Bizarre and really tough AK hand

[bestcellar]

6-handed tournament, 3 people left, only round 2, blinds 15/30.

So villain had built a huge stack being hyper hyper aggressive. He would continually ignore any kind of pot size and just bully hundreds of chips at the pot...and with some luck he was able to mow down half the table in one round. Pot is 200? He bets 600. Pot is 90? Make it 355 to go. Crazy. He hardly showed any hands...and the hands he did show seemed semi-legitimate starting requirements. However, strangely enough, there were times when he would just check a hand down if the pot was small enough or if he seemed disinterested. And yes, he would bluff too - he had shown one or two after the other player had folded. This was truly a rather unpredictable maniac.

So I wake up with A/images/graemlins/heart.gif K/images/graemlins/spade.gif on the button with about 2000 chips. Villain is in the small blind with 6500 in chips. The other player, the big blind, only has 765 chips left after posting. Blinds are 15/30.

I raise to 90, which Villain calls and the big blind folds.

Flop is J/images/graemlins/diamond.gif T/images/graemlins/club.gif 8/images/graemlins/spade.gif

Villain checks. I decide to check, knowing this guy is capable of a gargantuan check-raise. Pot is still 210.

The turn is the Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif

Wow, couldn't ask for a better turn than this. Villain checks, I bet 200, he calls. Hmm, okay. He's coming along here. He probably only has a queen or a jack at best. Hopefully he has a nine.

The river was the 8/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, pairing the board and putting a runner-runner flush out here. I'm not really concerned about this card until Villain suddenly bets 1670 into me.

Bear in mind this is a 6-handed tourney where top two get paid only and the other player has only 700 left. I have 1700 behind, so a call/raise puts me all in. A fold here and I'm still in great shape to finish in the money.

Hero?

[bestcellar]

oh yeah - it was a $35 6-handed tourney. Sorry for not clarifying.

[tewall]

That's a good play by Villain, putting you to a tough decision for all your chips when you're so close to the money. He can afford the hit if he's bluffing.

Assuming my math is correct, this is a clear call, after working out all the details, but at the table it would be tougher.

Assuming a payout of .7/.3, you're equity if you fold is about 0.26, and 0.44 if you win. So you're getting almost 2 to 1 to call. If he hit a runner/runner flush, so be it, but your odds are too good fold this. If he really did hit a flush, you'd have to expect him not to go all-in. If he did go all-in, he have to do so hoping you'd think he was bluffing and that you had a good enough hand to call him down. There's no way there's a 2 in 3 chance of that.

I am pretty aggressive, but on the bubble with the flush on the board and an all in, I think he has the flush. It is a pretty easy fold for me. I play it cautious and play aggressively against the short stack.

[protoverus]

If he has the flush, why is he trying to bet you out of the pot? Have you played in such a way to make him think you might call? It didn't sound like it.

Tough spot! And a great hand to post!

He could easily have played an 8 or 9 this way. Alot depends on what I think of short stack (the small blinds give him alot of room to wait for a good hand vs maniac.) With what you wrote, at the table with time expiring, I call.

I'm so unsure here though that I'm embarrassed to post. I hope to learn something from this thread.

Be well.

I think i would call here. this guy sounds overly agressive and could easily make this play with two pair. It seems too hard to put him on the flush here or a boat. i would assume you have the best hand. Side thought, perhaps bet more on the turn since this guy appears so reckless with his chips. a lot easier to say that after seeing the river, but sounds like more chips could have been in the pot when u had the nut.

[bestcellar]

Okay, after thinking about it for VERY NEARLY the maximum and typing "lol" in the chat box, I finally called. I can't really say it was anything more than a gut move, although with some quick math in my head I reasoned out that the equity was somewhere near about right to do so. I really could not put him on a flush or a boat. I knew I was a stronger player than the short stack, so I figured if I won that hand I had a very good shot of winning the tourney overall.

results in white below:

<font color="white"> Villain shows 5h 3s for a pair of eights</font>






postscript:

The bet didn't make any sense, even if I took into consideration 2 and 3 level deep reverse psychology. He needed to bet something I could call if he had a big hand, and he needed to bet something I couldn't call if he had nothing. That was my final rationale. I think with hands like this and with players who are unpredictable maniacs like this you have to streamline your thinking: the simplest explanation tends to be the most likely. Good old Occam's razor came back into play.

[curtains]

I would call

[tigerite]

So would I. (Call that is)

[bestcellar]

[ QUOTE ]
Side thought, perhaps bet more on the turn since this guy appears so reckless with his chips. a lot easier to say that after seeing the river, but sounds like more chips could have been in the pot when u had the nut.

[/ QUOTE ]

Reckless in terms of betting, not reckless in terms of calling. I didn't really clarify that initially. 200 was about what was in the pot at the time, and that seemed about the right amount. I figured he'd come along with almost any piece.