4 replies to this topic

[threeparrots]

Lets say I'm short stacked at a 10 person MTT, blinds 50/100 and have about 650 left. I am dealt KK in first position, all-in or the standard raise? I'm torn between the two because I'm definitely going to be called by AQ, AJ and such with a moderate raise, but I don't want to scare off the paint cards, pocket pairs and such with an all-in because most will assume I have picked up something nice, especially since I was playing super tight up to that point.It would be so much easier to play that hand in a later position. Anyways, your thoughts...

[Swift_Psycho]

Neither. With a hand that strong, I might raise to something like 400-450 because I want to raise enough to show people I am committed to the pot but I don't want a bunch of speculative hands calling a "standard" raise of like 250-300. I realize that raising in this manner screams of a big hand, but for some reason, a lot of people ignore this fact and will be more likely to play with you with a marginal hand than if you had just plain moved in. If you just get called, the few chips you have left are going in on the flop regardless of what hits.

[Awful]

threeparrots said:

Lets say I'm short stacked at a 10 person MTT, blinds 50/100 and have about 650 left. I am dealt KK in first position, all-in or the standard raise? I'm torn between the two because I'm definitely going to be called by AQ, AJ and such with a moderate raise, but I don't want to scare off the paint cards, pocket pairs and such with an all-in because most will assume I have picked up something nice, especially since I was playing super tight up to that point.It would be so much easier to play that hand in a later position. Anyways, your thoughts...

What level buy-in? This is key. Bad players love to "read" a short-stack all-in as a "move" with either crap or a small pair. You'll get the action you need in the most profitable manner by sliding, and you'll get a chuckle out of the calldown hands (provided that A4 off doesn't suck out ) you'll see if this is low limits.And if you don't, blinds are 25% of your stack almost, I assume no antes, and that should be enough.Of course, I'm one of those 1-move players when I have under 10x BB and that's the preflop slide into an unopened pot. Nothing fancy, just scrapping for blinds and praying to luck out if someone picks up a big hand in the blinds. In this case, hoping to luck out and get called by KQ or 99 and the like.

[akishore]

i'd say move in. previous poster nailed it on the head--if you have under 10 big blinds, just move in. you'll definitely get at least one caller because usually, non-observant players will call with Axo or 10-7, etc. hoping to eliminate a shortstack.on a related note, one of my biggest pet peeves is when we're around the money, say four-handed where top three pay, and one person has a lot of chips while another person is very shortstacked. i've been watching the shortstack, and he's folded his last 50 hands, and suddenly, he goes all-in UTG.now, any good player will fold, knowing that he's been waiting for his spot. but the stupid chipleader figures it's only 1/10th of his stack, and he can m ake the money and get some chips, so he calls with 8-5, and the small stack doubles up with KK. then, some hands later, another shortstack does the same thing, and the stupid chipleader again calls with trash, and another shortstack doubles up. this repeats another two times, and before i know it, we're back at square one with everyone having an equal amount of chips, but now the blinds have gone up, so it's become more of a crapshoot now.anyway, ignore my little rant. all-in is a good move. btw, how do you have a 10-person MTT? did you mean STT? or did you mean it got down to the final table? or is it a shorthanded tournament, like two tables of 5?aseem

[Jtmaroon84]

Ehhhh, given only half information...Pushing all in is the best play here. You seem to only have 6x the BB left and the blinds are coming around to cripple you to 5. Pushing here will allow a strong stack with as crappy a hand as QJ to call you.