Need advice/feedback from 2 tricky hands

[FeVeR]

Both came in a 20 dollar, NL Holdem tourney on Poker Stars last night.

#1. Blinds were 100/200. I was on the button with around 5000 chips. I was dealt KQo and the table folded around to me. I figure this is an easy raise to 3x BB so I raise to 600. SB folds. BB has around 2000 chips and pushes all in. I called it. My reasons for calling were that he had been a pretty active player on the table and I had actually called a bluff on him earlier on. Also I thought he could have been thinking that I was on rags and was making a positional play (which I was but I did have a pretty good hand). Long story short, he had Kings. I lost the hand. Feedback on my play there?

#2. 63 spots pay and there are only 65 players left. I'm in 48th with around 10,000 chips. I'm in 3rd position and I get dealt Kings. This is such a tricky spot for me. I really want to get in the money. That is important to me as a relatively new player. However, this could also be a big chance for me. Problem is that chip leader is on BB with 60,000 chips and third place is on the button with 45,000 chips. What I did (and tell me if this is unenthical) is I stalled as long as I could, using my full minute to make a play. I was hoping a couple people would bust out and then I'd have no problem proceeding as normal. Well, no one busted. Blinds were 400/800. I bet 3600. Button calls me. I'm thinking "Oh crap". Any ace scares the crap out of me. Flop comes all blanks. Something like 7 9 3 rainbow. I stalled as long as possible again. No one busts. I bet 3600 again. Button thinks for a while and folds. It ended up being pretty decent for me. Got into the third level of money and basically blinded away. Never got a playable hand after that and I finally took my final stand on A 10 suited. Did I do the right thing here? Was it ethical to stall like that? Should I have been bolder in my betting?

[grandgnu]

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Both came in a 20 dollar, NL Holdem tourney on Poker Stars last night.

#1. Blinds were 100/200. I was on the button with around 5000 chips. I was dealt KQo and the table folded around to me. I figure this is an easy raise to 3x BB so I raise to 600. SB folds. BB has around 2000 chips and pushes all in. I called it. My reasons for calling were that he had been a pretty active player on the table and I had actually called a bluff on him earlier on. Also I thought he could have been thinking that I was on rags and was making a positional play (which I was but I did have a pretty good hand). Long story short, he had Kings. I lost the hand. Feedback on my play there?

#2. 63 spots pay and there are only 65 players left. I'm in 48th with around 10,000 chips. I'm in 3rd position and I get dealt Kings. This is such a tricky spot for me. I really want to get in the money. That is important to me as a relatively new player. However, this could also be a big chance for me. Problem is that chip leader is on BB with 60,000 chips and third place is on the button with 45,000 chips. What I did (and tell me if this is unenthical) is I stalled as long as I could, using my full minute to make a play. I was hoping a couple people would bust out and then I'd have no problem proceeding as normal. Well, no one busted. Blinds were 400/800. I bet 3600. Button calls me. I'm thinking "Oh crap". Any ace scares the crap out of me. Flop comes all blanks. Something like 7 9 3 rainbow. I stalled as long as possible again. No one busts. I bet 3600 again. Button thinks for a while and folds. It ended up being pretty decent for me. Got into the third level of money and basically blinded away. Never got a playable hand after that and I finally took my final stand on A 10 suited. Did I do the right thing here? Was it ethical to stall like that? Should I have been bolder in my betting?

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As far as situation #1 goes, it all depends on that players image. Your hand is decent, but it's a trap hand since it can be dominated by so many others (A/K, A/Q, A/J, pocket pairs, etc.) You had the opportunity to bust another player, but I don't know how far you were from the money or where you were chip-wise against the rest of the table.

2. Stalling as long as possible is fine in my opinion, since your main goal is to make the money. I don't have a problem with the stall. I think I would have pushed all-in with the Kings though, since many other players are also trying to avoid any mistakes and you want to push out those Ace/rag hands. Your bet I'm assuming was designed to allow you to throw away the Kings if an ace came on the flop?

[FeVeR]

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Both came in a 20 dollar, NL Holdem tourney on Poker Stars last night.

#1. Blinds were 100/200. I was on the button with around 5000 chips. I was dealt KQo and the table folded around to me. I figure this is an easy raise to 3x BB so I raise to 600. SB folds. BB has around 2000 chips and pushes all in. I called it. My reasons for calling were that he had been a pretty active player on the table and I had actually called a bluff on him earlier on. Also I thought he could have been thinking that I was on rags and was making a positional play (which I was but I did have a pretty good hand). Long story short, he had Kings. I lost the hand. Feedback on my play there?

#2. 63 spots pay and there are only 65 players left. I'm in 48th with around 10,000 chips. I'm in 3rd position and I get dealt Kings. This is such a tricky spot for me. I really want to get in the money. That is important to me as a relatively new player. However, this could also be a big chance for me. Problem is that chip leader is on BB with 60,000 chips and third place is on the button with 45,000 chips. What I did (and tell me if this is unenthical) is I stalled as long as I could, using my full minute to make a play. I was hoping a couple people would bust out and then I'd have no problem proceeding as normal. Well, no one busted. Blinds were 400/800. I bet 3600. Button calls me. I'm thinking "Oh crap". Any ace scares the crap out of me. Flop comes all blanks. Something like 7 9 3 rainbow. I stalled as long as possible again. No one busts. I bet 3600 again. Button thinks for a while and folds. It ended up being pretty decent for me. Got into the third level of money and basically blinded away. Never got a playable hand after that and I finally took my final stand on A 10 suited. Did I do the right thing here? Was it ethical to stall like that? Should I have been bolder in my betting?

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As far as situation #1 goes, it all depends on that players image. Your hand is decent, but it's a trap hand since it can be dominated by so many others (A/K, A/Q, A/J, pocket pairs, etc.) You had the opportunity to bust another player, but I don't know how far you were from the money or where you were chip-wise against the rest of the table.

2. Stalling as long as possible is fine in my opinion, since your main goal is to make the money. I don't have a problem with the stall. I think I would have pushed all-in with the Kings though, since many other players are also trying to avoid any mistakes and you want to push out those Ace/rag hands. Your bet I'm assuming was designed to allow you to throw away the Kings if an ace came on the flop?

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There were about 150-175 left if I recall correctly. I wasn't really that pressed about knocking him out, I just thought it was a good shot to accumulate chips. He had been a very active player who almost never called. Always raised or folded. So I thought there was a good shot I had him beat. Bad move.....

Yes, I bet the 3600 so I'd have a way out of the hand. I'm not sure what I would have done if one of the big stacks came over the top. I think I would have called and prayed. I wasn't too upset with the call, especially after the flop came with blanks. I thought about pushing again but I wanted to leave my escape route available again. Glad he folded.