Callin all in with 99?

[lotus776]

yaeh, check his stack. Why would you gable (coin toss at best) against some dude that could cripple you?

[suited_ace]

Caveat: I never played an MTT higher than a $22.

That being said, I think I'm folding here. Villain is going over the top of an UTG raiser. If you don't have a LAG image, his range is prolly something like AA-TT, AK (and I'm being optimistic w/ those TT). You're a 2-to-1 dog against that.

If you were in MP it would be a whole different situation, though...

[Lloyd]

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Yes, TT sounds about right. This is one of the spots where you wish you could make all this analysis faster.

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Always a challenge, particularly on some of the sites that don't give a lot of time, or in live play of course. For me, I think that doing these types of calculations over and over just helps with the instincts. You said TT felt right and you were correct. That's based on instinct which is from a lot of experience and cranking out these types of calcs in the past.

But at the end of the day, is there a HUGE difference between calling with 99 v TT? We're really talking about subtle differences in the strength of the hand. And yes, those differences are probably what separates a decent player from a good one. But in any given tourney I don't think it's really a big deal. Now, if you're calling with 7s that's something else.

So the bottom line is when you're faced with a decision that's offering you about 1.7 to 1 odds, you're opponent isn't overly aggressive, and there's no reason for him to think that you're raise is more likely a steak - you should be calling with TT+, AK. And if we're getting worse than 1.7 to 1 odds, we need to tighten it up. Better than 1.7 to 1 and we can call with a smaller pair and perhaps AQ. If we can somehow plug that into our brain it will come in hand at some point.

[BPA234]

Hey David:

IMO, assuming I don't know you, and that we are dealing with a standard table during that phase of the tournament, I would immediately put you on med PP. Knowing you, I would suspect med. PP or much better, possibly AK.
In either case, I am only reraising allin with a strong PP, or maybe AK if I think you will fold.

If you had a read that the villain's allin was a play or very wide range of holdings, than I think a call could be in order for you. Your ability to maximize the use of a large stack and drive to a deeper finish is an easy argument for calling.

Conversely, folding is validated by your skill level. I believe you can fold here and still be a factor in the tourney.

Brian

Last night at a live MTT, I had 99 UTG, raised 3x BB, and CO smooth called. Flop was all low cards, I checked to the CO who made a pot sized bet, to which I folded (she showed JJ). It certainly helped that I had played with her before and had a pretty good read. This shows how important reads are (I know this is an online example, but reading betting patterns are just as important). Without a read, it's hard to say what the correct move is, but if I raised 4x BB and got reraised pf I'd be pretty scared of an overpair. Then again, your opponent may just be trying to isolate you with AK-AJ or something. A read would really help here.