I had a good vibe today and joined one of the 4.40 180 person games on Pokerstars. I've been playing pretty tight and through a run of some good cards managed to get into 2nd place of the 100 people left. With that being said, this happened:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $4.00+$0.40 Tournament, 50/100 Blinds (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com



UTG+1 (t2220)
ThePolkaMan (MP1) (t7259)
MP2 (t2280)
CO (t2375)
Button (t3480)
SB (t6205)
BB (t1516)
UTG (t2346)

ThePolkaMan's M: 48.39



Preflop: ThePolkaMan is MP1 with Q , Q
2 folds, ThePolkaMan raises to t200, 1 fold, CO calls t200, 1 fold, SB raises to t6205 (All-In), 1 fold


To this point people have been open-shoving with stuff as weak as A5 and even a 10 8. It kind of caught me off-guard, but I kind of reasoned that any decent hand would try to play out and maximize it's value and not just open shove such a small pot. With that being said, I know calling I am probably a favorite to most things he's shoving with, but even if I knew his hand was weak, is calling here worth the gamble of dropping from first to near last? Or should I try to take advantage of these situations and call, which would put me in a great position to make the money?

i woulda insta call i just think its highly unlikely this in kk or aa. so were are either racing ak or we have them dominted. one other think i raise more PF.

That's what I was thinking too. But as the predominant chip leader facing a bet for most of my stack, is it worth the call even if I'm a slight favorite (55-45) since a loss will cripple me?

It's a not so much a question of if I'm ahead or not, but if it's worth the coin-flip gamble for most of my chip stack, which is very strong at the moment. If I were mid or small stacked, it's an easy call. But this situation made the call a little trickier.

Am I thinking this correctly, or is it scared playing?

well hopefully some other people will weigh in here. i just think his range is ak, aq, maybe aj, any poket pair 55 and higher. so only one hand here is it close. if you call and lose your still not out and if you call in win i would think its a breeze to a cash.

The big question to me isn't whether or not to call so much as why this big stack would overshove in the first place with 50+BB here. If this is a bluff, then why not raise less? Is he afraid of an overshove from one of the shorties, so afraid that he's willing to risk you calling and stacking him?

The other stacks open shoving or overshoving, I can understand: they're starting to get short, but have enough chips to be able to dissuade callers and steal the blinds. But this guy is the biggest stack that isn't you: why is he shoving here? Has he done this a lot? Has he done this before at all? Have you open raised a lot of pots? Does he think that if he resteals with a more normal 3bet that you'll just call him and steal the pot back postflop?

It's a lot of questions, but that's a curious decision villain made pre, and I want to know if you have any other reads. Otherwise, it's just out of nowhere, with no rhyme or reason.

That's the thing. I've been playing pretty tight and he really had no hand in the game really justifies a shove like that. Needless to say, I was pretty lost, but it just seemed that something that any quality hand would try to milk to for value instead of just shoving so everyone else would basically have to fold.

Try not to break your mouse insta-fist-pump calling this.

Correct


Call. Don't even think about it.


^^^^^^This

I've never folded this spot ever.

ps. Don't min raise in a 4.40. You don't generally have to worry about getting any action in these.

Phil Hellmuth Style....or is this slowroll worthy?

Alright, thanks for the responses. In the situation I called and he showed AK, hit an A on the turn, and I dropped from 2nd to 82nd with an M of about 2-3. The question wasn't so much if I was a slight favorite, but more of a question of if it was worth gambling for my whole stack when I was in a great position to further steal blinds as soon as they increased again. All in all, it was one of those frustrating loses, but not the kind that put you on tilt.

Thanks for the opinions.

Yeah don't worry about the results of the hand. You put your chips in good. And yes, it was definitely worth "gambling" in that spot.

Honestly, I understand the thinking behind wanting to fold. It's a huge risk to your stack and you have a very decent stack at this point in the tournament.

What makes calling here easy, however, is that villains range is NEVER AA/KK, AK here. Never. He's potentially shoving as wide as 55+, KQ, A10+. Obviously this isn't true for all players in $4.40's, but even if we tighten his range to something like 1010+, AQ+, we're obviously still calling. A true nit is probably only pushing QQ+, AK here, but that percentage of people is so small in $4.40's, you can't even consider it (barring a ridic. good read).

It's a question of tournament life vs. getting max value with big hands. The latter is way more important in $4.40's, since the payout is top-heavy and chip accumulation > hero folds.

Stealing blinds in a $4.40, hahahahahaha. Yeah, right. Not to mention min-raising won't get that done. The only time you can really steal blinds on a consistent basis would be on or near the bubble.

But, seriously, I am never folding this or even thinking about it, especially in a $4.40. As stated, this is almost never AA/KK. AK is your only worry, even if it's AK you are closer to a 3:2 favorite than a coinflip with QQ. Anything else you have crushed.

I have a spare mouse for hands like this, you know, incase I break mine instafistpumpsnapcalling this.