to call or NOT to call??

faxwoods · #1 08-18-2004, 01:31 AM

i was at the taj the other night playin a $100 NL tourney with about 250 entries. everyone starts out with 5,000 in chips and blinds go up every 20mins. it was early in the tournament, maybe 3rd level at most when i ran into a confrontation with the chip leader of our table. blinds were 100/200 at this time and i was on the button with A/J offsuit. every1 folds to me and i made a 600 raise. sb folds and bb cold calls the 600. flop comes j/10/3. bb checks it to me and i bet 600 more on my top pair and top kicker. he pauses fer a couple of seconds and says "all-in". i am now lookin at risking my tournament life since he has more than enough chips to cover me if i call him. what would you do? would you call or laydown your top pair with ace kicker? any opinions/insights would be greatly appreciated. results would follow..............

faxwoods · #2 08-18-2004, 01:33 AM

btw, my chip count was probably around 5,000 right now, pretty much the same as what we all started with. the chip leader probably has about 7,000 in chips at this point.

durron597 · #3 08-18-2004, 01:45 AM

How aggressive was he? I probably call if the board is two tone, since normally this means flush draw. If it's rainbow, obviously it doesn't mean flush draw, so I think it's likeliest to mean set.

This of course all goes out the window if I have him tagged as an aggressive player, in which case I always call, and if he is tight, I always fold.

Tommy R · #4 08-18-2004, 01:47 AM

This is a tough one. Did you have any read on that particular player from previous hands?

Was he/she constantly in pots coming over the top, or was he/she tight?

For a solid player I would have to put them on either 10 J, a big pocket or hitting trips to make this move.

I would be inclined to fold against a solid player.

Against a loose player it's still a tough call to make I would be more inclined to make it.

faxwoods · #5 08-18-2004, 10:37 AM

since it was still early in the tourney, i havent had a real good read on him just yet. he took down a couple pots showing down the best hand and some were uncontested. his table image was that he was a solid player at this point.
also, the flop was 2 clubs and 1 heart.

Poker Junkie · #6 08-18-2004, 11:44 AM

Faxwoods,

I don't have the experience that a lot of the other guys/girls in here have but will give my two cents. I would think that the earlier cold call of the 3XBB bet you made would indicate that your opponent either has decent paired hole cards or maybe AK. I don't think he would have cold called you pre flop with less than that even being the chip leader. When you came back with another raise and he pushed all in It would make me think that his hole cards are either JJ or 10's. With out knowing if the tournament has re-buys, or if you are willing to re-buy i'm not sure I would want to risk my whole stack that early with out a strong read on this opponent. Looking forward to reading the results.

[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]Walt

soxfan70 · #7 08-18-2004, 11:59 AM

I think it's very read dependant. Put yourself in his shoes. Folded around to the button who raises. Sure looks like a steal to me. His flat call and check-raise could be him making a stand against what he thinks is a probable steal. If you think this guy is capable of making this play, I call. If not, and he's only shown down legit hands, I fold and wait for a better spot.

The Student · #8 08-18-2004, 02:02 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I think it's very read dependant. Put yourself in his shoes. Folded around to the button who raises. Sure looks like a steal to me. His flat call and check-raise could be him making a stand against what he thinks is a probable steal. If you think this guy is capable of making this play, I call. If not, and he's only shown down legit hands, I fold and wait for a better spot.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with soxfan70 - if I were the BB, I would definitely be thinking that you were on a possible steal attempt with your PF raise with no limpers ahead of you. Then, when you bet 600 into a pot of 1300, I would think that's a little low (he's getting better than 3:1 to call it). If I were the BB, I would think that you were trying to stab at the pot again. Of course, since you have no strong read on the guy, it's possible that he did have a set and was hoping that you'd call - but I would say that your relatively cheap bet on the flop gave him the impetus to put you to the test with a hand that was likely second best at the time. Having said that, I think without a read on him yet, this is a very tough call so early in a tournament (when you still have plenty of time to build your stack).

greytedeals · #9 08-18-2004, 02:10 PM

i think u under most circumstances you should call. you shouldn't be playing AJ if you're not prepared to go all in with a flop like that.

Scooterdoo · #10 08-18-2004, 03:17 PM

I would make this call given the circumstances since there are just too many scenarios where he would make this move with a worse hand than you. If he had a higher pair (other than AA) he probably would have re-raised you preflop). The only hands that beats you are a set, or two pair with JTs. He most likely has a flush draw (probably with an A and the middle pair) or has read you with overcards or on a random steal. Sure you may be beat, but the buy-in is only $100, and with this many players you need to accumulate chips. My thinking this early is if I lose I just move on to a cash game. How many chances do you get to put your chips in the pot with top pair, top kicker?