A NLHE hand

[Martin Aigner]

I´ve copied this hand from my Foxwoods trip report at the News, Views & Gosspi forum. Althoug this hand happened 10 days ago, the way I got busted still bothers me.

This is a Tuesday night NLHE tourney at Foxwoods, 130 players, 19-11 get 106 each, first price is ~ 3400. 15 players left.

"The player, who eliminated my wife wins a 4k pot with QTo, when he called another player, who raised all in preflop with A3. Terrible call IMHO (just as the on with 55), but it worked out again. So he´s 2nd chipleader behind me, and he sits now to the immediate right of me. I´m in the BB, he´s in the SB, everyone mucks. He calls and I look down to see my first real playable hand that night. AKs. I decide that I don´t want to see a flop against the 2nd chipleader, so I raise all in. (BB still 600, I have about 9k after posting the BB). He calls as fast as he can and proudly turns over AA."

Any comments appreciated.

Martin Aigner

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Depending upon the flop and such, the defeat may have been unavoidable. However, it is almost never correct to bet 9000 into a 1200 pot. I would've raised 1200 more, and then seen what he did. If he reraises all-in, then you have to make a decision. If he just calls and you flop something, you're trapped, and it's going to be nearly impossible to avoid going broke.

By going all-in here, you've all but guaranteed that you won't get called unless you're behind, thus making it pretty easy for him to play almost perfectly.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[-Oz-]

Suggestion: Print out Greg's reply, paste it to your refrigerator, and read daily for a year! This is one of the biggest mistakes I see in NL tournies.

The beautiful thing about having a stack that is large in comparison to the blinds is that you can make strong raises and get the information you need before commiting it all. There's no law that says you have to go broke with AK when it's the worst hand, especially against one of the few players that can severly cripple you.

We've all had to learn this lesson; here's hoping you'll never have to relearn it! /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

-Oz-

[sdplayerb]

Greg,

Just wondering. If he did bet 1200, and then the other guy reraised all-in, what would you have done?
You were gettin about 1.5 to 1 odds.

Thanks

SD

[Greg (FossilMan)]

I don't know. I would stare the guy down for a while, and try to get a read on him. My decision would be based upon that read and my history with the person.

I certainly would not always call or always fold.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[sdplayerb]

thanks..i know it is tough here sometimes as getting a read on close situations is everything.

care to give any examples of what you look for? or i probably gather it is just your gut from his body language which is nearly impossible to explain.

i hope the travels are going well.
any big tourneys coming up?

[Martin Aigner]

There is no doubt that I would have called immediatly. He made pretty stupid playes in this tourney, so there was no indication for me that he would have to have AA if he reraised me. Actually this was the reason why I moved all in rather then just double the blinds. He would call with pretty weak holdings, and if he hit on the flop he wouldn´t lay his hand down. I surely thought I was ahead but didn´t want to go broke with AKs in this situation (lol).

E.g. he called a big all in raise (A3 btw) with QTo preflop (he didn´t raise, he just called the BB and then again called when reraised for almost all his chips. Another hand was when a guy raised all in with AQ, my wife called all in with AT and he called out of the BB with 55 (again a big raise. My wife had less though).

I was positive that he wouldn´t call my all in-raise with something like QT though. But I´m pretty sure he would have called it for 600 or 1200 more. And I´m not that big a favourite to hit the flop. But if the flop was say T62 and I moved all in he would call me again.

Regards

Martin Aigner

[Moose]

If the guy really is a poor player, then almost certainly you need to fold. It would be very sophisticated to call in the SB for the purposes of reraising over the top with rags to REPRESENT a big hand.

Make this massive reraise in the big blind with dick-squat offsuit, not AKs. A normal reraise is fine, and then depending on what he does pre-flop, call or fold.

M.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

Yes, I could give an example, but there are thousands of them. It is, as you suggest, just a matter of experience. Experience in general at picking up tells, and experience with this player in particular. Needless to say, I'm wrong a lot.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)