Hand Question (long)

[DVaut1]

Hey all,

This is my first post, so please be kind (but critical). This hand is from a $200+16 satellite with 133 entrants, which had at this point played down to 14 players. Top 2 win a seat in large buy-in tournament, plus travel expenses(in other words, the top two places each win a $10k tournament buy-in and 2k for travel expenses). Places 3-5 also pay ($1320 for 3rd, $780 for 2nd, and $520 for 3rd).

7 Seated at the table, with blinds of 800/1600 and antes of 200. I've got a stack of around 34k, which is about average. If I remember correctly, at this point in the tournament, I am in 6th or 7th place. The chip leaders (top 2 or 3 players) all have somewhere between 70k-80k. I'm UTG and bet 6000 with 7c7s. A middle position player goes all-in for about 15k (I've been at this table for about 20 hands. The middle position player who went all-in over the top of me has not been either overly aggressive, nor overly tight. His/Her play has been relatively unextrodinary. In other words, I don't have much of a read on him/her). The action is folded around to me, leaving me heads-up should I decide to play. Here's what I'm thinking:

1) The Gap Concept may dictate that I fold here. An all-in raise from someone who has, up to this point, not shown excessive agression deserves respect this late in a tournament. I could save the 9k it would take to call for a better bet later. However (and this brings me to my second point):

2) I'm certainly not the best player, nor one of the best players left in the tournament. I believe I will need some amount of luck to finish in the top two places. The cash prizes for 3-5 would certainly be nice (and worthwhile of consideration), but it is not a life changing amount of money for me. I'm playing to finish in first or second.
Also, I believe the pot is giving me decent (very good?) odds. There is somewhere close to 25k in the pot counting blinds and antes, and it is 9k more to call. Obviously, AA-88 has me dominated. But given my opponent's semi-short stack, I think I can put him on some hands which he would push with that would leave me either coin flipping (AK-AJ, maybe AT, KQ, some suited Broadways, etc.) or that I dominate (66-22). So, my questions:

1) Was my raise with 7c7s too aggressive?
2) Do the pot odds make it an auto-call? Does the Gap Concept make it an auto-fold?
3) Have I put him on too great a range of hands? Would he really push with 33 or AT, for example? It seems foolish to assume he automatically has an overpair; but am I assuming that he's too loose?

Again, it's my first post, but do not let that stop you from being critical.

Daryl

[kidpoker22]

Ummmm, raising was, of course correct. Calling is typically correct here too. 25K already in the pot, 15 more to call. This call is automatic. There's too much money in the pot to fold if he holds overs. It's pretty simple tournament theory.

[Potowame]

I really dont like the play with 77 here, I would either fold on a aggresive table or limp on a very passive table.

You really committed to many chips here preflop with no thoughts on your actions after that. If your are going to be raiseing these marginal hands UTG you need to be pretty confident on what your actions are going to be if raised , called or multi-called. that being said I cant see 22-66 pushing over the top here, more than likley a premium pair and you are drawing very thin to two outs. Possible AK or AQ.

[zaxx19]

I dont like the raise with 77 either, but I believe its dumb to limp here. Id raise to 4500, a figure where I make it difficult to call for set of draw value, but from which I can retreat if someone moves all in over the top.

[Apathy]

Why such a big PF raise? was this the table norm?
I would raise here if PF raises were getting respect at this table and I would only raise 2.5 or 3X the BB. If every hand was being reraised I would fold here.

On this hand once you raise I think you need to close your eyes pray to see Ak and call, theres just too much in the pot to lay this down whe you are fairly likely to be up against AK or maybe AQ if this player was loose.

[DVaut1]

First, I'd like to thank those who responded. I appreciate it. It seems as if there is some disagreement about the bet preflop. Apparently, it's an auto-call after the mid-position player comes over the top (and it's only 9k more for me to call with 25k in the pot), as no one has yet recommended that I lay it down.

Someone mentioned that I raised with no consideration of my acts if I get called/played back at. In regards to that, I was considering numerous things before I bet. First, it was the late stages of MTT. Therefore, the table was tight. As I said, I was not one of the best players left in the tournament. I was more than willing to coin-flip, even if it meant for all of my chips. I wanted to finish in the top 2 places, and I thought (perhaps foolishly) that taking some chances to acquire a big stack would give me some leverage. I was going to need alot of luck to win. In other words, I had already considered my actions preflop. If it came down to it, I was willing to put it all in with my 7c7s (this needs to be qualified. I would only have played it for all my chips against four of my other opponents. There were 7 seated at my table. I had only been there for about 20 hands. There were two players who were so tight that I would have folded had they raised me. One of these tight players had already said earlier in the tournament that he would never go all-in without a made hand {he had been highly critical of someone who went all-in with AQo}. As for the other 4 players, I was willing to go to bat with them. As I said, I had no read on the player who raised me, so I did need some time to consider. This does not, however, mean that I bet with no consideration as to how I would act if I got played back at).

As far as the amount I bet preflop, I see little difference between what some of you advised (someone recommended 4500; another said 2.5x/3x the BB, which was 1600) and the 6000 which I decided to bet. Taking into account the 1400 in antes sitting on the table in addition to the blinds, I did not think 6000 was out of line, but it seems as if I need to study this closer. I felt as if, with the tight nature of the table, folding/limping was out of the question, although perhaps I'm wrong.

As it turns out, my opponent had AcAh. The board (if i recall correctly) was 5cJc4d6c8c, and he won the hand with the better club flush. I busted out of the tournament a bit later, finishing in 13th place.

Either way, I thank those of you who responded.

Daryl