They think you're stealing, but you're not

[mayesie]

Let this one go; it's still early & you're off to a good start. Although there's a chance he's re-raising w/ a small pair or broadway cards (KQ, KJ, etc), there's also a chance he has a real hand. You have no way of knowing if villain is observant enough to notice your earlier raises.

Whenever I have no information on the villain, I lean towards giving him/her the benefit of the doubt.

[ansky451]

I love position. I call this every time and at least see what happens on the flop. Put yourself in his shoes. He raises you with say... AQ. Flop comes 3 rags lets say, and now he's playing a big reraised pot out of position with ace high. I'm calling that reraise with any pair, any suited connector or 1 gapper, and any decent ace every time here.

Calling here will also improve your image, and show you are not going to get pushed around preflop.

[ActionBob]

This is a pretty easy call here. I'm shocked by how many would fold in this spot.

-ActionBob

[Exitonly]

ActionBob!


you're the one that just got 5th placee the WPT right?

if i'm mistaking you for someone else, ignore me.

if not, Congraaaaats

[fnurt]

[ QUOTE ]
I love position. I call this every time and at least see what happens on the flop. Put yourself in his shoes. He raises you with say... AQ. Flop comes 3 rags lets say, and now he's playing a big reraised pot out of position with ace high. I'm calling that reraise with any pair, any suited connector or 1 gapper, and any decent ace every time here.

Calling here will also improve your image, and show you are not going to get pushed around preflop.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem is that the stacks are deep but not THAT deep. If you call and then he makes a decent-sized continuation bet on the flop, and you choose either option to try and take it away from him (raise the flop, or call and bet the turn if he slows down), you end up losing around half your stack if he turns out to have a real hand. It's a ballsy way to play at level 2.

As it turns out the flop was Kxx and I folded to a continuation bet.

[mayesie]

[ QUOTE ]
This is a pretty easy call here. I'm shocked by how many would fold in this spot.

-ActionBob

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sorry, but I don't understand why this is such an easy call. Sure, I have a decent hand & position. However, I have no read on villain, which means I'm not too confident w/ ATs after being re-popped 3X my initial raise. My objective w/ this hand is to either win the blinds, or see the flop w/out paying any more. The last thing I want to do (this early in the tournament) is get into a war w/ someone who could easily have me beat or dominated w/ a higher Ace.

[pfkaok]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm sorry, but I don't understand why this is such an easy call. Sure, I have a decent hand & position. However, I have no read on villain, which means I'm not too confident w/ ATs after being re-popped 3X my initial raise. My objective w/ this hand is to either win the blinds, or see the flop w/out paying any more. The last thing I want to do (this early in the tournament) is get into a war w/ someone who could easily have me beat or dominated w/ a higher Ace.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm with actionbob that this is a very easy call for me, or for anybody who plays an aggressive style which the OP said he had been.

i don't see why so many people have this phobia of busting early, or of just seeing a flop in a raised pot with a less than premium hand in general. when the blinds are small its usually not that hard to tell when your TPMK isn't good before you commit your whole stack. and you do flop pretty good with this hand sometimes.

[mayesie]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm sorry, but I don't understand why this is such an easy call. Sure, I have a decent hand & position. However, I have no read on villain, which means I'm not too confident w/ ATs after being re-popped 3X my initial raise. My objective w/ this hand is to either win the blinds, or see the flop w/out paying any more. The last thing I want to do (this early in the tournament) is get into a war w/ someone who could easily have me beat or dominated w/ a higher Ace.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm with actionbob that this is a very easy call for me, or for anybody who plays an aggressive style which the OP said he had been.

i don't see why so many people have this phobia of busting early, or of just seeing a flop in a raised pot with a less than premium hand in general. when the blinds are small its usually not that hard to tell when your TPMK isn't good before you commit your whole stack. and you do flop pretty good with this hand sometimes.

[/ QUOTE ]

To me, it's not an issue of fear, but one of strategy. I don't need a premium hand as long as I have position & a decent read on the villain. In all honesty, what will usually happen here? Here's what I think:

1) I'll miss the flop (Including draws)

2) The re-raiser is going to lead w/ a good size flop bet that I won't be able to call.


Even If I hit an Ace, I can't be all that thrilled about it (there's a chance I'll just need to lose some more chips). Trying to bluff the villain is too risky IMO, because I have no knowledge of his play. I can't automatically assume he's aware of my play (he might not care about anything past his own hole cards). When I don't know anything about an opponent, I tend to give them more credit for a hand when I'm re-popped (even if it's from the blind).

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying that calling the re-raise is a horrible play (given the stack sizes). I'm a TAG by nature, and prefer to get into these types of situations after I have more information. I'm just saying that I fold here, mainly due to lack of good information on the villain.