FTP $1 45PP MTT S&G: AK OFFSUIT NEARING FINAL TABLE

[Al Mirpuri]

I am sitting with T9.000 with the big blind at T200 and we are nearing the final table. I am 3/4. I find AKo and raise three and a half times the big blind. I get one caller. This caller has T7.000. The flop is King Ten Three rainbow. I go allin as first to act. I read him for KQs/o or KJs/o. I am not afraid of AA, or AK or TT not even KT. Though I guess I should be. I was wrong on what I thought he had. He had K9.

The result I am not going to tell...

Question: was it a mistake going allin? Surely, I should have been more careful?

Question: even if he hits his three outer surely thirty-nine times or so I end up being huge chip leader and make top three with careful play (folding my way into the top three, where the 'real' money is (lol)) and often win outright.

How bad is it to go to war against a big stack when you can easily fold your way into the money (top six pay and I can and have folded my way into it)?

Tx for any and all responses in advance.

[Jiggymike]

Don't over bet the pot so much next time, you will usually only get called with hands that beat you. Be happy he had such a crappy hand and don't be results oriented. Raise is good PF and then make a standard bet after the flop, you played this very amateurly (no offense that's just how I would describe it). Don't worry about folding y our way into the money, you should take chances to double up. You have a lot of posts under your belt, you should know better than to be so results oriented.

[Al Mirpuri]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't over bet the pot so much next time, you will usually only get called with hands that beat you. Be happy he had such a crappy hand and don't be results oriented. Raise is good PF and then make a standard bet after the flop, you played this very amateurly (no offense that's just how I would describe it). Don't worry about folding y our way into the money, you should take chances to double up. You have a lot of posts under your belt, you should know better than to be so results oriented.

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I am not as results oriented as you imagine though I do think overbetting the pot was a mistake. I busted myself out basically. I think there were probably better spots waiting...I got a very good situation when he turned over K9 but I do think it was a mistake to overbet. I think I just got manic. Sometimes, there are just lapses in concentration.

Most of my posts have been in other forums playing other games, etc. I am learning the game of MTT S&GS and also STT S&Gs. I have made great strides but there is obviously more to be learnt...

Thanks for the post.

[Black Aces 518]

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[ QUOTE ]
Don't over bet the pot so much next time, you will usually only get called with hands that beat you. Be happy he had such a crappy hand and don't be results oriented. Raise is good PF and then make a standard bet after the flop, you played this very amateurly (no offense that's just how I would describe it). Don't worry about folding y our way into the money, you should take chances to double up. You have a lot of posts under your belt, you should know better than to be so results oriented.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am not as results oriented as you imagine though I do think overbetting the pot was a mistake. I busted myself out basically. I think there were probably better spots waiting...I got a very good situation when he turned over K9 but I do think it was a mistake to overbet. I think I just got manic. Sometimes, there are just lapses in concentration.

Most of my posts have been in other forums playing other games, etc. I am learning the game of MTT S&GS and also STT S&Gs. I have made great strides but there is obviously more to be learnt...

Thanks for the post.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOLOLOL. I don't know how much better spot you are gonna look for than your AK vs his K9 on a KT3 flop. Really. How you got there was less than optimal, but if he was first to act, shoved allin and exposed his cards, you would either call in an instant or have a lot to learn about poker.

[Al Mirpuri]

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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Don't over bet the pot so much next time, you will usually only get called with hands that beat you. Be happy he had such a crappy hand and don't be results oriented. Raise is good PF and then make a standard bet after the flop, you played this very amateurly (no offense that's just how I would describe it). Don't worry about folding y our way into the money, you should take chances to double up. You have a lot of posts under your belt, you should know better than to be so results oriented.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am not as results oriented as you imagine though I do think overbetting the pot was a mistake. I busted myself out basically. I think there were probably better spots waiting...I got a very good situation when he turned over K9 but I do think it was a mistake to overbet. I think I just got manic. Sometimes, there are just lapses in concentration.

Most of my posts have been in other forums playing other games, etc. I am learning the game of MTT S&GS and also STT S&Gs. I have made great strides but there is obviously more to be learnt...

Thanks for the post.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOLOLOL. I don't know how much better spot you are gonna look for than your AK vs his K9 on a KT3 flop. Really. How you got there was less than optimal, but if he was first to act, shoved allin and exposed his cards, you would either call in an instant or have a lot to learn about poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

The real question I wanted answered but did not quite manage to communicate is: to what extent should you go to avoid the big stacks when you are a big stack yourself?

[Jazz June]

You should avoid other big stacks with marginal hands. Here you have a good hand and you should value bet. He is likely calling down and not raising with a K, middle kicker. It sounds like he made two pair and he likely would have raised when he made the two pair, thats when you make a decision. You were lucky to get called by a hand you had dominated after such an overbet and unlucky to lose to the suckout. You want to allow your opponents to make mistakes, by pushing the flop you greatly decrease the odds of getting a worse hand to call and you don't get any better hands to fold. Just bet for value. Re-evaluate when raised.

[Al Mirpuri]

[ QUOTE ]
You should avoid other big stacks with marginal hands. Here you have a good hand and you should value bet. He is likely calling down and not raising with a K, middle kicker. It sounds like he made two pair and he likely would have raised when he made the two pair, thats when you make a decision. You were lucky to get called by a hand you had dominated after such an overbet and unlucky to lose to the suckout. You want to allow your opponents to make mistakes, by pushing the flop you greatly decrease the odds of getting a worse hand to call and you don't get any better hands to fold. Just bet for value. Re-evaluate when raised.

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I never said I lost to a suckout so either you are wrong on that score or you are a mind reader...

Thanks for your post.

[craigmarq]

You played it correctly. You have a premium hand that improved to tptk.

I agree with Jazz. You should typically play normal vs other big stacks and not get too aggressive. Feed off the weaker stacks. That being said when you have a premium hand you have to take advantage of it.

[kuro]

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The flop is King Ten Three rainbow. I go allin as first to act. I read him for KQs/o or KJs/o.

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This thought process is just so wrong. Putting someone on a range doesn't mean wishing for the hand that you have dominated. You have to consider position, reads on how villain plays, stack sizes, buyin, stage of the tourney, etc. You don't even mention positions in your post which suggests you don't pay enough attention to position.

Villains range is probably pretty wide given how deep you are and how small the buyin is. Think something like any pair, broadway hands, suited connectors, suited 1 gappers, Axs, etc.

When you hit the flop, you don't think, "I'm probably ahead so I push to protect my hand and minimize decisions on later streets." Rather, you should be thinking, "How do I maximize my profit against villain's range?" So, sometimes you'll go for a check-raise, sometimes you'll donk bet or bet 1/3 pot to feign weakness, and sometimes you'll make your standard continuation bet. What you never do is massively overbet, because you fold out the hands that you beat and get stacked by those that you beat.