Friday Night UB $30+3. 670 started about 220 left (first prize is just under $6K). Average stack about $4,500. I just moved to the table with $8,600 in chips. Only three other players with decent stacks (one $6,800 and two with about 3,800).

The fourth hand at the table I am dealt 10-10 (I have not played a hand). It folds to me in late middle position. Blinds are 50-100 and I raise to 400. To my suprise the CO calls, the button calls, the SB calls and the BB moves in for a total of $3,800 (which has all callers covered). It costs me $3,400 to call and there is $5,400 in the pot. I have absolutely no reads on the table and three callers behind me.

My first thought is the BB must have a very strong hand, then I stop and think that maybe he figures I was stealing since I came to the table with the largest stack and with all the callers in front of him he could make this move with just about any hand. Certainly Copernicus recommends this move (although maybe not against my stack).

Given that I have a very good chip stack, that I have no reads and three shorter stacks behind me (they all were between $1,800 and $2,400 after their call) do you make this call?

I certainly wouldn't with pocket tens in that situation. Once you call, every subsequent caller gets better and better odds to go with their hand. I cannot see this being a heads-up situation should you call here, and a hand like pocket tens would not fare very well IMO against 3, 4 or 5 opponents. You have little invested here (relative to your stack), and lots of chips left to use in later hands).

Nuh uh to the bold part. The discussion you are remembering was all limpers, not a raise followed by callers (which some people also call limpers).

I would expect him to have a real hand. The question is, what range is that hand in, and now does TT fare against it. You can probably find reasonable ranges that put you anywhere from a 55:45 favorite to a 2:1 dog. Youre getting break even odds for a range of 99+, AKo, AKs which is pretty tight imo. I would find it hard to lay down if I think its getting HU.

As Rocket points out, if I call the first caller is getting better than 2.6:1 odds (if he has a full stack to call with). The addition of even one caller with a range of 55+, AQ+ turns a potentially favorable situation into a solidly -EV call.

With no reads I would probably fold also.

If you play it you should push in your whole stack, which will quite likely get the rest of the table to fold. But I agree that it looks like he has a better pair.

the other stacks are covered by the BB already.
Pushing does not creat a biggger call for them.

I fold.





who cares what we proportion we already have invested?
except to the extent it's part of the pot.

I fold as well here... I don't think it's a possibility that the BB thinks you're just trying to steal by going all in, because he also has to worry about the people behind you who called your initial bet. I love it when i see people who will just call a raise, and then call an all in w/ AJ-AK....

but here i gotta think that you're beat. He could have hands ranging from 88-AA....but there are more hands that you're losing to or are a coinflip with, so I'd say fold.

Another argument could be that IF you had a read on the player and thought he might make this move w/ AK-AQ, then you should call. Reason being that the people who called your inital raise could have any sort of paint, ace, etc. Then his outs are gone, and you're more of a favorite.


Any thoughts on that?

I'm folding here. There is a very good chance that you are dominated, I honestly see very few hands against which you are a dominating favorite, it isn't a good enough situation to put half your stack at risk.

Yeah I didn't see that. I thought he said that one guy had 6800.

Thanks for all the comments. I folded and so did everyone else so I never saw the BB's hand. I considered calling but that would have been hoping that there were a lot of duplicated cards assuming he had A-X or the like. I was concerned I might have been too tight here as winning that pot would have put me up with the chip leaders (but losing it would have put me below average), but apparently not.