TPNK in Dry Sidepot

Just inside the money of a 180-person SnG. The pre-flop call is pretty much mandatory, right? How do you top pair on the flop?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1200 (8 handed) converter

UTG+1 (t5326)
MP1 (t578)
MP2 (t17075)
CO (t21841)
Button (t16080)
SB (t17494)
Hero (t26911)
UTG (t5126)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
<font color="#CC3333">UTG raises to t5051</font>, <font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, CO calls t5051, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, Hero calls t3851.

Flop: (t14478) K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">CO bets t3600</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero ???</font>

Final Pot: t52978

I think you need to fold preflop - UTG has a very wide range but you're likely still a dog to it and the CO likely has a premium as he called 25% of his stack (choosing not to isolate) - I put him on a big a pair, AK, or AQ maybe. Based on my assumed range for the CO you're a big dog to this board. His 3600 looks to me to be bait - I fold.

Not only am I folding preflop but I'm folding here too. I don't want to build a big sidepot with K5 offsuit, eeek.

All-in and a call for a little more than 4xBB and you feel like you have to call?

I don't like that call, but on the flop I wouldn't like to fold, but I think that you have to.

[Sam T.]

[ QUOTE ]
The pre-flop call is pretty much mandatory, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

No. If you are up against two RANDOM hands, maybe (but probably not), but you are not up against two random hands. With any luck, you are up against two marginal hands, but you may well be against one marginal and one good hand.

[yabastid]

[ QUOTE ]
Not only am I folding preflop but I'm folding here too. I don't want to build a big sidepot with K5 offsuit, eeek.

[/ QUOTE ]

[locutus2002]

PF I'd fold. I hate calling 20% of my stack to play K5 OOP regardless of pot odds.

It's pretty hard for CO to miss this flop. I eyeball ~50 hands you are behind (3 outs or less) and ~65 combo hands where you are ahead but villain has alot of outs (~9) Given the dead money in the pot villain probably calls down all the time.

My crude math is UTG has 1/3 equity in center pot or 5K, leaving 10K left.
CO is asking hero to commit all his chips.
Hero has to call 16K to win 42K (16K + 16K + 10K equity in center) and is getting 2.6 to 1 in the pot. Hero needs to be ~28% in the hand.

Let's say 1/2 the time he has a king and you lose, the other 1/2 the time he has a combo draw and you win 2/3.

Hero is 1/3 in the pot. It eyeballs out. It has high variance which is good.

Push.

[Mez]

I don't see why you want to call PF here. To me its a clear fold. You're getting 3:1 to call here, but the CO still has chips left and this is over 10% of your stack. Its a fold for me

On the flop is a clear fold once you check. So long as you're here, I bet the flop.