NL Hand JQs

[cferejohn]

NL tournament on PokerStars. Blinds 50/100. I have 1500. I get Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif J/images/graemlins/diamond.gif in MP. Folded to me. I raise to 300. Called by cutoff and BB. Flop comes raggedy jack high with 2 spades. SB bets out 200. I go all-in. Results later.

[cferejohn]

Oh, I should have mentioned, but I did not that the SB had me significantly outchipped.

SB turns over K/images/graemlins/spade.gif Q/images/graemlins/spade.gif. Turn is a J/images/graemlins/spade.gif, river is a blank. I guess the question is, does anyone just call the flop bet and fold if a spade comes? I was pretty sure he had the flush draw. Of course, since the spade gave me trips, I probably end up all-in on the turn anyway.

I feel like I played it right after the flop. The table had been a little looser than some, so maybe raising with QJs was not the right move. Given how short I was getting though (average was something like 2600), I felt like I had to loosen up my raising standards a bit at that point.

[cero_z]

cferejohn,
It's hard to say whether you played the hand right or wrong, as there are lots of contextual factors which are important. On the surface, i.e. in a "generic situation," it seems like a very reasonable move. When the blinds are this big compared to your stack, you have to be willing to take some risks; hands like this are obvious examples, IMO. Tough break. Also, you can't call 200 and then fold, whether a spade or anything else hits the turn. You'd have 700 left with 50/100 blinds, and be forced to gamble in a worse spot soon.

[cferejohn]

OK. That's kind of what I felt too. I didn't really feel bad about the hand but I've been in a little slump lately (which is not good given that I'm playing the $1000 NL event on Sunday) and I wanted to post a hand that I didn't feel I really did anything wrong on to see if others agreed. Also I haven't posted a hand in a while so I wanted to make sure that I could still type out my thought processes.

I agree about calling. I just tried to think of the only other way I could think about playing the hand post-flop to put it out there as a "what I could have done differently". I don't think I would ever do that.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

You probably played the hand right. However, the question is whether there was a decent chance you'd steal the blinds preflop, or a good chance that they'd check-and-fold if they called preflop but missed. If the answer is no, then QJ is a fold here. Wait for a hand where you're willing to go all-in pretty much no matter what flops. A pair or a big A, basically. Or, wait for tighter players to post the blinds.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)