small PP on the bubble

[Strollen]

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t100 (4 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

Hero (t3330)
UTG (t280)
Button (t3328)
SB (t1062)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 7/images/graemlins/club.gif.
<font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, Button calls t100, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, Hero raises [t3330] t100, Button calls [t3228] t100.

Flop: (t250) 3/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 6/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>

Turn: (t250) 9/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>

River: (t250) 8/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>

Final Pot: t250
I really wasn't sure how to play this hand.
Button had being playing no bluff poker, but passive for most the tourney, with little preflop action except for an AJo which had raised preflop with but then checked it down to the river. With 4 players and the big stack pocket sevens seems to good to check hoping for a set. Making a raise to 300 was unlikely to get him to fold,and then you have the awkward post flop play out of position.

[curtains]

You played it poorly unfortunately. Make a normal sized raise or even a very serious one like raising to 600-700. If the button isnt scared, then tread VERY lightly. If they reraise, you fold easily.
Moving allin is just going to get you 200 chips when they have nothing, but bubble you when they were trapping with a big hand. (Which will happen too often to justify this risk to win so few chips.)

[Strollen]

Ok fair enough. Follow up question. if I had bet 300, and assuming the button didn't reraise.

On the flop with top pair, and 3 hearts would you have made a pot size bet, pushed, or checked.?

[shoeman]

I don't see the sense in battling the other big stack here with 77 on the bubble. I would definately check here and see a flop. Even on the flop, I'm proceeding with caution and probably not putting alot of chips in the middle without a set. I just don't see the benefit of pushing here to win 150 when you have a stack over 3000 knowing that you are probably a coin-flip (at best) if called.

[UMTerp]

[ QUOTE ]
On the flop with top pair, and 3 hearts would you have made a pot size bet, pushed, or checked.?

[/ QUOTE ]

Make a pot-sized (or 3/4 pot even) bet and shut down if it's called. Maybe call a reasonable river bet if it's all little cards and no 4th heart falls.

[curtains]

I would make a bet of about 500-600, if you took the 300 route. However this late, I prefer to raise much more than 300 preflop, as once he calls for 100, hes almost surely calling for 200 more and you obviously don't want that. However he's not nearly as likely to call for 400 more.

[curtains]

Oh by the way I would probably just check preflop. I'm just giving my advice assuming you want to raise something.

[UMTerp]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh by the way I would probably just check preflop. I'm just giving my advice assuming you want to raise something.

[/ QUOTE ]

Me too.

[ColdestCall]

There is no way I'm burning up a bunch of chips with 77 in this spot unless I hit a set and someone beats it. You have 30 BB and a very short stck is getting ready to bust. The 200 chips you are trying to win pre-flop add almost nothing to your chances of winning the tournament, while getting trapped, obviously, costs you everything.

I consider 77 in an unraised BB to be a gift here. I check, hoping to hit a set and "trap the trapper" if that's what the button limper was doing. If I miss the set, I'll risk about 200 more chips on a flop similar to the one that came down, and that's as far as I'm going with this hand.

[Strollen]

Good advice all. I am not comfortable with 500-600 raise, since I almost always raise 3xBB unless there are a lot of limpers. So I'll just check in the future and bet the pot on the flop.

I may have even won the pot since my opponents had KcKd...:-)

[curtains]

Strollen, I believe it's a good habit to raise larger amounts from the blinds, because you are out of position the whole hand, and because you are usually raising limpers who have already said they have something worth calling.

Raising to 300 here after a 100 limp is poor strategy. The 3x BB concept is better applied when no one has limped.