First hand post. Be gentle

[Hedge Henderson]

I play in a social home game so I don't have any nice online hand histories to post. Still, I've always wanted to post one.

It's a $10 NLHE home tourney. Payout is pretty flat, second place pay is nearly 2/3 of first place. We're down to heads up (second hand), and I'm the short stack (about T$50). My opponent (about T$130) played tight until we got to four-handed and then started raising just about every other hand. He caught a couple of lucky draws to bust out fourth and third place.

Blinds are $5 and $10. I'm on the button with As3c. I just call the big blind (mistake?). My opponent raises $20, about half of my remaining stack. I figure this to be an easy all-in, yes?

[Che]

If he has a better Ax or a pair, you're a big dog.

If he has suited connectors, it's a coinflip.

If you get lucky and catch him bluffing with something like 94o, you're only a 3-2 favorite.

Given the stack sizes, he can do this with any two cards so I probably go allin, but I wouldn't be happy about it since there's at least a 40% chance that the tournament is over.

I think raising allin to begin with is probably the better choice.

[superleeds]

Hi Hedge,

Yes I think calling was a mistake here but I think raising all-in is probably not the best option either. If we are going to run with this hand (and I think we have to) I don't want to scare of any crap hand. A min raise will be at least called and although we run the risk of him hitting we also maximise our profits as he will have to call our all-in bet after the flop. An all-in initial raise will let him fold easily pre-flop if he has nothing.

If you decide to play your basically gonna have to commit all your chips regardless so give yourself the chance to double up. Just my 2 cents worth

[crockpot]

with the blinds this high, your play is an all-in right away. since the blinds eat away at you so fast, you should be pushing in with a lot of hands, including any ace and possibly any king.

as you played it, yes, you push in after his raise too.

[Hedge Henderson]

Opponent called with J5 hearts so I was slightly ahead. Two hearts came on the flop, I paired the three on the turn but the third heart came on the river.

Even a minimum raise on the SB would have been 1/4 of my remaining stack, so I don't feel too bad about the all-in raise. I'd have hated to pass up the ace since my next hand would likely be worse.

[Philuva]

You suck. Just kidding.

I would go all-in pre-flop here. If you win both the blinds ($15) that is a 30% increase to you stack. There really is no meaningful raise that you can make that doesn't make you pot commited. So might as well push in. You figure to have the best hand the majority of time and you might even be able to get a small pair or a A4 or A5 to fold.