PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $3.00+$0.40 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) (t1230)
BB (t2580)
UTG (t1595)
MP1 (t1590)
MP2 (t1095)
CO (t2075)
Button (t1860)

Hero's M: 16.40



Preflop: Hero is SB with A, J
UTG calls t50, 1 fold, MP2 calls t50, CO calls t50, 2 folds, Hero...?

I don't know if I want to raise and create a big pot OOP with a marginal hand like AJ and an awkward, Yellow Zone M. But neither do I know if it's a great idea to just call and see a flop against so many players with this kind of hand.

Yeah...I hate this.

If you pop it to 300 and get just one caller you're pretty much committed to pushing for your continuation bet.

But, if you have reason to be convinced that a flop check will be seen as weak, and you'll get the hand stolen, plan on check/raising a flop you hit.

In all likelihood, the pf raise will take the pot, which I think is a reasonable goal....but, yeah, if I'm wrong about that then you've essentially taken a tourney stand with AJo....I'd rather jog with razors in my boxers.


I prefer limping along here...your hand is neatly disguised as a "blind special" if you do hit.

This might be like a retarded move that I often like to do in a situation like this and pisses everyone off, but I minraise. That is like one the very few times I will do that. I'm pretty sure we're ahead of like everyone, so I just blow up the pot a little, so if I hit I don't win just the minimum, if I miss, oh well.

So you want to play an inflated pot OOP against 3 villains with AJ? I'd rather jog with razors in my boxers and then bathe in rubbing alcohol.

Because of the size of the pot when it comes to you and your stack size, I'd probably opt for just limping and hoping to hit the flop. You can feel quite confident that an A or J on the flop will give you the best hand, and you'll likely get action from worse Aces and Jacks.

I like aggression... unless I'm in the SB with a 2nd/3rd tier hand like AJo.

Here, I tend to go with the disguise of completing, seeing a flop and hoping I spike top pair or better. You'll get playback from so many weaker Aces and jacks when you do and typically take down a sizable pot. All you have to worry about is that someone spiked a dumb 2 pair or some small pair made their set, but I find that happens so infrequently it's not worth fearing any more than somebody flopping a straight or top set.

complete.

So no one likes my play? Hmph!!

It's a little odd. I dunno if I like it, interesting though. Creating alot of reserve implied odds imo.

Well, the way I see it, that unless I make a huge raise, I'm going to get some callers anyway. If I just min raise, I'm not committing myself, piss some people off and create a nice little pot if I hit. I can always c/f the flop if I miss and not waste a ton. I know it's not optimal. I mean, there have been times when I just complete. The thing is that at this buy-in people always limp with crap, so why not just make em pay a bit for limping.

And you know how I play, I'm not exactly your "by the book" type of player.

Continuing...



Preflop: Hero is SB with A, J
UTG calls t50, 1 fold, MP2 calls t50, CO calls t50, 2 folds, Hero calls t25, BB checks

Flop: (t250) 4, 9, J (5 players)
Hero...?

I mean 2 options really, depends on your table. Really hard to say how I play it. Usually, I'll lead out with about 1/2-2/3 bet and hope to get r/r. I'm thinking though that with this many limpers, someone is bound to bet, so I would probably prefer a c/r. But do you feel good about getting your chips in here?

It's always a little scary to play a big pot against four limpers holding only one pair. OTOH, I'm kind of treading water with a pretty mediocre stack and the blinds are getting bigger.

bet 175/call a shove

bet/fold if you get more than 2 people getting active with reraises

Flop: (t250) 4, 9, J (5 players)
Hero bets t150, 2 folds, MP2 calls t150, 1 fold

Turn: (t550) Q (2 players)
Hero...?

Not really my fave card, but did villain really call with an unpaired Q hand? QJ would suck of course, and fit the preflop limp and flop call. Still, I feel on the one hand like it's pretty wussy to give up just because an overcard hits. At the same time, the pot is getting uncomfortably large for what is now not even a TP hand, though at least it's now HU.

Bet like 250-300/fold

Yeah, I would probably bet 300ish/fold here if he shoves. The only thing you should be afraid of is QJ or 44....maybe 99, but I'd say it's KJ here more often than that. If he flats, I check a non-hitting river here always.

I was not really a fan of building up the pot with my now only second pair, so I checked. I guess you guys see that as a mistake, eh? Anyway:

Turn: (t550) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets t400, Hero...?

Anyone? Bueller?

C'mon--this is where I thought the hand started getting really interesting (though not in a good way, lol).

I can fold here and I can shove here. I likely lean towards folding.


If he hit QJ, good for him. If he made a donk call with KT, good for him.

QT could be a legitimate worry....T8?

He could have JT too.


He could play this way with Ad9d.

Maybe a pair of tens.


I think a fold and shove are very close. It's just too unlikely the queen helped him.

You're either winning, or drawing dead/very thin.

I used up pretty much all my time bank, and then came to the same conclusion: too unlikely the queen helped him, and I didn't have the sense he was a good player.

(It was the donk call with KT.)