AJs gets away from me. - Page 2

ChrisV · #11 11-29-2004, 10:22 AM

Well, agreed about being out of the hand in a flash. I'd beat the small stack into the pot if it wasnt for that call, though.

My point was simply that there are no circumstances under which id rather hold J5 than AJ when raising.

Sklansky's piece of advice about not raising when you won't know what to do if reraised has some truth but isn't a good general rule. It doesn't apply preflop in SNGs because the chances of you being reraised are fairly small and a call is not a viable option at any reasonable blind size.

If you've played a lot of SNG's you'll probably automatically feel it's dangerous to steal raise with a stack of 10 BB. People often express this by saying that if they're reraised they won't know what to do. That isn't the real reason since they can always fold, just the same as they do when they have 13 BB. The reason the raise is dangerous is that it puts the largest possible percentage of your stack on the line while offering possible fold equity to the opponent.

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tigerite · #12 11-29-2004, 10:29 AM

Absolutely. It's very risky indeed to steal raise with 10BB or less, but not because I fear folding, more that if you do have to fold your stack then becomes 7BB and you're in a bit of a "panic mode" situation. And yes, an opponent can just come over the top of you and then you're in a huge quandary. I don't really know the best way around this though, do you?

Glintir · #13 11-29-2004, 01:08 PM

That's what I thought you meant, but something about the wording made it unclear. My thoughts as the hand played out were correct then, but my actions were not. When the small stack pushed, I thought, YES! Then when the big stack called, I thought, UH OH! But I failed to follow through on the Uh Oh portion.

ChrisV · #14 11-29-2004, 08:46 PM

Play tighter. I'm much tighter with 8-11ish BB than I am with 12-25 or with 1-7.

morgan180 · #15 11-29-2004, 09:20 PM

The call of the all-in screams that you are either dominated or at best a slight dog/coin flip situation (if the caller would call the ss all-in with something like TT.)

I agree with you - the short stack pushes -- YES! the big stack calls -- you gotta put him on a premium hand that he thinks he can take the little guy out ... walk away!

JMHO

CarlSpackler · #16 11-30-2004, 12:30 AM

I like your preflop raise. If the short stack goes all-in, and the big blind folds, then I think you have to call. Once the big blind, who is virtually the chip leader, cold calls the short stack's all-in, I think you have to fold. You're getting a little more than 3 to 1 on your pot odds by calling, but I don't think AJs is a strong enough hand to do so in this situation. Look at the information you gained by raising. You have to think the short stack has at least an ace with a decent kicker, KQ/KJ, or a pocket pair here. I would put the cold caller on a pocket pair or AQ/AK.

Unless you hit the flop really hard (i.e. harder than just flopping an Ace), you're going to have to lay down your hand to a bet or raise. Even if the cold caller checks the flop, and you bet, what are you going to do when he comes over the top of you?

CarlSpackler · #17 11-30-2004, 12:30 AM

I like your preflop raise. If the short stack goes all-in, and the big blind folds, then I think you have to call. Once the big blind, who is virtually the chip leader, cold calls the short stack's all-in, I think you have to fold. You're getting a little more than 3 to 1 on your pot odds by calling, but I don't think AJs is a strong enough hand to do so in this situation. Look at the information you gained by raising. You have to think the short stack has at least an ace with a decent kicker, KQ/KJ, or a pocket pair here. I would put the cold caller on a pocket pair or AQ/AK.

Unless you hit the flop really hard (i.e. harder than just flopping an Ace), you're going to have to lay down your hand to a bet or raise. Even if the cold caller checks the flop, and you bet, what are you going to do when he comes over the top of you?

pacman544 · #18 11-30-2004, 01:29 AM

Unless this guy is a complete idiot, he has to have u beat on the flop. If the guys a decent player hes not gonna try to create a side pot with anything that aj can beat due to the side pot. Tendenicies of any intelligent player ussually change once a side pot is created with a bet. He most likely is putting u on some ace or some pocket pair, he dosent want to give u a free set and wants to force u to make a good laydown.