Questions from Home Tourney Player

[suprblah]

I play every week with in home tournaments with anywhere from 5-9 people. Most of us are beginners, there's only one player with lots of experience and he usually kills the rest of us. I am probably the 2nd best, and probably the only one trying hard to get better. (other than the good player).

Here are a few points I'm unsure of:

If a TAG player raises OOP, and another TAG calls, should I overcall with medium suited connectors just on the basis of pot odds/implied odds? I'm pretty sure my cards are live, but I'm not sure how much money I need to see before it's +EV to call.. 3:1? 4:1? 5:1?

On the Button in an unopened pot, what % of the time will you attempt blind stealing? Let's assume that SB and BB are not sophisticated enough to defend their blinds without the top 20% of hands. In an unopened pot, should I raise 3xBB almost every single time in this case? What about with just one late position limper?

CONTINUATION BETS: they kill me. When I have a decent hand preflop, AT, etc, I like to protect my hand. But when I miss the flop and I'm OOP, I usually make 2/3-pot to pot-sized bets with as little as A-high or a 4-flush. I know in this position, a check-fold is the weakest out of all the plays. The A-high is probably a bad idea to bet out... but what about the 4-flush? I would rather be betting-raising my flush draws than calling them, cuz I like the fold equity.

Flat-calling: what percentage of times do you guys flat call? I've gotten into trouble by flat-calling marginal hands like Q7, J8s in short-handed games. Flat-calling gives the least information, but sometimes I do it to mix it up. If you flat call pre-flop, and let's say you hit top pair mid kicker, do you raise the flop? How often do people flat call ALL FOUR BETTING ROUNDS in order to not scare others away?

I'll try to think of more questions next time, cuz this sorta stuff always runs thru my head. But hey, at least I'm actually thinking about this stuff and trying to improve my game, unlike some others who just complain about bad beats and losing all the time. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[SheridanCat]

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probably the only one trying hard to get better. (other than the good player).


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If you haven't, ready HOH 1 & 2. Volume 2 is the end game book and will help you with SNG style tournaments since those, to an extent, replicate the end of a multi-table tournament.

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If a TAG player raises OOP, and another TAG calls, should I overcall with medium suited connectors just on the basis of pot odds/implied odds? I'm pretty sure my cards are live, but I'm not sure how much money I need to see before it's
+EV to call.. 3:1? 4:1? 5:1?


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In a tourament, I wouldn't bother trying this. And if I did try it the raise would have to be small and it would have to be early in the tournament.

The blind structures in single-table tournaments usually rise very quickly. After the first couple rounds you don't have a lot of chips to play with. And, of course, if you lose all your chips you're done.

In the scenario you just posited, I'm going to say you have about 25% equity. Here's the Poker Stove output:

<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>
equity (%) win (%) tie (%)
Hand 1: 29.4289 % 27.41% 02.02% { 99+, A8s+, K9s+, QTs+, JTs, ATo+, KQo }
Hand 2: 45.1825 % 43.40% 01.79% { JJ+, ATs+, KQs, AJo+, KQo }
Hand 3: 25.3885 % 24.99% 00.40% { Td9d }
</pre><hr />

That's just not worth getting involved at this point. I'm happy to let these guys beat each other up.

If you make this play a couple times in a single tournament, you may find your stack crippled. And, since you can't rebuy, you've endangered yourself.

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On the Button in an unopened pot, what % of the time will you attempt blind stealing? Let's assume that SB and BB are not sophisticated enough to defend their blinds without the top 20% of hands. In an unopened pot, should I raise 3xBB almost every single time in this case? What about with just one late position limper?


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This depends on the sizes of everyone's stacks and upon the blind sizes. If the Ms are low (see HOH 1) then you want to steal more - that's just a fact of survival. If my M is &lt; 10, I start looking to steal with average hands. When the bubble approaches, it also becomes easier to steal as players tend to tighten up.

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CONTINUATION BETS: they kill me. When I have a decent hand preflop, AT, etc, I like to protect my hand. But when I miss the flop and I'm OOP, I usually make 2/3-pot to pot-sized bets with as little as A-high or a 4-flush. I know in this position, a check-fold is the weakest out of all the plays. The A-high is probably a bad idea to bet out... but what about the 4-flush? I would rather be betting-raising my flush draws than calling them, cuz I like the fold equity.


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I think you continuation bets are too big. Half the pot is my usual continuation bet. Betting out is the right play, I think, due to the fold equity you gain. If the board is very bad for you - 3-flush but not your suit - then check/fold is fine, IMO. There's no reason to get in trouble with a hopeless hand. If your opponents have shown strength or come back at your continuation bet when you have just A high, it's time to fold. That's one reason smaller continuation bets will be good - they don't tie you to the pot so much.

As for betting the four flush, I think a continuation bet is fine, but no more than half the pot. I also don't mind a probe bet instead. You actually would like some callers in that situation.

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Flat-calling: what percentage of times do you guys flat call? I've gotten into trouble by flat-calling marginal hands like Q7, J8s in short-handed games. Flat-calling gives the least information, but sometimes I do it to mix it up.


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I'll assume by flat-call you're referring to cold-calling a raise. With the hands you mention, I'd never cold call - even short handed. If I felt the raiser was trying to steal, I might raise though.

If, by flat-call, you mean limp, then I still don't like those hands. Even short they're trouble.

Of course, headsup those hands you mention become playable and I would call/limp with them.

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If you flat call pre-flop, and let's say you hit top pair mid kicker, do you raise the flop? How often do people flat call ALL FOUR BETTING ROUNDS in order to not scare others away?


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So, someone came out betting? That's a tough spot. It all depends on the stack sizes and blinds. If the Ms are low, I would push all-in. If the Ms are high, I'd often give it up. Who wants to be involved in a big pot with a likely dominated hand.

As for calling all four betting rounds. I can see calling the first three and then hoping to trap big on the end with a raise/reraise if I have a big hand. I can't see a situation where I'd call all four rounds. Perhaps I have an Ace with a decent kicker but fear a better kicker. But I'd expect there would be a move made earlier.

Good luck,

T

[SheridanCat]

In the event that you haven't read HOH 1, my mention of Ms in my reply is probably ambiguous.

One's "M" is your stack divided by the total of the blinds and antes for the hand.

So, if your stack is $1500 and the blinds are $20 and $40, your M is 25. If the blind are $100 and $200 your M is only 5.

Additionally, as the table goes short you have to divide your M by the ratio of players left vs. a full table. So, if you are at an M of 10 with 5 players left, your effective M is only 5. That is, only half the players remain, so your M is reduced by half to come up with the effective M.

Regards,

T