[pzhon]

Excellent post. Welcome to the forums.

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My objective here was to get some flight hours in live play, have fun and of course, trying to win.

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That sounds good, but know that those goals can conflict. You might be put to a decision for all of your chips early in the tournament where you should call, but you won't get as much experience on average if you do.

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- A4o on BB, called min-raise. SB and button see flop which is AJ4 with two clubs, SB calls, I call. Button raises, I go all-in.

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Terminology: On the flop, you and the SB checked, and then the button bet.

I don't mind calling the minimum raise from the button, particularly if you think he does this with a wide range so an ace will probably make your hand good. However, it's a close decision.

The stack sizes are important for interpreting the flop action. If your push was a big overbet, then it might not have been good, since you might be able to get more value from weaker hands like AT or QJ with a smaller raise. It might be good to bet into the preflop raiser instead of checking. Although this might give up a chance to pick up a continuation bet, it prevents a hand like KQ from taking a free card, and you might find it easier to get all of the money in against a decent made hand.

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- AQo UTG. Raised 3xBB, got one caller (big stack on BB). We checked it down on rags, he took the pot with pocket 4s. I played this badly, I should have bet at the turn (it was a 2) or at the river.


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I would generally make a small continuation bet on the flop with AQ for protection, unless that would commit me to call a push. There is a good chance you both missed, and you don't want someone with JT to pick up a pair or bluff you on the turn. Checking it down after that was ok.

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- Q6o on SB and I call, BB called (or he min-raised and I called). Flopped trips: QQx rainbow.
He bet like 1/3 of the pot and I should have just call and let him get a free card and another chance to put money in but I raised him 2/3 of the pot and he folded right away.


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In a tournament, when everyone folds to your Q6o in the small blind, you may want to consider either folding or raising.

If you limped in and your opponent checked, then you have a decent time to slow-play. It is very unlikely that your opponent has a decent hand, so you can let him bet whatever he wants on the flop and turn, and then hope he has picked up a pair with which he can call a bet on the river.

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22 on button. Two others on a flop 26J with two spades. Thinking of taking the pot with good bet or re-raising a bet or bet-call.
first player goes all-in (this is the one who liked to do that on flush draw), thinking of calling him but 2nd player (the big stack to my right) calls,
so now I think someone possibly has higher trips and folded.

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Easy call. Don't panic. It's much more likely that someone has top pair, and someone else has a flush draw, or that you are up against top pair and an overpair, than that someone has a higher set. There just aren't many possible higher set hands, 3 combinations each of 66 and JJ, while there are a lot of possible J9, JT, QJ, KJ, AJ, QQ, Axs, and Kxs hands with which people like to limp.

To call, you might need to win 25-30% of the time, depending on how much dead money is in the pot. My guess is that you will win this 70% of the time.

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- I got two great hands almost back-to-back: AK and KK, raised 3xBB, but I get no action. I won the blinds that were still small, I think 100/200 a this point.


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Raising was right, but it's hard to get paid off if you haven't raised for a while. It's more likely that those hands would have gotten action if you had been stealing a few blinds earlier.

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Probably no beginners at this table; people talking about the poker web sites where they play (apparently the small stakes tables at fulltilt are weak) etc.


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I ran into some well-known winning 2+2-ers in my first live tournament. That was -EV. But most poker players at all levels lose, even the ones who say that they win, and who believe that they are above average.

One old guy criticized me repeatedly for not keeping my chips stacked the way he liked. I concentrated on getting my chips in while ahead and on good semibluffs, while he was doing the opposite.

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Getting blinded out. Big stacks are two to my left and one on my right.

These two big stacks on my left were raising a lot,


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Let me guess: They raised a lot to become big stacks, not because they were big stacks. They were probably raising a wide range. Don't wait for a premium hand to get involved. Reraise them with hands that do well against their range if they would be committed to call, and reraise them with other hands like low pairs and suited connector if they are not committed to call, in addition to premium hands.

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- ATs in mid-position with a raiser and caller, I folded after some thought.


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Whether that was right depends on how tight the players were. A reraise from you will probably mean there would be dead money in the pot, as someone may reraise to isolate you or fold in fear of a reraise. That means you actually don't have to be ahead of a caller's range to push, even if you know you will be called. For example, if you put in 2000 and the pot will be 5000 when one player calls, you only need to win 40% of the time to be happy you got involved. It takes a tight range for ATs to win less than 40%.

This is a common tournament situation that people overlook because they don't like to think about playing a short stack.

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I think I should have pushed more in the second phase (100/200, 150/300 blinds), I was too passive.


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Probably. You'll know next time. Don't kick yourself if you push with KT and run into AK or QQ, as you have seen what happens when you blind down.