Critical decision?

[rockoon]

Small (60 player) limit hold'em tournament.

Blinds are now T75/T150 and I have about T1200.. still many tables left.

I am in middle position and hold KQs. A semi-loose player with quite a bit more chips than me limps in from early position. I raise to get it heads up. Success.

The flop comes down QTT rainbow. To set this up better let me tell you I had noted that he checks and calls with draws. (it stands out because drawing in a tournament without betting it is usualy a bad thing)

The player bets into me and I raise. I figure he would probably have checked trips so I think this raise is ok. He of course calls (so probably he wasn't bluffing).

The turn card comes off an unsuited rag and he checks. At this point betting T300 is half my remaining stack and I dont want to do that. I want to save these chips in case I am unfortunate enough to be beat or get beat.

I figure a free card is unlikely to hurt my chances of winning the hand at this point. The only cards I think could hurt me on the river is an ace or a jack and thats only if he holds AJ or QJ. QJ being much more likely given the flop bet.

my question.. was my turn check the right thing to do?

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Your turn check isn't a bad play, but I prefer betting, as long as you think it's still highly likely you're in the lead. Saving a couple of bets for the times you do lose isn't that great of a thing. It's not like you have enough chips to play your way back into it; you're going to have to get lucky with those last few bets.

If you were on the bubble or in the money, I'd say checking would be best. At this stage, however, make the same decision you would make in the same spot if it were a cash game.

If you truly thought betting and checking had almost the same EV, then check instead. However, if there is any measurable difference, pick the higher EV play.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)