7 replies to this topic

[AstroMech]

First hand of PokerStars 18 ppl $5 NL HE sng, i get 8 9 os, gets folded to me on the button, i raise to 60 in steal attempt, only BB calls. Flop comes 7 T x he raises 100 i call incase i hit the turn or river and can bust himturn comes a 9, giving me second pair along with my straight draw, he bets another 100 i call. River comes rag (pairs the flop card x i think) and he suddenly goes all in... im left wondering why he would go all in all of a sudden... what's my play?Thanks

[Swift_Psycho]

Fold.

[Nutcracker]

Your play is to fold preflop. With the blinds at $10/$20, what is the point in stealing them with a weak hand? Anyway, given that you decided to play it this way, you fold on the flop to the potsize bet. That was mistake #2. Sure you might break him if you turn your straight, but the chance of that is 5:1 against. Raising the flop isn't so bad either, would give you a lot more information about what he holds. Now, given that you called this flop, the turn isn't so bad. A call there is fine, as you are now getting 4:1 pot odds and have better than that to hit trips or a straight (around 3.2:1). But if you don't hit, you must get out. I wouldn't even call a small raise (larger than 1/4 pot size or so) on that river, let alone a giant one. If you do call, say hello to his high pp or trips for me. He could be overplaying AK, bluffing, or have a set. Hell, he could have a straight. You really have no idea because you never really made him make a decision. Passive play will leave you with hard decisions a lot of the time. Also, this early, you know nothing about this guy, so why get involved in a sizable pot with him with weak holding? If I had to guess, I'd say he had an overpair or AK/AQ and is trying to represent hitting trips on the river. That doesn't mean I'd call him here. Even considering calling a 2X pot size bet with 2nd pair is silly. Let this go.You can see why stealing blinds when they are small is bad though. You've now put in 17% of your chips on this attempted blind steal and have a pair of 9s with 8 kicker to show for it. All this for a chance to win the $30 in blinds that are out there. Not worth it at this point.This hand aside, you should not be looking to pick up a lot of chips in the first couple rounds of SNGs. I used to crush the Stars NL SNGs and I'd often just sit out the first two rounds and observe. Many many times, I'd see no flops except my blinds for the first 30-40 hands. There's no reason to get involved with marginal hands, even if you can steal the blinds with them. Some people may try to hit monster hands like straights/flushes, in an attempt to get the loose peoples' money before they are busted out, but more often than not, they just end up losing half their stack on chasing draws.

[Nutcracker]

It's a $5 SNG.. you can make absolutely no assumption about a player on the first hand.. that was my point.

[Swift_Psycho]

XXEddie said:

He could be overplaying AKif you have AK and the button raises.....are you seriously going to just call

I probably would, it's the first hand of the tourney. It isn't worth it to re-raise and just take the 3x the BB the button put in if he was on a steal. If it is late in the tourney with huger blinds, I re-raise. At this stage? I call and try to hit the flop. Play my cards right and I might break him if he holds A-x or K-x.

[akishore]

the river is an easy fold.try not to get fancy (e.g. blind steals) in the early rounds.the flop call was fine. implied odds. you don't want to raise in case the bettor reraises.the turn call was better. pot odds along with implied odds now. again, i wouldn't want to raise.but the river is an easy fold. an all-in is a huge overbet, and all you have is second pair with the bottom card on board paired.aseem