Am I truly a strategy and/or etiquette idiot?
 

I just had a situation in a 10+1 SNG on PP where there were 4 players left and I was called an idiot for not checking on the bubble to increase the odds of knocking the low stack out. Here is the hand in question:

200/400 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL) (Tournament 14148970) - Fri Jul 22 04:02:29 EDT 2005
Table Table 35338 (Real Money) -- Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 3: Im_an_ogre (535)
Seat 6: cablevision (3075)
Seat 8: Hero (2455)
Seat 10: yepikim (1935)
Im_an_ogre posts small blind (100)
cablevision posts big blind (200)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Kh, Ac ]
Hero raises (400) to 400
yepikim folds.
Im_an_ogre raises (435) to 535
Im_an_ogre is all-In.
cablevision calls (335)
Hero calls (135)
Creating Main Pot with $1605 with Im_an_ogre
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Ks, 3d, 9d ]
yepikim: check check it
cablevision checks.
yepikim: check it
yepikim:check
Hero bets (1920)
Hero is all-In.
cablevision folds.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 5h ]
** Dealing River ** : [ Qc ]
Creating Side Pot 1 with $1920 with Hero
** Summary **
Main Pot: 1605 | Side Pot 1: 1920
Board: [ Ks 3d 9d 5h Qc ]
Im_an_ogre balance 0, lost 535 [ 4d 4c ] [ a pair of fours -- Ks,Qc,9d,4d,4c ]
cablevision balance 2540, lost 535 (folded)
Hero balance 3525, bet 2455, collected 3525, net +1070 [ Kh Ac ] [ a pair of kings -- Ac,Kh,Ks,Qc,9d ]
yepikim balance 1935, didn't bet (folded)

Here is the dialogue that followed:
yepikim: idiot
cablevision: I agree
Hero: me?
yepikim: yes
Hero: im trying to win
Hero: not come in the money
Hero: if you wanna be bubble players then fine
cablevision: winning is finishing in the money
Hero: um, no
Hero: its personal preference

Was I wrong for trying to win, instead of just checking to the river so that one of us at least could knock out the 4th place? If I had a marginal hand I would have, but not for the reason they wanted me to, but for the reason of it being a bad hand. I had AK with top pair after the river and I am supposed to play timid. Should I have played it safe to increase the odds of us taking out that player? In my opinion, no I wasn't. I think that was proven by the fact that I ended up winning the SNG for my first win at the $10 level.

Any input into this strategy or etiquette issue would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I am just totally unaware.

Re: Am I truly a strategy and/or etiquette idiot?
 

Those guys are idiots. You can do whatever the hell you please.

However, you don't need to explain yourself to them. Furthermore, the "If you want to be bubble players..." comment was unnecessary because it's borderline "poker coaching" on your part.

Re: Am I truly a strategy and/or etiquette idiot?
 

Heh, screw them, I push preflop!

Re: Am I truly a strategy and/or etiquette idiot?
 

People are stupid.

Easy push.

edit: push preflop

Re: Am I truly a strategy and/or etiquette idiot?
 

It's poker, there is no etiquette. Wait, yes actually there is a rule! No chat about how the hands should be played as long as the hand is still alive. So yepikim violated that rule. To top it with yapping at you that you want to seal the pot for yourself ... the nerve!

Re: Am I truly a strategy and/or etiquette idiot?
 

Push preflop. Don't respond to monkeys calling you an idiot. yepikim needs to learn to stfu while hands are being played.

Re: Am I truly a strategy and/or etiquette idiot?
 

I agree with reraising all in preflop to get cable out, but, once you get to the flop, why push? At this point you want cable calling and you should be value betting. One half to 2/3 pot bet would be better, something a worse hand may call.

Steve

Re: Am I truly a strategy and/or etiquette idiot?
 

You can't re-raise all in, because the small stack goes all in for less than a full bet, just open push

Re: Am I truly a strategy and/or etiquette idiot?
 

well, i hate the min raise, but I'm not fond of open pushing with 12 bb's either, but we can agree on 2.5 to 3x the bb raise.

Re: Am I truly a strategy and/or etiquette idiot?
 

With 4 players? Come on.