PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t800 (7 handed) converter

BB (t25560)
UTG (t29081)
Hero (t24421)
MP2 (t19425)
CO (t6620)
Button (t10579)
SB (t26375)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with [Td], [Tc].
UTG calls t800, Hero raises to t3000, UTG calls t2200.

Flop: (t6300) [4h], [6s], [9h] (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t7000


Pokerstars $100+$9 Tourney. 260 Entrants, 27 pay, 28 players left.

I was 5th in chips but UTG had me covered.

What would you do if UTG pushed at this point?

What if he flat called and the turn was a blank - do you just check and fold to a river bet or fire out again?

I was pretty sure that he didn't have aces or kings but he could have had anything else.

I'd bet 5000 on the flop instead of 7000 (which is bigger than the pot). If he pushes, I seriously consider a fold (and it's easier because the pot isn't as huge.

Do you have any reads on his play? Obviously, that could change my answer.

Tough spot. I assume you have some kind of read on utg?

But without a read it smells like a heart flush draw, JJ, or a set. What could he have reasonably called your raise with?

If I've done my math correctly you have approx $15k left if you fold which equals an M of approx 12. That means you have room left to play if you let this hand go.

Factors to consider:

Payout structure
Read on opponent
Do you think you have a significant edge over your opponents?


Again very tough spot but a little more info would be helpful

My read was "erratic", "loose cannon" or "wild card" before this hand.

He had shown the tendency to call a smaller bet but fold to a bigger bet which is why I tried to knock him out with the pot sized bet.

I think that it was very top heavy (only 27 pay) but you got around 150 for 19-27, 300 for 10-18, and then it escalated up rapidly if you made the final table.

Players were all solid with the exception of this one guy who was the loose cannon/wild card at the table.

With that read, then I guess your bet is fine. I'm not sure I'd let this go against a push either if he's a loose cannon.

If I was really confident with my read that he was a loose cannon, I would probably call his all-in as he could just as easily have 78, 89, 9T, ThJh, QhJh, 88, 77, as an overpair or set, and as you mentioned the payout structures of these tourneys are very top heavy. If I wasn't confident in my read I think you still have enough chips left to make a run if you fold to an all-in re-raise.

BTW, if he just calls and pushes on a turn scare card, I'd probably just fold and wait for a better spot to trap this guy (Man I hate middle pairs in these situations). If he calls and then checks on the turn again with another low blank, I think I'd feel obligated to push at that point.

Again though, if your read tells you he is capable of slow-playing a big hand in this manner, the answer might change. I'm just giving relatively standard answers.

Doesnt that last line tell you what to do? If his betting pattern is to fold to bigger bets then doesnt that indicate a stronger than normal hand?

I think he clearly has a pair, and I dont think you can discount As and Ks too heavily. The "loose cannons" often have a tendency to slow play the big hands. I w0uld discount anything below 7s, too risky to stay in. So 7s and 8s youre ahead, 9s youre behind a set, 10s you tie, Js through A youre behind. Even if you discount As and Ks somewhat Qs and Js are balanced by the 7s and 8s and youre still behind.

Also, a reraise on the flop after rags hit is almost invariably a set or overpair. Ive seen it occasionally with TPTK but not often late in a tourney with good players remaining.

I hate Ts, I think they are the toughest pair to play.

So here's what happened. He timed out and folded to my $7K bet!

He said right afterwards "why did it fold my hand?". He was unaware of his time balance or where it was supposedly as I pointed him to the item tab where he found the number 0 next to his time balance. He had earlier been away from the table so he had lost his whole time balance.

He said that he was ready to push if his hand hadn't been folded and asked if I could have beat his A9 (no flush draw).

I don't think that he was bs'ing me but I'm still not sure what I would have done there. I was agonizing over my next move when his hand was "folded".

It would have been interesting for sure. I assume he didnt do very well from there though, the preflop call was awful imo. If he is new to tourneys (and thus didnt realize there was a time limit) then playing TPTK that strongly in the face of your strong betting is a little more understandable, but Ive seen TPTK go down too many times in exactly these circumstances to play it that way (or to expect it from others).

Then again. was it Barry Greenstein who said that Stu Ungar wouldnt have had his WSOP wins if top pair ever got beat?