Final 2 tables in Limit Hold 'em multi

[J.Copperthite]

Hi everyone,

I want to share some experiences I have when in the final 2 tables of Limit Hold 'em tournaments. First off, my luck in this spot has been atrocious - I have 7 finishes between 10th and 18th in limit hold 'em multis, and only 1 final table (and that was a 9th place finish). What always seems to happen is there is one pot I lose while in the final two tables either to bad luck or my being out of line. This past tournament I was playing at a very timid and tight 2nd table. I had Q-T suited in middle position, and I decided that i'd either be threebet or win the blinds - the table has been folding their blinds most of the time. For a limit hold 'em tournament, we were seeing very few flops at the final 3 or 4 tables. Anyway, the SB ends up calling, and he is a tight player. That right away makes me very concerned. The flop comes down Q-J-4 rainbow. He checks to me, I bet, and he calls. The turn pairs the board w/ a 4, putting two dimes on board. Same sequence. The river is an 8 of dimes. While this hand was going on I put him on some kind of draw or a mid pocket pair. The 8 of dimes puts a potential straight out there, and he may have slowplayed a set on me. He checks and I check, and he shows me K-Q suited and I have lost half my stack.

Should I have checked the turn because he called my flop bet? Should I automatically give credit to him for calling my bet late in a tournament? Would any of you have played it any differently (even by simply folding the Q-T suited, despite the passiveness of the table)? Insights are welcome!

The problem with these tight tables is that your QT is often dominated when someone desides to play his hand. Ofcourse it could mean any other premium hand that doesn't contain a Q, but when he calls your flop bet you can expect him to have you either dominated or a good draw. If you would have checked the turn and he opened the betting on the river with so many draws out, that would be the indicator to let this hand go. I like to play QTs more agressively when the flush draw is of my suit, otherwise I try to keep the pot as small as possible.

I think it's hard for me to comment on a Limit hand since I never player Limit, but this is just my 2 cent.