52 replies to this topic

[DanielNegreanu]

Here is the situation:Blinds: 20,000- 40,000Antes: 5000Stack: 6,000,000Total chips in play: 11,280Players Left: 7 So it's seven handed at the WPT championship at Bellagio and you have a mosnter chip lead with over half the chips in play. Your opponents are all at around one million in chips and playing rather cautiously hoping someone else goes broke. You are raising an average of 2.5 hands per round and picking up the blinds without a fight. Now from early position you raise with K 7 to 150,000. All fold to the small blind who goes all in for a total of 650,000 and it's back to you.

[Wlleiotl]

fold, i dont care about whether im getting pot odds, if i can keep picking up these blinds 2.5 times around the table ill increase my stack like that rather than risking another 400k to win a pot where i have to show what im raising with and could be in bad shape

[rxq]

FOLDFrom what you said I would fold but this is one of those situations where you have to know about the player.

[Wilderness]

I'd fold as well, unless you have some kind of read that makes you think he's on a bluff just because of your previous play. I don't think you have any reason to double this guy up, and it seems likely that you'll be able to continue picking up most pots that you raise after this one as well. This play might lead others at the table to start re-raising you more, but I don't think that's enough of a reason to call here.

[Mandelbrot]

Call! You have chips to spare, an OK hand, and you already have a stake in the pot. If you fold, you will be teaching your opponents that they can stay alive and steal blinds by going all in.

[Hardrocker]

I agree with Mandelbrot.You need to show that you will back up your raises. No since letting your table image slip here.Plus you need to whittle the field down.

[NYSPOKER]

Fold, better opportunities will present themselves. You do not want to double him up through your stack - even as large as it is.

[spacemonkey]

Call. There's 875k in the pot and 500k more to call so you're getting almost 2-1 on your money. Unless he's got Aces, Kings or Ace-King you're probably around a 2-1 underdog so go ahead and call. If you win or lose you're still in the same situation with a big chip lead against a bunch of clustered opponents. By showing that you'll call with a less than premium hand it's going to make it harder for them to play-back at you letting you pick up more blinds.

[JL]

I'd call. So it costs you another 500k to call, big deal. You still have a HUGE chip lead over the rest of the field and if you lose this pot, you'll get it back real quick if you continue to raise every 2.5 hands or so winning 95k a pop.It's a small price to pay to send the message "I'm willing to gamble if you come over the top of my raise." Win or lose, you can be pretty sure the small stacks are going to tighten up even more after a call like that. When they all looked at you funny, did you give them the standard online poker response? "But they were suited!"

[Frills]

call, you're still in decent shape even if you lose.Folding here will only entice others to protect their blinds, a message here to the rest of the table telling them, that you mean business is the best route to go.

[Greentvdinner]

Call!!!Everyone has already covered the pot odds, showing your willing to back up your raises, etc but if you remember Raymer at the WSOP, he called every time someone pushed all in. Why? Because he had the chip strength to withstand the loses and knew that most often head-t0-head meetings are just a coin flip. The only reason I could see folding here is if you knew the player wouldn't raise with anything but pocket Aces or Kings.

[JoRaff]

Call.You've been stealing blinds and raising pre-flop for the last couple of hands. I wouldn't put the SB on a monster, but it's possible. I'd say he's close to the short stack, (so play aggressive against him, even still) and trying to make a play with a decent/strong hand, anywhere around JJ, TT, QQ, AQo, KJs...maybe even nines. SB may think 'this a bluff and you can't back up your raise, you're simply stealing blinds and I won't let that happen'. K7s is a medium hand that has potential against this SB.

[NYSPOKER]

Frills said:

Folding here will only entice others to protect their blinds, a message here to the rest of the table telling them, that you mean business is the best route to go.

Not only will folding entice others to protect their blinds, it will entice them to do so with weaker hands. By calling, the rest of the table will be on alert that they need a big hand to raise. This could be some cheap advertising.Folding keeps them guessing, thinking that you were in there with complete trash. Pot odds supported the call for a coin flip, what if this hand is dominated, which is likely. Still gotta say fold, this time. I won't be surprised to see Daniel's suggested play be to call.

[jogsxyz]

DanielNegreanu said:

Here is the situation: Your opponents are all at around one million in chips and playing rather cautiously hoping someone else goes broke.    You are raising an average of 2.5 hands per round and picking up the blinds without a fight.   Now from early position you raise with K 7  to 150,000.  All fold to the small blind who goes all in for a total of 650,000 and it's back to you.

Opponents playing cautiously and Daniel picking up the blinds without a fight suggest that the SB has a premium hand. We're getting 1.75 to 1. If the opponents were raising aggressively this hand would be worth calling. But just barely. Against any pair, any ace, and KQ and KJ, it is about 1.68 to 1. If this player is only playing pairs 55 and up plus ace with an 8 and up, it's 1.82 to 1. Fold the K7s.One other reason the SB is likely to have a premium hand. On the Travel Network boardcast only the final six is shown on TV. No one wants to gamble and miss being on TV.

[TylerBeal]

rxq said:

FOLDFrom what you said I would fold but this is one of those situations where you have to know about the player.

I like this one.

[the_stein]

Everyone is missing one important point: If you fold now it will show that you might be raising with garbage and will fold to a reraise.If you call, whether you win or lose at least you make people think twice about moving in on you. so you must CALLif you lose it won't be huge hit to you, and unless he has KK or AA you aren't a huge underdog you'll be getting decent pot odds anyways, no way in hell should you fold.

[blake738]

I would say you have to call, I could understand folding since you keep stealing the blinds, but you need to show that you won't fold on the first sign of resistance. Even if you lose you will still be the chip leader, and it will show that you protect your raises. He probably has a decent hand, but yours is still probably good enough to call with. By the way is this a hand from your last championship win?

[Kendren]

Without any hesitation, call. You have to expect the SS to be on a premium hand, AK, AQ, KK, AA, or those lines, and feeling good. You're on a draw to the 2nd nut spade flush. Even if you lose this hand, you tighten up just slightly, but go back to hitting the bigger hands, and maybe you'll get a desperation re-raise from someone hurting later on. Also remember, with the blinds and antes where they are, these SSs have LESS THAN 10 HANDS to go before being blinded out, so they've got to be getting desperate. In that situation, call instantly.

[DanielNegreanu]

Hopefully this isn't too much of a hint that sways your decision, but you are all going to learn a lot from this one!

[brisk]

Call-Somebody said you have to fold so nobody sees what you're raising with, but i think its safe to say they know you're not holding a monster 5 of 14 hands. You're getting 3-2 for your money and if he's (or she is it was Harman) holding A-8 through A-Q w/o a you're only a 40-60 dog. If you're up against a monster, it'd be unlikely to be put in before the flop with the loose raising image....on second thought ... foldlet them think all they have to do is go in on me and i'll fold ... then i'll get em when i pick up a hand later