Hey guys...

I was final 4 in a $4.40 180 sng.......i'm 3/4

PokerStars Game #21945311048: Tournament #119777074, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XVI (1500/3000) - 2008/11/11 10:13:34 ET
Table '119777074 14' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: Maakeko (65728 in chips)
Seat 2: TomVal (49070 in chips)
Seat 5: darkmosso (91163 in chips)
Seat 8: knoxxxy (64039 in chips)
Maakeko: posts the ante 300
TomVal: posts the ante 300
darkmosso: posts the ante 300
knoxxxy: posts the ante 300
Maakeko: posts small blind 1500
TomVal: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to knoxxxy [Ah Jc]
darkmosso: folds
knoxxxy: raises 6000 to 9000
Maakeko: raises 56428 to 65428 and is all-in
TomVal: folds
Hero??????


I really aint sure here....i can fold and leave myself 55 000 chips...still in a good spot with 1500/3000 blinds.....
I mean i'm happy to shove AJ but to CALL with AJ i just dunno......

I don't know too much about villain but i had raised the last 2 buttons in a row...this one being the 3rd button raise...and this is the first time i got played back....

I would probably call only because of the info that you gave out that you had already raised the button twice in a row. Your image right now is that you could be raising light OTB. So I would probably call.

Call vs most people. Double will put you in a great spot to win (w/half the chips).
I think you have a small to medium edge on most peoples ranges for doing this since most don't do this w/AA/KK/QQ but will do it with a ton of smaller pairs, some weaker aces, some stronger aces, KQ and maybe other broadway.

Is QQ really out of the question ? Or is it just because people at this level don't do that with QQ.
I think its 50/50 whether you are leading or not actually. Sometimes you are sometimes you run into AK,AQ.

QFT. I was thinking the same thing--probably fold, until I got that last bit of info.

I don't think any hand can really be out of the question, but since Hero has been active on the button the villain just puts Hero on a button steal, which means that Hero could be opening a wide range. But that's not the case here though. Villain could actually be shoving with a wider range than a hand he gives Hero credit for.

I call, doubling up would put us in a great position to TID. Also, with previous button raises, villian could be shoving with a wider range than normal figuring we might be trying to steal. Folding is not a terrrible play as we would still have enough chips to play with, just depends on if you want to wait for a better spot or not.

Fold and live. Tight, yes, but he's not shipping with complete garbage unless you have a read

Well i reckon that most of the time you'd be ahead in this spot, if not a coin flip. You've created an image that you're trying to steal his blinds every time you're on the button, he runs into a decent hand and figures, "fck this guy!!! IM ALL IN!!!!!!!!!!!".

So yeah, im calling here. If he happens to pick up a bettr hand than AJ, then that's just very bad luck, you take down 4th and move on with your life.

I probably call

I'd probably fold here... most of the time anyway. With stacks being so even, I really don't feel villain would re-raise here w/ less than AJ. We may be racing a lot, but I think we're behind here more often than not, and we're basically out if we lose this hand.

This is a 4.40. Guys are 3betting with A9 a lot of the time. I shove and not think twice

He probably thinks you're stealing again and probably shoved light, figuring chances are good you'll go away. Get it in. Don't be surprised if he flips over an Ace and he's dominated, or even some other garbage like J7. He's probably not expecting a call.

I think based on the fact that this is Hero's third button steal is not good enough a reason to put the villian on too weak a hand right ?

I think when you combine it with the fact that it's four handed (meaning AJ is a lot stronger in relative terms), it's good enough. That's not to say there is no chance villain has a big hand--it's not like there's some magic spell cast over the situation that prevents him from being dealt anything good--but the odds are against it. And besides, a lot of "big hands" like TT are only flipping against AJ, and even against KK or AK/AQ we still have what, a 25-30% chance of winning?

Villain could also have KQ.

LOL, there ya go! And we are, what, 55-60% against KQ?

I scream at the monitor...Very tough decision. If you think you can outplay your opponents, i would lean towards folding. I'd rather not put it up to lady luck at this point.