Unusual Hypothetical Question

[David Sklansky]

Playing holdem. One and two dollar blinds. Ten handed. You are under the gun every hand. Your opponents play perfectly. You must fold or bring it in for precisely x dollars, the same amount every time you play. If you do come in, all other opponents can only call or fold. There is no further betting.

Regardless of what you are told x is, you have an edge. After all you can wait for aces and beat the game. If x was a million dollars that is exactly what you would do. But that would bring your EV down to about 1.4 cents since you would never get called except by the other pair of aces.

My question is what approximately would the mandatory bring in be in order for you to have the highest possible EV.

[cassise]

Would it matter? Wouldn't the table fold back to you reguardless of what the bring it in was, once again reducing your EV down to 1.4 cents?

[Grivan]

only if you only bring in with AA. If x is smaller it opens up the possibility of adding in other hands, and once people start calling with lesser hands your EV will raise above 1.4 cents

[ZeeJustin]

[ QUOTE ]
Would it matter? Wouldn't the table fold back to you reguardless of what the bring it in was, once again reducing your EV down to 1.4 cents?

[/ QUOTE ]

If X is $2.50, the BB will now be getting pot odds to call with any 2 cards even if he knows you have AA.

[DanZ]

My guess is that you do best with x near or even at $2, since you can play the most hands and there is less of a penalty when you are "beat" pre-flop. You should get the mulit-way action to play suited connecting hands profitably, which would not be the case with x being large.

Dan Z.

[andyfox]

Ergo, there must be times when limping UTG is correct in a regular-rules limit hold'em game?

[kem]

[ QUOTE ]
If you do come in, all other opponents can only call or fold. There is no further betting.

[/ QUOTE ]

Doesn't this drastically change the game? Isn't the main drawback of being UTG the fact that 9 people are acting behind you and able to raise? In a real HE game, you could bet and it could be 3-bet and capped right behind you. But maybe you have a translation from this simpler game to a real HE game in order to prove your point against Ferguson and Weideman? Obviously these assumptions make your calculations much easier, but how can you use any results from here in the real world?

[Louie Landale]

Raise $3 for a total of $5. If on the button raise $12 for a total of $14.

[JTG51]

If X is $2.50, the BB will now be getting pot odds to call with any 2 cards even if he knows you have AA.

Even if the BB is getting the correct odds to call your raise, the raise is still profitable for you.

[Dov]

You could still just wait for aces and have the highest EV even with a small bring in.