44 Button Late in Tourney - where was I in this hand?

[bobbycharles]

Late in MTT 1000 entrants, 65 players left. Tourney pays top 180 so we're all in the money.

Blinds 4000/8000

SB 40,000
BB (Villain) 135,000 Tourney Chip Leader
Button (Hero) 35,000 Holding 4h4s

Table folds to me on the button.
Hero limps with 8000. (first mistake?)
SB folds.
BB checks.

My thinking/read on Chip Leader: He's chip leader so there must be a reason. Seems to be fairly loose semi-aggressive. Has made a couple of questionable plays that worked out for him.

Flop: As Ah 2c

Villain checks.
Hero checks. (mistake #2?)

Turn: 9d

Villain checks.
Hero checks. (Mistake #3?)

At this point, I'm putting him on something like KJ but am fearing his stack and avoiding a tough decision should he reraise.

River: 2d

Villain bets 8000
Hero raises to 16000.
Villain calls and turns over 9d 7h.

Where the heck was I in this hand and what on earth was I thinking?! First I gave him a free look, but again, I was fearing a reraise if he thought I was trying to steal. Then I give free cards and oh...geez I suck.... /images/graemlins/confused.gif

Be gentle with me as I'm still relatively new, but learning a great deal. I may have answered my own question, but any input would be appreciated.

[MLG]

Limping for almost a quarter of your stack is anawful play here. You need to push preflop.

Here's a rule, if you have less than ten times the BB raise or fold preflop, never call.

[DesertCat]

[ QUOTE ]
Limping for almost a quarter of your stack is anawful play here. You need to push preflop.

Here's a rule, if you have less than ten times the BB raise or fold preflop, never call.

[/ QUOTE ]

Treat that like the golden rule. But let's assume you misclicked and saw the flop on a limp. That flop is pretty good for you. Since he would have likely raised an ace, and since there are two on the flop, odds are great he doesn't have one.

Bet half the pot and he'll fold the flop most of the time. If he calls he might have a deuce, which is fine, he'll be calling when he's behind. It's unlikely that he has a pair bigger than yours, or he would have raised.

If you get to the turn after a call, it gets a little tricky. You won't have much left. I'm weak tight, so I would probably check it down and fold to any decent sized bet. But you can argue to call a river bet because the pot will be big enough and he'd bluff enough to make the call profitable.

[JaBlue]

Push preflop. Now that you didn't, push flop.

[DesertCat]

[ QUOTE ]
Push preflop. Now that you didn't, push flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Forget what I said about betting half the pot. I like this line better. You are ahead most of time, but putting in another third of your stack is crippling. You might as well put it all in to cut off the draws and win now.

[bobbycharles]

Great info guys....I don't know where I was or what I was thinking but your analysis is spot on. Thanks for the help.

[Roman]

no chance I would ever fold those 4s on that flop. An ace and higher PP raise pf, so your hand is almost certainly good.

[Chris Daddy Cool]

[ QUOTE ]
Bet half the pot and he'll fold the flop most of the time.

[/ QUOTE ]

this isn't a very good line. betting half the pot minimized your folding equity and cripples your stack too much, you're much better off pushing.

[Chris Daddy Cool]

basically everybodys's already said it, but you need to push this preflop.

if you're wondering why, you gotta ask yourself just exactly what are you hoping to accomplish by open limping there.