Rate my Play

$10+$1 NL SNG on party last night. I played the hand very different from how I normally do. I want to know what you all think.

5 players left. I'm chipleader with ~2300.


UTG: Villain 2230
MP: Hero 2300
Button: Has about 1570
SB: Has 1100
BB: Has 800

Blinds at 75/150 and they increase next hand.

I'm dealt 66. My read on UTG is that he's a novice. I saw him slowroll some guy earlier with the nut boat so he's a jerk, and probably fairly new to this game so he's not good. I've also seen him limp UTG several times.

UTG limps for 150. I raise to 400. Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, UTG takes a while then calls.

Pot: 1025. Flop comes 7 5 3 rainbow. He bets 300. I immediately put him on two overs and I raise to 900 (leaving me with about 1000). He calls fairly quickly. This doesn't change my read, though.

Turn pot is 2825 and the turn is another 7, pairing the board. He checks. I push in for my last 1K or so. He thinks for about 8 seconds and calls all-in. (I'm returned 70 chips).

Thoughts, comments... like I said, I usually play my mid PP's more tight-aggressive than this, but I was not worried about getting outplayed by Villain in this case, and was also hoping for one of the shorter stacks to move in on me with KT or A8 or whatever.

[Hornacek]

I would have folded preflop.

[Tuben]

I like it.

[kevkev60614]

I don't mind playing PP from mid position 5 handed, but I'm a lot less aggressive with them.

It's been my experience that $11 donks who bet into the pf raiser on the flop almost always have something.

But if you're really confident in your read on the flop, why not push? I don't like raising almost half my stack.

[unfrgvn]

I don't mind the play. Personally, I would have checked behind on the turn, because I can never imagine what they can call the preflop raise with, plus call the flop raise with, that I can beat here. I'm often wrong and find they are calling with KQ, A3, back door flush. If he called your all in with only overcards and you got rivered, then this is just a bad beat post. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]
If he had A7, which seems to me to be the only hand he should have that matches the betting, then you got unlucky. River a 4.

I do not really care for this. You said villain limps utg often, so I wouldnt put it past him to have a 7 such as A7. If he is bad like you say, he would have probably reraised with any 2 broadway cards. I would have folded preflop, he is too close to you in chips, I would not want to get involved in a big pot with a small pocket pair. In your case though, you reraise preflop, he calls. I would have just called him on the flop beings you are getting 4-1 with medium pair, and once that next 7 came I would have check/folded. It was obvious you were not shaking this kid, and he could very well have a 7. Also by doing this, you have 1k in chips which is enough to work with

[downtown]

[ QUOTE ]
$10+$1 NL SNG on party last night. I played the hand very different from how I normally do. I want to know what you all think.

5 players left. I'm chipleader with ~2300.


UTG: Villain 2230
MP: Hero 2300
Button: Has about 1570
SB: Has 1100
BB: Has 800

Blinds at 75/150 and they increase next hand.

I'm dealt 66. My read on UTG is that he's a novice. I saw him slowroll some guy earlier with the nut boat so he's a jerk, and probably fairly new to this game so he's not good. I've also seen him limp UTG several times.

UTG limps for 150. I raise to 400. Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, UTG takes a while then calls.

Pot: 1025. Flop comes 7 5 3 rainbow. He bets 300. I immediately put him on two overs and I raise to 900 (leaving me with about 1000). He calls fairly quickly. This doesn't change my read, though.

Turn pot is 2825 and the turn is another 7, pairing the board. He checks. I push in for my last 1K or so. He thinks for about 8 seconds and calls all-in. (I'm returned 70 chips).

Thoughts, comments... like I said, I usually play my mid PP's more tight-aggressive than this, but I was not worried about getting outplayed by Villain in this case, and was also hoping for one of the shorter stacks to move in on me with KT or A8 or whatever.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't like any part of how you played this hand at all.

1) You're not really the chip leader over the villain, he can effectively bust you.

2) You're making reads of his specific holdings when you should be putting your opponent on a range of hands. Why are you so heavily discounting A7, K7, 33, 55, and 88-JJ??? There's no way to know you're ahead. I agree that there is a good chance you're ahead, but you can't just come across like you know for sure. You're essentially guessing here, which is why I hate playing 66 here in this way. Unless it's your neighbor and you can see in his window across the street, or you have the software that scans your opponents cards, of course.

3) "and was also hoping for one of the shorter stacks to move in on me with KT or A8 or whatever." This doesn't make any sense... why did you pop it to t400 then? This is an argument for limping, and a poor one at that.

I would limp and play for set value vs. the other big stack. You're right that this is a favorable flop for you, but I would proceed with more caution and use the information that my opponent's flop call of a raise (which would now take less of your stack since you didn't raise PF) gave me without ignoring it and just saying "he's not good" and "he must be on overs."

(Edited for clairty.)

[splashpot]

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Personally, I would have checked behind on the turn, because I can never imagine what they can call the preflop raise with, plus call the flop raise with, that I can beat here.

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He put the guy on overcards. It's definately bad to give overcards a free card here.

[unfrgvn]

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Personally, I would have checked behind on the turn, because I can never imagine what they can call the preflop raise with, plus call the flop raise with, that I can beat here.

[/ QUOTE ]
He put the guy on overcards. It's definately bad to give overcards a free card here.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed, what I meant to say is because I would never call both of the raises with just overcards, I almost always give my opponent credit for more than over cards. I meant this as more a slap at my own play than his.

I'm glad to see such a disparity in advice. That was kind of what I was hoping for. I thought there were several ways to play this hand and it took me a long time to decide my play PF. I chose this play which was ultra-LAG for my standards, but it felt right.

Result: Villain held AK and rivered an A. Ok, big deal. It happens. I should be glad he played it this way. (He played it horribly IMO, far worse than any of my plays I believe). I should be glad to get an all-in call on the river as a 6-to-1 favorite.

However, now my dilemma is that I'm left with 70 chips. That's it.

So my follow-up question is this: Did I overplay my 66 here? And by overplay I mean doing anything more expensive than limp/folding if I miss the flop? Usually this is my play when Im the chipleader this close to the bubble, and the only other player who can damage me is already in the pot.

My initial thought was that "That was stupid, why did I do that?" But then I thought, "I had a read, thought I could outplay villain...did, and lost. Oh well. I don't want to back into first place, I want to come in through the front door."

So I went to bed with this dilemma...was this poor tournament strategy?? If this was a cash game I wouldn't care. But was I stupid to play 66 in my position? Or should I follow my instincts here?

By the way, was my flop-raise to 800 enough to get two overcards to fold? I thought it was...and by the way, no i was not playing my gutshot in this hand. I realize I had one, but I was going on the premise that my 2nd pair was good.