2 replies to this topic

[MetalSkin]

I was in a low buy-in NL tournament with re-buys this past Friday. The table I was at was very loose and aggressive. Lots of all-ins and lots of calls. Very little respect to raises. It was about 1/2 hour after the re-buy period ended, and I was down to $750 in chips after taking a bad beat when 99s hit quads to my pocket QQ. The blinds were at 50-100. In two minutes they would go up to 100-200 with a 25 ante added. The chip leader is in the big blind with about 10k. 1st position limps in with about 3.5-4k in his stack. The field folds to me on the button. I hold QJ spades. I raise to 300. The big blind calls, as does 1stP. The flop comes K55. One of the 5’s is a spade. It’s checked to me, I check. The turn comes 7S for a flush draw. Again it’s checked to me, I move all-in for my remaining 450. The big blind folds, 1st calls and shows Kx off. The river comes 9C, and I go home.My concerns berfore the flop were this:With the blinds going up and the ante added I had little more than one more round before I was blinded off.I was afraid an all-in bet from the button would stink of desperation and get a call from both players and I might be behind to a weak ace. I hoped a move might pick up the pot on the flop or turn.What are your thoughts on how I played this hand? I know several of the options would be valid, but was this too weak? Or should I have played it at all? I’ve been playing for about 8 months and am still learning the ins and outs of the game. Thanks for your input.M

[gobears]

MetalSkin said:

I was in a low buy-in NL tournament with re-buys this past Friday. The table I was at was very loose and aggressive. Lots of all-ins and lots of calls. Very little respect to raises. It was about 1/2 hour after the re-buy period ended, and I was down to $750 in chips after taking a bad beat when 99s hit quads to my pocket QQ. The blinds were at 50-100. In two minutes they would go up to 100-200 with a 25 ante added. The chip leader is in the big blind with about 10k. 1st position limps in with about 3.5-4k in his stack. The field folds to me on the button. I hold QJ spades. I raise to 300. The big blind calls, as does 1stP. The flop comes K55. One of the 5’s is a spade. It’s checked to me, I check. The turn comes 7S for a flush draw. Again it’s checked to me, I move all-in for my remaining 450. The big blind folds, 1st calls and shows Kx off. The river comes 9C, and I go home.My concerns berfore the flop were this:With the blinds going up and the ante added I had little more than one more round before I was blinded off.I was afraid an all-in bet from the button would stink of desperation and get a call from both players and I might be behind to a weak ace. I hoped a move might pick up the pot on the flop or turn.What are your thoughts on how I played this hand? I know several of the options would be valid, but was this too weak? Or should I have played it at all? I’ve been playing for about 8 months and am still learning the ins and outs of the game. Thanks for your input.M

I would have gone all-in that point - I'm guessing that you might have only had one caller (maybe the BB) instead of two but that's in hindsight. If the flop had no spade draw, then you could have folded and kept your final $450 for a final shot, so I can understand your play.When I get that low though, I usually just pick a spot and try to isolate and double up; there's not much you can do. I think that the all-in would have had a better shot there only because you have a better chance of isolating one other player.

[AKQJ2o]

MetalSkin said:

... I was down to $750 in chips ... I hold QJ spades.... The flop comes K55. One of the 5’s is a spade. It’s checked to me, I check. The turn comes 7S for a flush draw. Again it’s checked to me, I move all-in for my remaining 450. The big blind folds, 1st calls and shows Kx off. The river comes 9C, and I go home.My concerns berfore the flop were this:With the blinds going up and the ante added I had little more than one more round before I was blinded off.M

I think you played the hand better than the guy with the KK55 on the flop did, if that makes you feel better. They checked around to you twice, you were low on chips and had four to a flush, you took a stab at it and missed. That's poker.Look at the bright side, you got to see a free card on the turn to get you to the four spades, that wasn't a very smart play by the KK55. I think he should've bet before the turn, at least to feel you guys out. Actually he was in double jeopardy because he was letting the big blind hang around to draw for free, too. I'll bet he didn't win the tournament playing with that style of play.IF YOU HAD SOME CHIPS and he let you hang around like that you could've outdrawn him, then hammered him (unless the Ks came up). Heck, you could've seen the river for free if you wanted to. If you had a big chip stack would you have gone to the river for free? I would've.IMO, your short stack and the coming increase in the blind bets kind of forced your hand. Playing suited connectors that were painted to boot seems like a reasonable move to me.I doubt you could've chased the KK55 if you'd have gone all-in anytime after the flop.