At what point do you have to give up the initiative?

[The_Bends]

Ok, this problem came up for me in a recent live tournament. I was table chip leader with about 13k, a few players had around 8k and the rest had around 4k. Blinds were 300-600 and 10k chips were not enought to get me to money (12 left 6 paid) Normally in this situation I like to raise, steal and run the table over while people wait for their big hands. Minimum raises were taking down the blinds so the table was perfect and my stack was growing. However a guy with an 8k stack stack catches me stealing and re-reaises me all in, I have to fold or give away a big section of my stack. At this point he wakes right up and raises the next 5/6 hands including a couple raised to him that he reraiesd to induce folds. I was not happy at all as a knew he was not playng good cards just being aggressive and stealing the position that I as chip leader should have held. I know the guy well he's started playing very recently but has been reading a lot of theory and is a smart guy so he's picking it up quickly, still however a much worse player than me in the general scheme of things.

This is the way I played it

On the 7th hand I caught A7 (hardly a monster I know) and flat called to induce his raise, which I duely reraised all in expecting a fold, I get the iniative back all its good. However he calls with KQ spikes the Q and knows me down to nothing, after which I promptly go out.

In the end I got him to raise with a worse hand and got the money in with a good chance to win. However I really think I made an error here. Shoud I have simply folded waiting for a great hand or was taking a stand against this guy a good idea. Had I got the fold or won the hand I would have been in a great position to destroy the table and make a run at 1st. Blinds were also on my mind as by the time I made the above play they were at 400-800 and about to advance.

Good play or did I play too hard trying to gain back the initiative I had clerly lost?

[Sam T.]

It sounds like you might have let your ego interfere with your game. (I have the same problem. When someone catches me with my hand in the cookie jar, I make it my life's work to bust him, just to show him who's the boss. Stupid, I know, so it's not a criticism, just a comment.[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img])

Rather than trying to take on the guy who is playing aggressively (and based on your description pretty well) and is more than happy to put you on a tough decision, focus on the folks you can bully. It would be great to bust this guy, but his chips are worth the same as those held by everyone else.

In the end you had a great read on this guy, and were able to play him like a violin. But you went after him with A7o! Beat up on other players, and get him all in when you have a real hand.

[Rushmore]

At this point in the tournament, in this position, your goal is to pick up the blinds and antes, especially holding Ax.

What you did by trapping him was to trap all of your chips into a situation where you're only a small favorite.

I think it's a matter of perspective. You shouldn't be too worried about the "initiative" at this point, you should be looking for a spot to pick up the blinds/antes, OR a spot to confidently go for a double-up.

This is neither.

[The_Bends]

Yup comfirming what I already knew really. I definatly let my ego get in the way of good play and really should have focused on easier targets. Next time maybe.

[Pat Southern]

Dont trap with A7.