3/45t stars, 66 out of position.

Augster · #1 10-10-2007, 10:54 AM

I haven't played a hand in a while so I was hoping my EP raise would just pick up the blinds. The blinds had just turned to 100.

Any help on any street is great. I am totally lost on the turn though.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t100 (8 handed) internettexasholdem.com

MP1 (t2140)
MP2 (t4865)
CO (t1400)
Button (t955)
SB (t2565)
BB (t3100)
UTG (t2380)
Hero (t2115)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to t300, 1 fold, MP2 calls t300, 4 folds.

Flop: (t750) 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets t400, MP2 calls t400.

Turn: (t1550) 3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero?

What is your line here?

Thanks a ton.

levAA · #2 10-10-2007, 11:22 AM

Medium and small PP in early position with these stack-sizes are hard to play.

If you see them as set miners, you usually can't raise them, cause the stack-sizes are too low to make the risk worth when you hit.

If you limp you will often face a raise, where you usually have to fold - and loose important chips.

You are much too deep to push.

So what to do? Harrington recommends to simply don't play them at all and I think there is nothing wrong with it - while it's a very tight approach.

If you play them you have to bring to your mind that you cannot play them for set value alone, but have to win some pots by stealing, or by having the best hand - and this is the tough part of playing these hands.

So as long as you don't have a good read on your opponents and a high card-reading skill it might be better to fold.

In this hand I would shove the turn - you might get 77,88 to fold and TT+ is unlikely.

sapsuckah · #3 10-10-2007, 11:47 AM

I agree with Lev here... also keep in mind that expecting to steal blinds in a $3 tourney because you've been quiet for a while is, well, pretty optimistic. Easily 95% of players at that level would have no idea that you've been tight.

Matt

Augster · #4 10-10-2007, 12:20 PM

I shoved as the pot was more than my stack and I was hoping to take the pot down.

When he called my flop cbet on that board, I thought I was in trouble. Would it have been better to check the turn? I just didn't want to give AK etc. a free card to beat me.

levAA · #5 10-10-2007, 01:25 PM

As you have shown strength with an EP raise I think betting this flop is much better than checking.

If villain is an aggressive player you could consider a check/raise - but with these stack sizes this can be dangerous - if he bets the pot for example he is committed.

WJL · #6 10-10-2007, 02:07 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I shoved as the pot was more than my stack and I was hoping to take the pot down.

When he called my flop cbet on that board, I thought I was in trouble. Would it have been better to check the turn? I just didn't want to give AK etc. a free card to beat me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Checking the turn usually just ends up surrendering the hand in many of these situations, as Villain has you covered and can push with some degree of impunity. That's the trouble with playing these sorts of hands from early position; in most cases, it leads to uncomfortable decisions on the turn/river. C/c the flop might have been better, but I dunno. Given your UTG+1 raise, he may have put you on two overs and called your C-bet hoping to hit the turn. As we are now, the push is probably the best of a number of bad options.

Your reads have to get better before you can do this sort of thing regularly. Is this guy tight or loose? Very aggro? Positionally aware? Has he built his stack w/o showdowns? What is your table image? A proper TAG would not have called your UTG+1 raise with the sort of garbage that would have hit this flop hard unless you have been playing fairly loose yourself.

My brain hurts. This looks just like the sort of stupid situation I would get myself into.