PokerStars $3r - TT: Push, fold, or stop-and-go?

[LCposter]

About 80 players remaining, average stack around 180000. Blinds are 4000/8000 but going up to 6000/12000 in another hand or two, I'm not too interested in sliding up the ladder (i.e. I'm definitely gunning for the final table).

MP2 is big stack at the table, more than twice the chips of anyone else. He's been raising somewhat liberally (about 2 times per orbit) but has generally shown decent cards when called.

I rarely stop-and-go in a situation like this, although I'm interested to hear the reasoning if anyone thinks that's the right move. I'm expecting the decision to be push or fold.

PokerStars Tournament, Big Blind is t8000 with t400 antes (8 handed) Converter on pregopoker.com

UTG (t26064)
UTG+1 (t44921)
MP1 (t118196)
MP2 (t350299)
CO (t102824)
Button (t148234)
SB (t53760)
Hero (t119400)

Preflop: Hero is in BB with T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
<font color="gray">UTG folds</font>, <font color="gray">UTG+1 folds</font>, <font color="gray">MP1 folds</font>, <font color="red">MP2 raises to t32000</font>, <font color="gray">CO folds</font>, <font color="gray">Button folds</font>, <font color="gray">SB folds</font>, <font color="red">Hero ???</font>

[nath]

ARR IN.

[Bakes]

O RRY

I THNKSO TOO.

[tubasteve]

What hand range would be good for a stop and go here? It's a play I don't understand very well.

[Bakes]

I almost never use the stop and go. Basically the stop and go applies when you believe you have the best hand preflop but do not want to push because you believe you have little to no fold equity. Therefore, the stop and go is good with hands like medium aces or medium pairs facing a supposed button steal.

Calling the raise and then pushing any flop allows you to generate more fold equity because the flop is likely to miss the villain.

I believe this is a bad spot for a stop and go because OP's hand is much too good and he certainly does have fold equity (his bet is 3x the open raise). With a hand this strong I would rather take the pot down preflop than give the villain a flop.

[NoahSD]

[ QUOTE ]
What hand range would be good for a stop and go here? It's a play I don't understand very well.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's mainly a stack size thing. Here, we're a bit too deep to make a stop + go best because 1) we have FE preflop (villain'll be getting &lt;2:1) and 2) we don't want to let hands like KJ see the flop and then get to decide if they want to call our push.

If we had like 70k, then a stop and go is mandatory, as far as I'm concerned, because KJ is no longer folding to a push, but it might fold on an A-high flop or maybe even on a raggy flop, which earns us money.

[mlagoo]

hey isnt is en vogue right now to give more credit to 4xBB raises (unless its the motherdckers normal raise).

in which event we should stopngo? because clearly we arent folding.


OP: IS 4xBB that sweet son of a bitches standard raise OR WHT?!?!

[LCposter]

Good insight, mlagoo. MP2's standard raise has been 3xbb. He has made a 4xBB raise at least twice before, first time it was KK, second time it was folded around.

[mlagoo]

sorry about the caps OP. im trying to think lucidly but im being held back by forces i cannot control.

i just dont think you can fold here to one raise with ~14xBB with TT. so its a matter of pushing and SnG'ing, and, of the two, SnGing seems better, IMO.

[LCposter]

mlagoo, your idea is intriguing.

I would normally consider a stop-and-go when I think my hand is best preflop, but villian won't fold to a push. If we give villian more credit for the 4xbb raise, then that means he's got two broadway/small pp/suited connector a small percentage of the time and JJ+/AK the majority of the time. That would mean his range is generally beating our TT.

In that case, you're proposing the stop-and-go as a way to bluff villian off what we think is the better hand?