A hand for some commentary

[Rasputin]

A hand for some commentary:

Background: I was playing low buy in turbos at Stars with a reasonable degree of success (40% ITM, 20% ROI for two hundred and some SnGs) and I decided to move to the non turbos and try ring games at the same time and it totally messed up my game. I lost confidence in myself that I didn't completely suck and I'm trying to get that confidence back so I'd appreciate some commentary on this hand.

Even if the commentary is that I suck because that's always an option.

Thanks,

$5.5 SnG on UltimateBet six players left.

I am UTG with about 1200
Chip Leader is in the big blind with about 3500
Second Stack is about 2100
Two other stacks about 1200 one of about 800.

Blinds are 75/150

I get nines UTG and raise to 450. Folded around to big blind who goes all in.

I call.

He has AT of diamonds.

Flop is 5 J 6 two spades, no diamonds.

Turn is Kd

River is Th and I'm out.

I had him read as the best player at the table, tight, aggressive, willing to raise with crap but not stupid enough to stick with it to the end. I am sure that he recognized the 450 bet on my part as my standard 3xBB opener. Previously he had attempted to steal when I was in the big blind and I had successfully fended him off and I think that's the only hand I played with him.

So he's got to figure I could have any of the hands that someone would raise with under the gun in one of these. He neither calls nor makes a reasonable raise, but goes all in which tells me he doesn't really want to get called. If he had aces, kings or queens, I'm thinking he calls and waits for me to bet on the flop. So I figure his most likely hands are Jacks, tens, or an ace and there are a hell of a lot more ways he can make the latter.

If I fold I'm roughly even with the shortstack looking up at four guys. If I call and lose I'm out. If I call and win I'm roughly even with the big stack.

On the other hand, if I'm ahead I'm only slightly ahead, and if I'm behind I'm way behind.

Thoughts?

[partygirluk]

Push all in preflop. As you can see, when he did raise you called anyway, so best to push. By raising 3*BB you let him call for only 2BB more and potentially outflop.
Otherwise you got all in with a 55/45 to double up, and lost. You need to win flips to win a SnG.

[lorinda]

I think you played this okay.

Although I don't subscribe to the 10BB rule when applied to UB tourneys (If you have fewer than 10BB you push when you raise) in general, I think that when running bad you might as well push on marginal hands and take away any close decisions from yourself.

When you get your confidence back you can play more tricky, but it might be best just to push or fold until you are more comfortable with your own game again.

Lori

[curtains]

Once you make it 450 there, you are committed to the hand. However if by moving allin you will be called by only coin-flips or dominating hands, but by making it 450 and then calling a raise, you may get to play against hands that you dominate. This may not always be the case, as some people will call allin's with the same frequency as smaller bets in this situation.
You want to let them be tempted with 55 or even A7s (although I'd bet it's a rare breed in the $5 s+g's that would fold 55 for an allin, but move allin for a 450 raise).
Folding 99 after the BB reraise here would be quite bad. You give your opponent's too much credit as he could really have any number of hands, some of which you are dominating (and discounting AA-QQ is absurd, as it's very hard to mini raise you when you've already put in 450 and have just 750 remaining).
Moving allin with ATs was very risky on his part, assuming you raised UTG and are planning to call his reraise (which you should generally assume when someone raises over 33% of their stack). I would not have moved all-in if I was your opponent this hand.

[Rasputin]

Thanks for the commentary.

As soon as I spent three seconds considering the all-in possibilities I realized that's what I should have done.

I had neither the chips nor the confidence to get tricky.

Of course, over the weekend, I just dominated an SnG from start to finish and my confidence is back. Just took a little luck early on and some big stack bullying.

[morgan180]

[ QUOTE ]
Although I don't subscribe to the 10BB rule when applied to UB tourneys

[/ QUOTE ]

Lorinda, can you expound a little bit - this sounds intriguing...

Thanks,
Morgan

[lorinda]

Lorinda, can you expound a little bit - this sounds intriguing...

There is some discussion of this in this thread.

Basically it's about the speed at which your folding equity is taken from you.

Sometimes I will ask people who post a Party hand "Which hand number was it at the level" or similar because if the level has just begun you sometimes have a little longer before you need to push.

Lori

[morgan180]

Great, thank you!