How would you play this?
 

Check out the HH below. I'm in late pos. with a few short stacks out there pushing in their chips, I've got AQs, and raised to isolate the largest small stack (with one of the other small stacks already all-in). My reasoning is that I put the initial short-stack raiser on middle pair, so that's a coin-toss for the sidepot, and the all-in caller can probably have any two suited based on the way he's played and the fact that he's got very few chips...

What do you think of my play? How would you do differently? Results in white...

***** Hand History for Game 573450702 *****
30/60 TourneyTexasHTGameTable (NL) (Tournament 3522038) - Mon May 03 23:53:29 EDT 2004
Table Table 12181 (Real Money) -- Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 7
Seat 1: shap1234 (1465)
Seat 3: luckysevens (95)
Seat 5: WebBull (2680)
Seat 6: mattinkc22 (1420)
Seat 7: wilsen (615)
Seat 8: bac1374 (260)
Seat 9: fat_nutz (1465)
shap1234 posts small blind (15)
luckysevens posts big blind (30)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to fat_nutz [ Ah, Qh ]
WebBull folds.
mattinkc22 calls (30)
wilsen raises (300) to 300
bac1374 calls (260)
bac1374 is all-In.
fat_nutz raises (615) to 615

<font color="white">

shap1234 folds.
luckysevens calls (65)
luckysevens is all-In.
mattinkc22 folds.
wilsen calls (315)
wilsen is all-In.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Ks, 6h, 9d ]
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 2d ]
** Dealing River ** : [ 5s ]
Creating Main Pot with $425 with luckysevens
Creating Side Pot 1 with $495 with bac1374
Creating Side Pot 2 with $710 with wilsen
** Summary **
Main Pot: 425 | Side Pot 1: 495 | Side Pot 2: 710 |
Board: [ Ks 6h 9d 2d 5s ]
shap1234 balance 1450, lost 15 (folded)
luckysevens balance 0, lost 95 [ 8s As ] [ high card ace -- As,Ks,9d,8s,6h ]
WebBull balance 2680, didn't bet (folded)
mattinkc22 balance 1390, lost 30 (folded)
wilsen balance 710, bet 615, collected 710, net +95 [ Tc Th ] [ a pair of tens -- Ks,Tc,Th,9d,6h ]
bac1374 balance 920, bet 260, collected 920, net +660 [ Qs Kd ] [ a pair of kings -- Kd,Ks,Qs,9d,6h ]
fat_nutz balance 850, lost 615 [ Ah Qh ] [ high card ace -- Ah,Ks,Qh,9d,6h ]
</font>

Re: How would you play this?
 

Looks questionable to me. There are other factors to consider here though. The blinds are only 30/60 so you could wait and let them beat up on each other. If you did think the other palyer had a mid pair; why would you want to draw for all of you chips in a coin flip? You have plenty of time to get back in to the chips. I would wait it out next time.

It is usually not a good idea to call an all-in when some one already has it covered unless you have a monster. Why get involved with two possibly very good hands and take the chance to triple up the all-in?

Re: How would you play this?
 

Looks like you misread the post. I had all three of the stacks in question covered--I wasn't committing all my chips, and wasn't worried about tripling up a short stack because it was extremely short. Even after the worst-case outcome of the hand, I was in decent situation w/ chips, and if I'd drawn an ace, I'd have been well ahead on the table. I think it was an OK risk, but I'm wondering whether others would agree/disagree based on a CORRECT understanding of the hand.

Re: How would you play this?
 

Here's how I would play it.

A) Be nice to anyone that takes the time to read your unformatted hand history.
B) Ask questions about strategy, not share bad beat stories.

Re: How would you play this?
 

Here's an opinion not influenced by reading your outcome or the other posts.

I don't understand your play here at all. The blinds are 15/30. You have a healthy stack already. You have AQs, an OK hand to raise with, an underdog for calling in most circumstances. If you are up against a pair JJ or lower, it is not a "coin flip", you are a 1.2:1 underdog. If you are up against AK,AA,KK,or QQ you are completely dominated. The raiser made a 10x BB raise (half is stack). At best you are a 1.2:1 underdog, at worst you are completely dominated. You are risking $615 to win $950. This doesn't even account for the all-in caller before you who may or may not be making a desperation play. At the 15/30 level there is still plenty of time to make a "swan song" type play. Most people wait for a chance to raise with their desperation last play, not call a 10x BB raise. I wouldn't assume he has trash.
The other issue is the value of chips in a tournament. In my mind the $600 difference between $1400 and $800 is greater than the $600 difference between $1400 and $2000, in terms of impacting my likelihood of making money in the tournament.
Given all the circumstances here I would fold your AQs without hesitation.
That being said, I have not looked at your results yet, so grain of salt, you know.

Re: How would you play this?
 

Kaz, here's a couple tips for you.

1) Drop the condescending tone. You've made 9 posts, so I don't think you are qualified to tell me what to do around here. I don't claim to be a proven player, I'm just looking for a little help, and I think it's reasonable to encourage folks to read HH carefully if they are going to comment.

2) Learn what a bad beat is. AQ vs 10-10 can never be a bad beat, since neither is a dominant favorite. In addition, I'm clearly not drawing attention to the outcome of the hand, I'm interested in how others would play it, regardless of the outcome. Take a look at Obex's response--that was what I was looking for.

3) related to 2... it's easy for a newbie to jump on the badbeat-critical bandwagon so that they feel like a "seasoned" poker veteran, without realizing what is/isn't a badbeat, and when a story may have instructive value. Don't allow yourself to join those rookies, rookie.

Good luck at the micro-limit tables pal. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: How would you play this?
 

Regardless of how long you or I have been on this board, no matter how many posts we have, no matter if someone made a mistake while trying to discuss your hand, it does not erase the fact that you make yourself look like a jerk when you respond to people the way you do.

Re: How would you play this?
 

True, I may be offensive to some--but I can't stand Kaz's holier-than-thou, pot-calling-the-kettle-black condescention. I think I'm entitled to point out his hypocrisy.

Re: How would you play this?
 

I wish you guys stopped answering to this piece of S*** Obviously you can see that he/she is just trying to cause trouble.
Learn to recognize a moron when you see one.

William [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

Re: How would you play this?
 

It is a coin flip against a mid pocket pair. Don't take the term so seriously. A coin flip doesn't have to be an even money situation. The term is generaly and loosely used to describe any near 50/50 chance or any "race situation. 1.2/1 is nearly as close as 50/50 gets to being 50/50 in hold'em. There are situations that are exactly even money. This is just one that is close. So, I say again, don't take it so seriously and it is a "coin flip".