how the &^%$^& do I avoid this situation? or can't i?

[dumb ox]

22, 1st level, pretty even chip spread.

I'm in small blind with AK off. Folded to MP+2, who raises to 75. I make it 150. Bet the pot when flop comes jack rag rag rainbow. Bastard goes all in, I fold. Down to 350.

Standard?

[gildwulf]

Why did you minraise?

[dumb ox]

Blinds were 10/15. I don't remember the numbers exactly, but my raise was a pot sized one, plus or minus 10 chips. Would you have raised more?

[lorinda]

Standard?

Yes. $22s have people doing this sort of thing all the time.

Rather than ask why this may or may not be standard, could you think through the reasoning behind the following.

1. Mini raising preflop.

What are you trying to achieve? Why did you give the guy the option back so cheaply? Are you trapping, bluffing or pot building? What might the other options be, and why?

2. Betting the flop.

Why did you bet so much? What did you want him to do? Were you surprised when he raised? If so what could you have done differently?

3. Folding to the allin.

Are you sure you were not getting value to call? Did you have any outs? Could you have been ahead?

4. Being picked on

What is lorinda asking me all this for? Why doesn't lorinda just tell me the answers? How can I learn if people won't tell me what to do?

Lori

[Mr_J]

If you reraise, it's going to be a push vs a weak/loose opponent.

What is your plan with the minraise? What will you do if he pushes back at you preflop? If you'd fold, then reraising is terrible. It looks like you are building a pot to push on the flop. You only bet, which again gives him the chance to push back at you.

How to not get yourself in that position? Don't reraise AK preflop unless it's a push. Know what you're going to do postflop. If you call, you can still get away from the hand cheaply (which is good since it doesn't hit enough) but also allows you to make a play at the pot without being committed.

"Would you have raised more?"

A reraise like that isn't going to make him fold often. The one good thing about the minraise is that it might scare him into being weak/tight postflop.

[vinyard]

[ QUOTE ]
22, 1st level, pretty even chip spread.

I'm in small blind with AK off. Folded to MP+2, who raises to 75. I make it 150. Bet the pot when flop comes jack rag rag rainbow. Bastard goes all in, I fold. Down to 350.

Standard?

[/ QUOTE ]

Go read Lorinda's post. You would be greatly advised to start thinking more along the lines she is trying to lead you in with her questions.

Here are my thoughts:
Call or Push PF.
If you call PF, your continuation bet (which I don't like in gerneral but is OK) will be a lot smaller and not leave you with 450 chips.
I prefer calling the PF raise and check/folding the flop OOP.

[MagnoliasFM]

If you play postflop like this, it would've been better for you to go all-in preflop, especially since someone already raised and it's a $22 tourney. Pushing is definitely +EV and it erases your positional disadvantage of being in the small blind.

[citanul]

pwned.

citanul

[dumb ox]

Hmmm. Very good questions.

1. I raised a) because there's a good chance I have the best hand and b) to put the burden on him to improve on the flop. It was a pot sized raise, which I understood was the norm; but I take it I should have raised more, to encourage him to fold.

2. Most of my bets are pot sized; a hang up from ring games, perhaps. I was hoping he would fold small pocket pairs and unimproved overcards, and I wanted to make the bet big enough to persuade him to fold. I wasn't particularly surprised when he raised, though I expected my opponent to fold much more often than to go all in.

3. I had 300 - 400 chips left, which is plenty to work with (not that it's a particularly good argument, but I did take second in that tournament). I may be ahead, but I think that's doubtful; if I'm behind I probably I have 6 clean outs twice, but still it's much more likely I'll bust out of the tournament than not if I call.

4. This is obvious.

[lorinda]

Do you think he would have played much differently (on average, not in this pot) if you had bet maybe 100 or 150 less on the flop?

Do you think that if you had called preflop instead of raising, that you would have much more flexibility on the flop? as check-raising him would only be the size of the bet you ended up making, or a straight forward bet into this smaller pot would be quite small compared to your stack?

Do you think in hindsight that had you kept the pot smaller you could have had more scope to outplay the guy, OR had you gone all in preflop you could have removed any thoughts he would have of outplaying you?

Note, I still don't like all of the options I appear to be presenting, but I like asking leading questions.

Lori