Haven't posted in here in a while, but here are a couple of earlyish MTT spots where I was unsure recently...


Venetian NLHE MTT $550 (9-handed)

Hand 1

Cobalt T11.5k
MP T16k
SB T8k
BB T12k

Blinds 50/100

Cobalt is UTG w/ A Q . Table seems loose, and BB very loose, but I haven't been there long, so significant reads beyond that.

Pre-flop:
Cobalt raises to T250, 1 fold, MP2 calls, 4 folds, SB calls, BB calls

Flop (T1000): A 9 8 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Cobalt bets T600, 1 fold, SB calls, BB calls

Turn (T2800): J (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Cobalt bets T1600


How mandatory is the turn bet here?


Hand 2

MP1 T25k
CO T11k
Button T15k
Cobalt T14.5k
BB T18k

Blinds 100/200

Cobalt is SB w/ Q Q . MP1 just "confidently" (and likely wrongly) laid down KK on a board of 876rJQ against loose Button. He'd raised pre-flop to T700 from MP and SB (button now) had check-raised the flop. The turn checked through. SB then put out a big bet on the river and MP folded face-up and saying he put him on QQ. About an orbit before that, this current MP had raised AA from LP w/ a limper, gotten a smooth-call, and then the BB re-raised him...he was the only caller. They got it all-in on the flop and he showed AA. Our last note on MP is that he's very frequently been opening for slightly more than twice the BB. Button is very loose. Not much of a read on CO.

Pre-flop:
2 folds, MP1 raises to T700, 2 folds, CO calls, Button calls, Cobalt raises to T3700, 1 fold, MP1 re-raises to T9000, 2 folds, Cobalt ?

...little help?

lol

Alright, here we go.

First hand I think you should definitely bet the turn for value unless you have seen a lot of check-raising. If I feel a check-raise is possible, I might check behind and call on the river. On an important side note, I would bet less on both streets. If they're folding to 600, they're folding to 400-450. On turn, I bet 1000.

Second hand is pretty tough. You have so much play at this point, I think I might fold. When players suddenly open for more than they usually do, it generally means to me that they have a medium strong hand (JJ,TT,AK,AQ) that they don't want to fold. However his three bet can easily be AA or KK as well. QQ isn't that great a hand pre-flop at this point in the tourney, even though you might be ahead. I think fold is probably correct even though I REALLY want to get it all in.

1st Hand I play the same as you might have the best hand at the moment but with so many draws out there, you have to make your opponents pay to outdraw you. However, It does open up the check/raise so I might check if my opponents have been aggressive in check/raising with their draws as it'd be difficult to know if they were c/r with a draw or a better hand.

2nd Hand is tough - villain could be putting you on a squeeze play but it sounds like he could have you beat here as I'm reading that around 500 is his typical opening raise (slightly more than 2xBB). 700 is not typical and that's what he opened with KK previously - also based on your stack size, villain is probably expecting a call. I think that I can find a fold here.

Okay...guess we're not going to get much discussion, so I'll just go ahead and post results...

I did get check-raised on the first hand when both blinds went nuts. I got the hell out. SB had T7 and BB had QT. I was just questioning whether we could check behind with the weak draw we picked up and call a reasonable river bet from one opponent.

In the second hand, I painfully mulled for a long time before folding. Villain later told me that he had AA...so good fold me, I suppose.

I'm very much torn lately. In playing these tournaments, I keep generally making great laydowns, and it's good that it saves me chips, but saving chips doesn't really help so much with the accumulation process.

My thought before I saw your results...

Hand 1 - There are so many ways you could be beat here on the turn...its early in the tournament and you're still in fine shape as long as you don't lose too much here. I'd actually probably check behind, I dont think there is anything wrong with that...maybe call a bet on the river depending on what the river is and how much the bet is. But I'd want to keep this pot as small as possible.

Hand 2 - tough decision...MP1 might be steaming after laying down his KK. Might he think of you as somebody who would run a squeeze play? If so he could have AK, AQ, 88-JJ. I'd probably push. And it doesn't matter what he told you...that was the hand he was trying to represent...who knows if it was true. In fact if he told you thats what he had, he probably didnt have it. He showed the KK when he folded...he didnt show the AA here.

Yeah, the more I think about it I think you should check behind on the turn in the first hand. A-Q against two players who both have ranges that hit that board really hard is a marginal hand.

Nope, bet the turn - if you get check-raised, fold. You played it right.

You are doing a good job of not forcing things, you cant accumulate chips when people are holding over you. A lot of people have trouble when they start trying to force things after cards go cold.

Keep trusting you reads, you'll get there

Just looked at my comment about the bet sizes again, and I guess I looked at it wrong because the bet sizes look fine to me now. I think I didn't see that MP2 called.

Hand 1 is an auto check behind on turn for me. I can't see too much value from betting as you are almost never getting a call from hands you beat and risk going to showdown. For the same price 1 street later you can induce a bluff and get to showdown.

Hand 2 is read dependent. From your description it seems like a fold is correct.