I suck with stacks between 20 and 80 BBs

Superfluous Man · #1 04-10-2007, 08:07 PM

...which is probably why I suck so badly at tournaments recently, because so damn much of every tournament goes on with just those stack sizes. Anyway, here's a hand that I think I played well...if the stacks were much bigger. Maybe I still played it well, but people I've talked to tend to disagree. And for differing reasons. At the time I thought I played this well, but I'm really unsure about it now. Anyone like a flop raise? Turn bet? River fold/raise? Meh?

(Note: I realize I may get some "fold pfs" here, but those blinds aren't going to steal themselves, and my image at this table is tight, especially to this guy, who's been at the table a dozen hands and has only seen me raise once. Of course, that means I don't have much of a read on him, but he seemed typical/tight).

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t400/t800
(Ante: t100)
8 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: t18200
UTG+1: t20468
MP1: t43054
MP2: t20255
Hero: t30091
Button: t15562
SB: t25866
BB: t25699

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is CO with 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
4 folds, Hero raises to t2000, 2 folds, BB calls t1200 (pot was t4000).

Flop: Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (t5200, 2 players)
BB bets t2400, Hero calls t2400 (pot was t7600).

Turn: K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (t10000, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

River: 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (t10000, 2 players)
BB bets t8000, Hero calls t8000 (pot was t18000).

Results:
Final pot: t26000

NoahSD · #2 04-10-2007, 08:11 PM

That's a pretty wide range of stacks to suck with.

Preflop's fine as long as the table's tight.

Flop and turn are obviously totally standard.

River's no fun, but def a call I think.

Superfluous Man · #3 04-10-2007, 08:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
That's a pretty wide range of stacks to suck with.

[/ QUOTE ]
It explains why I've sucked so badly in tournaments this year!

I figured the flop was standard. But one person I talked to suggested betting the turn. I didn't like it at the time, and I'm still not really sure, but the might the stack sizes make it ok if I'm willing to call a c/r? With such small stacks (compared to cash), is it worth it to play for pot control, and consider myself wa/wb here? At what point does it make it worth risking the a c/r bluff in order to win the pot now, sans showdown?

That brings me to another point. I feel like I'm winning too few pots without a showdown in tournaments, leaving me "at the mercy of the cards." I'm just not accumulating well, which goes a way towards explaining my results.

nath · #4 04-10-2007, 08:15 PM

Nice job picking off JT or diamonds
unless he had the K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Superfluous Man · #5 04-10-2007, 08:22 PM

oh btw this is from last night's FTP $1k, in case that affects anything.

nath · #6 04-10-2007, 08:24 PM

Oh raise more PF

Fireball_AA · #7 04-10-2007, 08:37 PM

There's a reason why I don't steal with a bad King or Queen. You can flop a decent flop and be behing because you are always outkicked...I'd much rather do it with 56, 7-9 or something like that.

Anyway, given that you raise and got called, you can call or raise the flop. Raising the flop will put you on a though spot because you will have to make it expensive to price a FD out, so it will cost you a lot when he has a better Q. So I don't like to raise the flop.

The turn check is a good idea, but you can bet also so you won't have to pay a big river and the draw will likely fold. You must fold to a CR.

Don't raise just to steal blinds, raise to build a stack. I don't like to raise with a hand I feel I'll have to give up everytime I get some resistance.

You could go build your confidence at lower levels, this might help.

Bond18 · #8 04-10-2007, 09:29 PM

What noah+nath said.

helgefyll · #9 04-10-2007, 10:30 PM

nath, any reason why you think he has diamonds? wouldn't the standard line for a big draw like JTd be cr? or am I way off here..
if you are villain in this hand, do you play a fd like this? I feel this more like a pair or a queen, maybe KQ/QJ? KQ would check the turn also.. the 3 didnt help him if he's a good player so it's a really bad bluff if it's a bluff..

TroutMaskReplica · #10 04-10-2007, 10:43 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Oh raise more PF

[/ QUOTE ]

nath, you indicated in another recent post that you like raising >3x with antes like this, interested to hear you talk more about this vs reducing your raise size to more like 2.5x.