another hand for analysis.

Paul3221

I was playing a $10 SNG this morning. There were 4 people left, and the blinds were 75/150. I have the small stack with 800 and change, the small blind is around 1800, and the other 2 have over 2000.

I was in the BB with A,Q :spade:. Dealer and SB call, so there are three in the hand. The flop comes 3 :spade: 5 :spade: 8 .

The SB, who has been playing loose trying to buy a lot of hands, bets 1000+, and I call (all in) thinking that I have to make a move or the blinds will kill me soon.

The Turn comes J :diamond: , and the river is 10 :club:.

SB turns cards, and he has J :club: , A :diamond:. I'm gone... :banghead:

It seems with that flop, he was trying to buy the hand, so I was correct in that regard.
I guess I'm wondering how other people would have played this?? Should I have folded, and hoped for another hand before the blinds killed me??

Josh FP

with only 800 Chips left and blinds at 75/150 I probably would've pushed all in preflop, even if nobody calls it gives you another round of blinds. By letting the small blind limp in, you really have no idea what he has, he could have paired any of those cards on the board.

Iron

Yeah, I also would have gone all in pre flop. AQs is a strong hand in a 4 handed game, and you can't wait for something better with that size stack. As well, if you raise or bet any amount either pre or post flop you are pretty much pot committed with the shortness of your stack... might as well get all your money in when you probably have the best of it. You can't worry too much about your opponents having AA, KK, QQ, or AK all that much given how short your stack is and that the button and SB limped in. Actually I'd be hoping they saw the all in push as a desperation move and called.

EDITED TO ADD: ... yeah, I also could see the sb calling your raise if you went all-in preflop, and then you still would have lost, but sometimes that's the way the cards fall, even when you are the favourite.

ScottyZ

All-in pre-flop.

ScottyZ

Paul3221

Thanks for the input. I think I've been playing too tight/passive lately. I've been taking a beating for about a week now, and I think I'm starting to play scared. I'm definitely not playing the way I was a week or two ago. It's amazing how your confidence (or lack of it), can affect your play.

Thanks again everyone

BBC Z

Just wanted to toss 2c into the pile..

Yes, all-in preflop...

Post flop, I would have done the same thing. If you assume the SB has top pair, you are in a coin-toss situation as a slight favourite I believe (nut flush draw with overcards)..

As for the tight/passivity yes, that can get you into trouble. You'll let the guys with garbage see the flop when you have premium holdings, but you might not be able to get away when you only catch a piece of the flop and thier funky garbage hits hard.