10 + 1 sng at Party...

[unfrgvn]

4 players left, blinds 150/300:
unfrgvn T3000
HH1 T1485 button
p3 T1015 sb
pr T2500 bb

I'm dealt QJs. I raise to 1000. Player HH1 goes all in. Other 2 fold. What do you think of my pre flop raise and what should I do now? Also, I had only gotten a lot of chips a hand or two earlier and had not been pushing anyone around.
I'll post what happened later so I don't influence anyone.

[JDO]

I don't know what you know about the hands this guys plays, but I'd say he could have any A, and K, or any pocket pair. Your raise could be good, if you thought the two short stacks would fold a large percent of the time. However, they might also be looking for a chance to double up. I don't think I would make that raise with that hand from UTG and the two short stacks yet to act for that reason; I would be looking to tighten up a bit, use position and coast to the money before getting really aggresive. However, you made the raise, now you have a 485T raise to call with a pot of 3000T. That's 6:1 calling odds with a hand that could make a straight or a flush, and has two high cards. I would call 100% of the time.


That's just me.

[AliasMrJones]

Shorthanded, suited connectors go down in value and the sheer rank of your cards goes up. QJs is not that great a hand heads up. K2o (not to mention any A) is ahead of you at that point. I don't particularly like the play as 1,000 chips is 1/3 of your stack and you're now basically committed, I think. It is only 485 more for you to call and 2,500 in the pot so I don't see how you can fold. I think you're at least a 2-1 dog getting about 5-1 on this call, but you're a 2-1 dog for 1/2 your stack nonetheless so I think this is a bad position to be in, particularly as you're on the bubble.

I'm not a tourney specialist, though, so perhaps some others who are better at tournament play can make some better comments.

[unfrgvn]

Thanks for your thoughts. Both of you anaylzed the hand a lot better than I did. Obviously I was hoping to not get called or raised. I did call the 485 as I did feel pot committed. The 5 cards come, all rags. He had A3o and paired the 3. Of course I was beat without the 3. I can see my mistake, hopefully I will learn from it.

Thanks

[Peter G]

I cant see that you can play this hand any other way, j q suited 4 handed, you are chip leader, with the blinds so high you cant limp, folding is definatly to weak and calling the reraise is a no brainer. How else do you suggest playing it.

[AliasMrJones]

[ QUOTE ]
I cant see that you can play this hand any other way, j q suited 4 handed, you are chip leader, with the blinds so high you cant limp, folding is definatly to weak and calling the reraise is a no brainer. How else do you suggest playing it.

[/ QUOTE ]

QJs ain't that hot a hand 4-handed. (Any K or Any A is ahead.) You're not in a blind, you're the chip leader and it is bubble time. I agree you can't limp, but in this situation I'd fold. Why risk your lead at this particular point in the tournament on a decent, but not great, hand?

[Peter G]

AliasMrJones if you arent going to try to steal the blinds with a legit hand when you are chip leader maybe you are playing to tight .
Or maybe I am to loose short handed, Id appreciate some insight from the more experienced s ng players

[cferejohn]

Given that you are getting 6:1 on the call, it is definitely automatic. In fact, given the stack sizes of the other players, I think a call would be automatic no matter which of them went all-in. That being the case, I might just raise all-in in the first place to make it clear to the other players that you aren't going to be knocked off the hand by a re-raise.

In fact, with 3000 in chips and the big blind at 300, you are right on the cusp of all-in or fold territory anyway.

I think going all-in this hand is borderline - it depends on your read of the other players. If you think one of the players would, say, call you with something like A3o, I think you should probably fold this. If you think these players will only call you with very good hands, I think the all-in becomes better (since most of the time, you will win the blinds uncontested).