Hedge fund Interview question: 10k HU freezeout

[dlpnyc21]

So I am in a hedge fund interview today, with one of the senior people in the company, and we're talking about poker, he's asked me what my strengths and weaknesses are as a player, what makes me good, what gives me an edge when in higher stakes games v. better competition, how I handle various situations, etc.


He then tells me he is currently in a best of 7 match with one of other senior people at the firm, 10k a match.

The structure of each match is 1-2 blinds, each start with 150 in chips, non-esccalating blinds.

He has 250-50 or 260-40 lead (I thought it was 250-50 but then he later said the guy moved in for 40 chips, so to be honest I wasn't sure if it was 50 or 40, but I figured that didn't change things much).

OPP open shoves. He has A8o. What is his action?

Questions I asked were: what is the tendency of the villian to get desperate when slightly low on chips, what is his edge on the opponent. He felt he had a slight, but not great edge on his opponent, and that he felt his opponent definitely had the tendency to get slightly desperate when low on chips meaning his shoving range could increase.

I said that probably indicated a range of something like K10+, 22+, Ax+, plus all big pairs, so I said call, and also couple that with meta game implications for the match such that his OPP doesn't think he can just shove at any point.

The interviewer nodded, but he didn't give the result.

How did I do? What else should you consider?


thx,
dlpnyc21

[Bill King]

possibly if villain wins the hand, shows up w/ a big hand, or wins a coinflip situation the effect that the new found confidence will do on his play. if a result of the hand means he will tighten up/loosen up etc.

mixing in c/r's out of and in position etc

probably the most important thing you want to stress is pot size control.. as heads up this is very crucial.

[thejerkface]

This is the equity analysis.

equity (%) win (%) tie (%)
Hand 1: 46.2694 % 40.60% 05.67% { A8o }
Hand 2: 53.7306 % 48.06% 05.67% { 22+, A2s+, KTs+, A2o+, KTo+ }

It's close, but given stack sizes, a fold would be correct. Because of the closeness of the decision, the hedge fund manager is trying to see how you reason it out, not necessarily whether you fold or call. I'd ask about the flow of the game and if the hedge manager believes he can continue to build his chip lead, while avoiding huge all-in confrontations. I'd also be interested in how he'd be able to play after losing this pre-flop all-in. Would he be able to maintain focus or would it tilt him? Would momentum shift to his opponent?

[raptor517]

ridiculously easy fold. against ppl that shove 20x u dont need to be flipping or worse. can find lots better spots. holla

[good2cu]

very easy fold!

If i was you I would of told him I was a high stakes balla and didn't play sngs and therefore didn't know how to do simple push/fold/call calcuations.

[SlowHabit]

The interviewer wants you to have patience and wait for a better spot to get all your chips in, which explains why the blinds do not escalate. It's an analogy to investing. You wait and wait and bet big when a mouth-watering opportunity comes by.

[dlpnyc21]

[ QUOTE ]
The interviewer wants you to have patience and wait for a better spot to get all your chips in, which explains why the blinds do not escalate. It's an analogy to investing. You wait and wait and bet big when a mouth-watering opportunity comes by.

[/ QUOTE ]

It wasn't a made up question, like a lot of interview questions are. It was a real hand from a real match and he was genuinely asking advice, he is up 3-1 in the match, so I'm not sure if the call worked out or not.

I also should add, I think his implication by saying that the opponent got desperate and gambled a lot when low on chips would further expand his pushing range, to include a few random bluff cards, but I'm not sure how exactly to add that into the pokerstove range.

[Jazzy3113]

dude u were asked for a face to face interview with a hedge fund.....trust your instinct, i agree with you analysis

[MrFeelNothin]

The blinds are 1-2, the range you give him for the push is way too wide. Why would the opponent be getting desperate if he still has 25 blinds? If he was getting desperate, how is open-pushing a viable bluff, there are only 3 chips in the middle! 250 is such a dominating position with 1-2, non-escalating blinds, just play lots of pots and apply continual pressure. If he keeps pushing all-in you will have plenty of time to pick up a hand. This really isnt very close.

[EmpireMaker2]

[ QUOTE ]
ridiculously easy fold. against ppl that shove 20x u dont need to be flipping or worse. can find lots better spots. holla

[/ QUOTE ]

agreed