An Interesting MTT Play....What does everyone think?

[krammatrix]

I've been playing a lot of MTTs lately, and i've seen a lot of people do the following. A player raises with a good hand, such as AK, and the flop doesn't help them. Instead of making a large bluff bet or just checking, they make these smallish bets, maybe even the size of the bb or 2X the bb, just so that they can take a free card and see where their opponents are. I tried this tactic a few times and it has seemed to work pretty well, as it gives you a good idea of where your opponent is in the hand without committing a lot of chips. It looked like a stupid play at first, but it has given me some valuable information and saved me some chips on many occasions. What do u guys think of that play?

[srw5n]

I have never seen that work successfully against moderately good players. Perhaps in a 5+1 MTT. In any tourney with deeper stacks that's a good way to donate chips and allow for a check raise.

[TheDrone]

If you are on a passive table I suppose this play can be useful on certain flops without obvious draws. If you are going to play this way, do it sparingly.

[Ross]

I hate the play. If the smarter players pick up on the fact you have a little bet when you miss the flop they will be able to raise you off the pot with nothing every time. Throwing in a few chips on a bluff does'nt seem much on any given hand but over the course of a tournament it adds up.

Ross

[Cooker]

If you have a play like this, you must be prepared to do it when you hit the flop also. Also be ready to reraise when you hit the flop and when you miss it. I personally think having a big/small bet hit/miss flop pattern is a terrible idea, unless you plan to mix it up. I bet the same ammount relative to the pot when I am taking a stab at the pot and when I have the goods, because I think that is easier, then trying a more complex system of small/big bets. The other system is too easy to fall into predictable patterns and not properly mix your play up. (Sometimes I might use a slightly different amount if the board is particularly draw friendly, because I don't want to give flush and straight draws 4 to 1 or better odds.)

Whenever someone pushes me off a bluff, I remember exactly how I played it, and the next time I have a big hand against them, you better believe they will see the exact same betting pattern.

When I first started SNGs, I did very well. Then I "discovered" a similar attack that you have and for one time it worked pretty well. After that, I could hardly get anywhere, until I realized how predictable I had become. So in closing, predictable bad, unpredictable good.

[zaxx19]

I dont like it at all bet the pot with posistion on a checked flop....that way way even if yu make a small loss after being checkraised(yu wont yull make a small profit over time) yu can bet yur sets and other really strong hands this way get reraised then move right in and get calls ....There is this one book by some fat texan that describes all this...people like the book....hmm cant remember his name right now he has done fairly well in poker.....

[B1GF1SHY]

I think the person you're trying to think of is Phil Hellmuth. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[nightlyraver]

I hate this play since it really does not give you the deisred result. First, no one will fold their hand if they have anything at all. If 1K is in the pot and someone bets 100 into it, I'm calling every time with bottom pair, any draw, a gut-shot, overcards, etc. Therefore, you can easily get outdrawn and won't even know it since you have no idea if the flush card on the turn made him a flush or was unhelpfull - will you call a big bet in that spot? Also, I pick up on this rather quickly. Players who do this either lay down real easy to a nice sized raise, or they will call a big raise with thier mediocre hands. Therefore, I know that I can either bluff them out of the pot many times, or I can throw in a good raise when I flop a strong hand and I'm almost guaranteed that I'll get called by a dominated hand. What would you do in those spots? If you have top pair and a bad kicker and bet small, do you call a 3x raise? If you are called by many players and one bets out the turn for half the pot, do you call with your questionable hand? This play will only cost you in the long run. Proof: Players who do this in tourneys don't often make the final table...

[woostah]

a weak lead probably isnt a good play here on such a strong drawing board because it gives cheap draws.

[woostah]

Im sorry i responded in the wrong thread