All-in with KJs

[johnnymac]

Hi all,

I was playing in a live NLHE tournament night before last. 8 players at the table, 250-500 going up to 500-1000 in 7 mins. I am probably outclassed by most players at the table. There has been quite a few pots won by pre-flop raising, I see KJ suited and go all-in. Was this right?

Edit: I had about 2250 in chips, in middle position, with folds to me.

[Al Mirpuri]

We really need to know how many chips you have at this point. Unless you were in danger of being blinded out of the tournament it would be a case of "joejack are you on crack?"

[johnnymac]

Whoops, I had about 2250.

[Al Mirpuri]

You are clearly shortstacked, with folds to you, and two big cards. I say : push and be damned!

[cferejohn]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi all,

I was playing in a live NLHE tournament night before last. 8 players at the table, 250-500 going up to 500-1000 in 7 mins. I am probably outclassed by most players at the table. There has been quite a few pots won by pre-flop raising, I see KJ suited and go all-in. Was this right?

Edit: I had about 2250 in chips, in middle position, with folds to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

The fact that you included your stack size and postion as an afterthought is troubling, since they make all the difference in the world as to whether this is a obvious push (which it was), a marginal push (if you had 4-5K in chips), or a silly push that will only get called by a better, and probably dominating hand (8K or more).

Once your stack is down to 9-10x the BB, you should mostly be pushing or folding preflop. You can't afford to commit chips preflop and then fold (any preflop move where you plan to get all the chips in after the flop is also fine, such as a stop-n-go, or slowplaying a big hand). If all other players to your left (and particularly the blinds) are also down around 7-12x the BB, min-raising can also be a reasonable line (most players use it too much though, in my opinion).

In any case, with less than 5x the BB and no one in the pot, KJs is well within the range of hands you should push (which at this point should probably include any ace, any pair, any two face cards, and probably a few more hands like KT, K9, and QT, and JT besides).

[johnnymac]

Thanks for reassuring me this was the right play. The reason I posted this was because another player at the table (who I considered a good player at the time) ridiculed me for this move, which made me have some doubts. I'm guessing he wasn't so great after all.

Also, when I was writing the original post I did include my chip amount and the play pattern, but I moved some sentences around and omitted them by mistake.

[cferejohn]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for reassuring me this was the right play. The reason I posted this was because another player at the table (who I considered a good player at the time) ridiculed me for this move, which made me have some doubts. I'm guessing he wasn't so great after all.


[/ QUOTE ]

I would make a note that he doesn't properly adjust to ultra high blinds. This is a clear all-in. Generally, don't worry about people who berate you; most good players don't bother (a couple particularly vocal ones like Hellmouth not withstanding).

[ QUOTE ]
Also, when I was writing the original post I did include my chip amount and the play pattern, but I moved some sentences around and omitted them by mistake.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK. Good. I was hoping it was something like that...