Two difficult hands: Is there a lesson to be learned here?

[allenciox]

The two hands have many similarities. I will present the hands, ask what you would do, and then after some people respond, talk about a possibly emergent principle...

Hand # 1: This comes from the 75k guaranteed Paradise $30 rebuy tournament from Monday evening. We were on the bubble. There were 140 people out of 1240 remaining, top 110 get paid. I have a slightly above average stack of $51k. Blinds are 2k,4k with a 200 ante, so pot starts at 7k. I was only moved to this table 3 hands ago, and I have never played against any of the relevant players before (I always hate it when other people say they have no reads, so I cringe to admit it here).

The CO (84k chips) limps. SB has 23k left after posting, BB 25k. What do you do with the AT of diamonds on the button? Think through this before looking at what I write below.





Two things occur to me: If I raise here I pot-commit myself and I am likely to only be called when I am behind. Since I am in-position on the button, it feels easier to limp as well and see a flop. So I limp, the SB completes, and the BB checks his option.

Pot:17k
Flop: Th 9h 3s.

Both blinds check, the CO bets 25k. What hands do you put the CO on? Note that a call pot-commits you. Do you hold 'em or fold 'em?

Hand #2: This comes from the same paradise tournament a day later (last night). About half the field is gone, blinds are 100/200 with a $25 ante, I am below average with a stack of 6500. In this case, I do have reads. Everybody folds to the CO+1 (6000TC), who is a fairly loose aggressive player, who makes continuation bets but is smart enough to back off when he is beat. He raises to 600. The CO folds. I have AJo on the button. Should I fold, call, or pot commit myself with a reraise? Again think through it.








For exactly the same reasons mentioned earlier, I coldcall the raise. Both blinds fold and we are heads-up.

Pot: 1750 Flop: 7 3 2 rainbow.

The CO+1 bets 1000. What do you do here? My analysis and results will follow some responses.