PP 20+2 QK in the blinds

[TStoneMBD]

MTT on PP 20+2. About a thousand players in the tournament to start and were down to 240.

Blinds are 200/400 and I have 11k. Avg stack is 5k

Villain moved to our table about 15 hands or so ago and has 12k. He has limped in UTG 3 times already and appears to have bluffed at alot of pots. He would check the flop and fire large at the turn to take it down, or wait until the river. He's been involved in probably half the pots at the table but hasnt raised pf yet. hes shown down 2 winners and both times he valuebetted sizeable bets so the opponent wouldnt fold.


Villain raises from UTG2 to 1k folded to me in the BB with QKo. I call and the flop comes Qc3c3d. I check and the villain bets 3300. I go into the time bank and decide to push allin and he calls me with aces.

Should I not be getting involved with these types of hands against large stacks at the table? I want to increase my chip stack and folding these types of hands seems to weak as I feel the need to gamble.

[TStoneMBD]

bump

[MLG]

I dont't think KQo is the kind of hand you want to attack the other big stack with. I would be much more inclined to play little pps, or suited As or even connectors here. I don't want to go to battle for all my chips with the only person at the table who can bust me with a hand that is basically hoping to flop a pair. In this cases I want to play a hand that has big hand (straigh, flush, set) potential.

[DyessMan89]

I dont think you really did anything wrong here.

Given the way he had been playing, I would of assumed you had the best hand. Thr only thing that had you beat was KK, AA, A,Q QQ, or a set.

[JARID]

TStone,

Against a more aggressive pf raisor, then I suppose the play would be more justifiable.

However, his inclination to limp from EP and his post flop activity tells me that this is not a player who follows typical tournament theory (gap concept, etc.) Therefore, I narrow his range of raising hands to the more premium variety and ditch the KQ.

You would be better off here with a small-mid pocket, or any hand that isn't potentially dominated if you really want to take a flop.

[ QUOTE ]
I want to increase my chip stack and folding these types of hands seems to weak as I feel the need to gamble.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have fallen victum to this line of thinking also at times. Certainly at the Party Poker tournies where the blinds become big relative to the average stack. However, I think it is indicative of someone not on their A game. Discretion is often the better part of valor in tournament play.

(Side Note: I'll likely post a KQ hand that made me question if I had my A game.)

-Jarid