Interesting 1st Hand... critique this play $200+20 NL

[PassiveManiac]

Hi all..long time lurker.. heres a hand from my last tourney at a B/M $200-20 NL.. Please tell me what you think of the play..

1st hand of the tournament!
Players start with T8000 - Blind levels escalate 20 min - steep level increases...

Blinds are 25/50

UTG player limps in.
Player to my direct right in 3rd position raises to T450 (very high I think - 9x big blind [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]).
I look down at K [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] K [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
Now, since his raise was so high, I did not feel I was forced to raise here to thin the field. I just call.

The player under the gun calls.

Flop: 6 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 5 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 10 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

UTG player checks.

Player to my direct right bets T2000.

I *KNOW* this guy does not have AA. I am 95% sure this guy has JJ/QQ - he wouldn't play AA that hard preflop. If I continue with this hand, it will be for all my chips.. My thinking is that the blinds move real steep and quickly.. and this is a good chance to double up on the first hand. There is someone left to act after me, but he limped preflop and probably does not have anything

I go all-in.

What would you do in this situation? I will post the results after getting a few responses.

[Lloyd]

I'd only be worried about UTG picking up a set and if he has it, oh well. With the texture of the flop and how aggressively this guy has played his hand I don't see anything wrong with pushing or just calling.

[LearnedfromTV]

I suppose either one of them could have a set, but I don't see how you can do anything but push. The raiser's preflop overbet feels like TT-QQ. By just calling preflop, you've induced JJ or QQ to be certain he has the (vulnerable) best hand on that flop AND you've made it extremely unlikely that TT would bet the flop that big. UTG limps and calls to make it 3-handed which often means a big implied odds hand, such as a pair he's trying to hit a set with. UTG shouldn't have AA either, since he had the chance to reraise, although I suppose it is possible.

I think most of the time you have the bettor's QQ or JJ beat and UTG missed the flop. You should push, since QQ or JJ will have a real hard time folding now but any overcard on the turn either beats you or kills your action.

I'm guessing that you posted the hand because there's some twist, so maybe the raiser has AA or more likely UTG hit his set with TT? Regardless I think you have to push the flop. 9 times out of 10 you're good here.

[durron597]

I know that raise is so large, but given your stack size I want to kill UTG's implied odds to flop a set on me. So I make 1350 preflop.

[adanthar]

If you move in, does he autocall? How about if you just call - will he push the next street?

I like a call here in general but I may be too tempted to slowplay.

[PassiveManiac]

Thanks for the comments.

Continuation of the hand:
UTG folds immediately.

Person directly to my right says "I have to call."
He shows K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] K [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

I was right.. he didn't have AA [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

We ended up splitting each making ~T225.

[PassiveManiac]

Yea, I was pretty sure he had QQ/JJ here and would call my all-in. I also felt I needed to chase an Ace out of the hand. (which UTG could have had).

[LearnedfromTV]

Is there any hand that you could call with that he's going to think you fold to a push? I think this is a spot where both a a call or a raise say "big hand" to the bettor just about equally. From his perspective, what could you possibly call with that you aren't prepared to put all your chips in with? Maybe you can't expect him to think this much, but a call should even be scarier than a raise, since it says "I'm willing to go allin, but I'm not going to try to push you off your hand." I think whether you call or raise, you signal that you have a set or an overpair. So he has the same information either way when he decides if he still wants to go all the way with the hand. I'm sure some percentage of the time he pushes the turn when a blank hits but would have folded to the flop raise, but I think that's a small percentage.

But some of the time the turn either beats you or slows him down. At the very least, you don't want an Ace to hit or the J/Q that gives him a set.

I tend to say the pot is big enough already and take it now.