JJ against a button raise

gvegas · #1 05-12-2007, 06:42 PM

Live event, 30 runners, $450 Buy-in, 1st gets a WSOP seat so not much left for 2nd or 3rd etc. 23 players remain and hero is in the big blind with a slightly bigger than average stack of about 17K and is dealt JJ. Villain has around 29K and recently joined the table. He SEEMS very focused and solid compared to the other players and appears to play aggressively when in position. Blinds are 400/800 no antes.

All to fold to villain on the button who raises to 2K. SB folds and i call. I decide against re-raising because I don't feel like creating a big pot that I will be committed to against a good player OOP who has me covered and I will be staring at an overcard on the flop 57% of the time. At the same time I think villain's range is huge here.

Pot is 4,400 and I have 15K left. Flop comes 2-8-2 two diamonds. This seems like a great flop for me and i decide to check knowing he will continuation bet. Villain bets 2K and I move all-in.

My line of thinking here is if villain has AA,KK or QQ a raise to say 6K on my part will still lead to all my chips going in anyways. If he has overcards he will most likely fold to my re-raise but if he has TT, 99 or even 77, 66 he may view my shove as weak and look me up.

This seems pretty standard to me but I started the hand trying to avoid playing for all my chips but then decided i had to CR all-in on the flop. Can I really avoid getting all my chips in the middle in that situation with that flop?

nath · #2 05-12-2007, 06:50 PM

uh i guess it's OK but i would raise PF first

why would you not want to play for all your chips PF here? or on the flop?

WCGRider · #3 05-12-2007, 06:51 PM

I think your asking for trouble here to be honest. Your betting 15K into a 6.4K Pot. I certainly dont think that your opponent is going to look you up with anything under the 8, or even at the 8 for that matter. The only hands i see him possibly calling with taht you listed (That dont beat you) are 99 and TT, but even then im not 100% he looks you up.

I like a reraise to about 5K here. Thats a serious enough bet that your opponent realizes that you have a hand and if he has air you win the same pot with less risk. Also if he comes over you, you have to realize that your beat and it doesnt cost you your tournament life. I dont think a solid player would reraise there.

Just my opinion.

gvegas · #4 05-12-2007, 06:58 PM

I thought he was the only other solid player at the table and I was looking forward to taking advantage of the other players bad decisions later. I thought raising pre-flop puts me in a sticky postion if he calls and the flop comes with overcards. I didn't feel desperate enough to create a big pot with JJ against this player. The flop changed that however as i figured to be ahead and had a big enough edge to play for all my chips.

gvegas · #5 05-12-2007, 07:06 PM

Rider my feeling was that he had enough chips to call a raise to 5K or 6K with AK, AQ, AJ. Then what do I do on the turn? A check looks so weak there.

WCGRider · #6 05-12-2007, 07:13 PM

Ok well, if you think he calls you with hands like that, and you think your good after the flop, wouldnt this be the best way to get your money in there? Im under the impression that you would WANT hands like AK AQ AJ calling a raise for 1/6 his stack (Which would be a very poor move for a good player.) Because he has 6 outs, and is making a very negative ev decision by trying to draw to them.

You can shove the turn no matter what hits, and he is just as likely to call as in the first scenario, but now if he folds then you gained 5k more chips out of the deal. However him calling a 5 or 6K flop bet just raelly doesnt seem like that range to me.