($27) 88 bad flop

[durron597]

When this hand occurred I had no clue what to do. What would you do?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (5 handed) pokerhand.org hand converter

SB (t1685)
BB (t2975)
Hero (t4445)
MP (t2385)
Button (t2010)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
<font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t600</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, Button calls t600, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>.

Flop: (t1300) K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero ???

[Jman28]

That's a tough hand. I think I'd just push.

Most likely calling hands are Ax. AK, AQ, and maybe AJ and AT push preflop, so A4-A9 are likely. KQ KJ and KT are all possible and unlikely. QJ or QT are likely and suck for you. JT is possible, and you need to push him out if you can.

I think you are ahead over half the time because of how often the villain has Ax.

[durron597]

[ QUOTE ]

I think you are ahead over half the time because of how often the villain has Ax.

[/ QUOTE ]

At first when I was playing this hand I was like "2 overs check fold". But then I was like "there aren't that many Ks in the deck", and then I realized the quoted point. And then I got frustrated, but I still wasn't sure what to do next.

[45suited]

What about a read on the PF caller? What would he call for 1/3 of his stack with here?

[nyc999]

This probably looks just as scary to the villain. I would take one stab at pushing him out of the hand with a 2/3-size bet. If he calls, then I might shut down.

[Jman28]

[ QUOTE ]
This probably looks just as scary to the villain. I would take one stab at pushing him out of the hand with a 2/3-size bet. If he calls, then I might shut down.

[/ QUOTE ]

There is only about one pot sized bet left in play.

[ QUOTE ]
This probably looks just as scary to the villain. I would take one stab at pushing him out of the hand with a 2/3-size bet. If he calls, then I might shut down.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that's my line too. The dilemma is finding a happy medium between not investing too much in a CB but also not giving him tempting odds to call a draw.

Check-folding is weak-tight but hey, you have a lot of chips and if you feel confident against these opponents not a bad play either.

[Jman28]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This probably looks just as scary to the villain. I would take one stab at pushing him out of the hand with a 2/3-size bet. If he calls, then I might shut down.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that's my line too. The dilemma is finding a happy medium between not investing too much in a CB but also not giving him tempting odds to call a draw.

Check-folding is weak-tight but hey, you have a lot of chips and if you feel confident against these opponents not a bad play either.

[/ QUOTE ]

There is only about one pot sized bet left in play.

[45suited]

BTW, the pot size is wrong, should be t1500 on the flop, not t1300.

But how about this? Find an amount to bet that could appear that you want a call, but is low enough that you can fold to a push. Maybe even as low as 450.

I know it's easy to say that someone could view this as weak and push with A high, but the guy's tournament life is at stake. That would be pretty ballsy. Plus, would you really bet huge if you had a K? Prolly not most players... so I think if you make a small bet, and he pushes, you can safely fold, even on the chance that he has just a draw.

A small bet might take this pot down enough to justify this play. Thing is, if you do this and fold to a push, you still have the chiplead or close to it. Maybe that's too weak though. Just a thought.

Yeah. So you either commit yourself to the pot with a CB or check fold. Like you said, it really doesn't matter if you push or bet 2/3, because if he calls, all of your chips are getting in.

He also may be holding 99-JJ, but the question is will he lay these down to a push with that board? I would.