QQ in the cutoff

[Tod]

I was in a tournament with around 60 people and the top seven are paid. There are two tables, one with nine and the cut off table, with seven.

This hand comes up with 16 people left and I look down and see these ladies. I'm top five in chips with just over 14,000 but with how fast the blinds move, the average stack is about 4 or 5k. BB has roughly 7k in chips, the blinds are 300/600 with an ante of 75. It's folded to me and I open up for 1800.

He ponders for what seems like forever. He keeps talking about how he feels I'll lay it down if he moves over the top. The longer he waits, the more I know I'm going to call him if he does push. I've played with this gentleman before. I've seen him push with any two connecting paint cards, especially A/rag, if he feels they'll lay it down.

I have a feeling he has A/x suited – A/Jo, otherwise he would have moved faster. He pushes in. Should I have responded to his comment about feeling I'll lay it down? I don't know that I want a caller in this situation. I call his all in and he shows me A/Jo. He spikes an Ace on the river. The blinds move up one hand later to 500/1000 with an ante of 100.

I have a feeling I didn't bet enough here? Perhaps only because I lost the hand am I second guessing my decision? At the time I was pleased he called with A/Jo up until the Ace spiked on the river..

Comments, suggestions?

-Tod

[tipperdog]

You played the hand fine. 3xBB raise with QQ is fine. Calling an all-in raise getting some 3:2 with QQ against an opponent known to "make moves" is practically mandatory. Folding would have been a poker crime.

[JerseyTom]

You're getting something like 1.86:1 on your call (you have to call 5200 to win his 7000, 300 from the SB, ~600 in antes and your initial 1800 raise... around 9700).

You are an underdog only vs AA or KK, a slight favorite vs AK and as big a favorite as you could hope (> 70%) vs anything else. If you folded QQ here, like, a million kittens would die.

Seriously [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]


Tom

[michaliv]

I think you played the hand fine.

[dmoney]

You played it correctly, he just got lucky.

Thats poker

[EarlOfSandwich]

Yep. And, actually, this is what you're looking for as you move through a tournament. You tend to move up either (a) by making moves, or (b) playing back at someone who makes moves on you. You're looking precisely for those situations where your opponent gets it all-in and you have much-the-best of it.

Hands like these usually build you toward a high finish, and sometimes bust you out.

It's also possible, when you win big hands like these, that you'll be able to bully people in the late going. If the table gets too timid as you're moving up the pay scale, having a stack can be worth mucho $$. Definitely worth trying to get one if you can do it as a favorite.

A couple of examples. About a week ago, I finished 13th in a Party $30+3. I went out on a hand where I got it all in against someone with a two-outer ... who promptly hit his two-outer. I would've had a nice stack going into the final table, probably, if I won that hand.

A couple other times, I've busted out 9th and 8th on some really horrible moves early in the final table. I was just fatigued and a bit tired of playing.

I'm way happier with the 13th place, where I played right, than the final table 9th and 8ths. Busting out is just fine when you played it right.