NLHE tourney, TT in BB

[DKNY]

Early in a NLHE tourney. You went a few orbits without playing a hand. Then you pick up TT in the BB. Blinds very small relative to your stack, like 75/150. Everyone has around 10,000 in chips. No read on players yet.

UTG limped, EP limped. MP limped. folded to you, you just called. (who would raise here?)

flop comes 7 5 2 rainbow.

you bet the size of the pot (~600). UTG fold, EP re-raise you another 2K. LP fold.

What's your play now? and what do you put EP on?

[James282]

I put him on A7s. Since you didn't raise he probably figures that you have some crappy hand like 10 7 and thinks he has you dominated. The blinds are relatively small, so even a good player would get the implied odds to limp with A7s, especially since your tournament sounds to be very passive. He might have a set here, or even two pair with 7 5s or something, but I'll get into how to make hands like that not happen in a second.

In NLHE you can't think of a preflop "raise" as a raise unless the blinds are meaningful. 150 chips is not meaningful to a 10k stack, and almost no flops should happen with everybody limping. When going into a hand preflop, you need to determine what kind of chances you have of being the best hand, and control the size of the pot accordingly. Preflop I would make it about 1k-2k before the flop came out, and if everybody folds, you have some valuable information for later on in the tournament and can make this play with sub-par hands in order to steal the then-valuable blinds. Chances are you will fold hands that typically limp in this spot like 56s because they no longer have their implied odds. Good players will also fold limping hands like 77 for fear of being totally dominated. In this spot he might have a set, in which case(with this flop) I believe it's correct to either reraise him all in if you play that style or just call him down to the river with his inevitable bets. But I believe you could have crushed any hand that he could have by putting out 1k or maybe even 2k preflop. 10 10 is not that strong a hand, but you have to believe you are, at very least, even money against people who are simply limping. Now if he limp-reraises you(which some people will do with monsters like AA or KK, then you can re-evaluate and possibly even fold..but there is no way he had you beat to start the hand in this spot.

I'll be interested to see how it turns out.
-James

[juris]

Having a strategy to call him down his inevitable bets is not how I would ever play a NL tournament.

It's early, if no read the A7 read is no good. I actually put him on a high pair. Fold and reload.

I do agree that a larger pf raise should be made, though.

[ohkanada]

Based on that board the most likely hands are sometype of overpair to the board and possibly a set. Straight draws seem less likely on that board. It is possible someone is pushing a7. Many players might not raise a set on that board.

The problem is that the only overpairs to the board you can beat are 88/99. Of course most players would raise with JJ+ but some don't.

The other problem is that raise is telling you your opponent is basically committed to the hand. If you call what are you going to do when your opponent bets 3k on the turn and then 4k on the river? And the turn/river are likely to contain 1 overcard.

So the option that seems best is either raise all-in or muck. Early on I might muck although I would be watching that player to see what they are raising/limping with.

Ken Poklitar

[LDJ]

i dont see how could pu anyone on anything at anytime considering the blinds and stacks. I would call anything from suited connectors 5-6 to small pocket pairs. Your pair is not only problematic post flop, but if you dont fold this after missing set, you will lose a ton of chips unless table is really short handed.

[Vince Lepore]

My guess is that you have the best hand on the flop. My reasoning is the fact that EP limped in after the UTG player. Unless he has exactly Jacks I it is highly unlikely and probably incorrect for him to limp. The hands he could have in my opinion are 8,8:9,9: J,J: A,7: T,T (6,8 or 34 are unlikely because I don't believe he would raise 2k with these hands. He might just call hopoing for an over call from MP. I believe that you are a better than a 3 to 1 favorite to have the best hand here. One key is your read on this EP player. If he is very aggressive then he would make this raise with these hands. Of course if he is very aggressive he might make a raise before the flop with J,J. The problem is whether or not you know this player well enough to take the chance that you are not beat. Many players with hands like 8,8 or 9,9 would just call your bet here out of fear of a bigger pair. A raise might just indicate that he has a big pair, especially if he is a solid player. Against a soild player I might just fold depending on my image at the time. Against a weak player I might just call. Against a typical player I might move in. I think I had to be there.

vince

[juris]

I didn't guess set b/c of the bet on the flop, although at this early stage its certainly a possibility too.

[Whitey]

I think you made a mistake not raising pre-flop.
By doing this you gain information about the limpers strengths,if you get re-raised then you can decide wether you think your TT is worth seeing the flop with.

Basically he could have anything from the A7 mentioned to a set,even 2 pair is possible.

I would fold and wait for a better opportunity as 600 is a small % of you stack.

[Ignatius]

Preflop, I'd probably make it 600, mostly to better define your opponents' hands but also as a value bet as you probably have the best hand and to manipulate the pot size to allow me to move in with 2 bets.
.
On the flop, the EP could have anything, from 86s over A7s, an overpair or a set. Assuming he would have raised with queens or better then we get:
.
86s, A7s, 88, 99, TT: 11 comb
JJ, 22, 55, 77: 13 comb
.
So basically, you're only even money to be ahead here. Since he has position and the initiative you have to muck.

[James282]

I agree that "calling down his inevitable bets" is an impossible strategy here, that was a brain fart [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. In a tough game I might call, then bet out the turn and fold to a raise.. I think folding to the first raise here leaves you with a table image where no one respects your bets or raises. Now if you call, and bet out again, you look tricky if you wind up folding..

One positive to folding here is that it will get you more action on made hands... This is a double edged sword, too... since good No-Limit players win most of their pots on non-made hands, since you get non-made hands way more often than not, ESPECIALLY at the lower limits when people won't pick up on what you are doing.
-James