then go all-in and watch them all go out like flies. =)

/images/graemlins/cool.gif /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Chuckster]

LOL....

I have done something like this before...but with the actual best hand and they all have folded.

[Absolution]

Haha, are you the same guy that goes all-in with aces and then types "Oops, pressed the wrong button"? /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Chuckster]

It's funny, many times in the late stages of a tourney (mostly when I used to play S&amp;G's), I would have a hand that I did not want my all-in to be called, so I would wait..wait..wait...and then type:

"F-it, I'm tired anyways"...and go all-in. Everyone would fold right away and type "yeah, right...I'm not falling for that".

Meanwhile, I stole much needed blinds with a crummy hand.

[Absolution]

I don't use such 'tactics'. There's an section in TOP that talks about the type of people that resort to these plays and where they end up. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Chuckster]

I have rarely used these, and when I do it is for experimentation purposes...but I do not see the difference in typing things online and playing in a live game and telling an opponent "just fold already, you can't beat this hand". Poker is a psychological game so if you want to play mind games, whether it be online or in a B&amp;M....I don't see anything wrong with it.

[FishInAPhoneBooth]

How What You Say at the Poker Table Can Triple Your Profits! By Mike Caro (http://www.cardplayer.com/poker_magazine/archives/?a_id=119&amp;m_id=5) I am not sure if I agree with triple, but I definatley agree with increased profits.