Final table decision.
I played in a private tournament tonight... 70 starters, 4 of us left.
Payouts (top 11 paid, but here are the ones that matter):
20K
10K
5.5K
3.5K
Stacks (approx, but very close):
UTG - 160K
Button - 150K
SB - 500K
Me (BB) - 100K
The blinds were an extremely oppressive 20K/40K. We just got back from break, and of course, I was the BB, leaving me with 60K after posting. I was dealt T5o. UTG folded, button limped, SB raised an amount I don't remember (not that it matters), and I of course folded. Button folded as well. That one was pretty easy, IMO.
Is this one as easy?
Very next hand, I'm SB with JQo. I'm in for 20K, and have 40K left. Folded to me, and I move in, raising short another 20K. The BB of course called.... he would be correct to call me with any two. He had better than any two though, he had JKo. No help for either of us, and I finished 4th.
I was wondering if anybody would have folded that JQo (surrendering 20K), and saved their remaining 40K for the next 3 hands.
Any comments appreciated,
all_aces
ps: As an aside, from the 'kicking it old school' files, I ran into a player I've posted about before, from my 'Extremely Long Casino Regina report'. Here's what I said about him:
Payouts (top 11 paid, but here are the ones that matter):
20K
10K
5.5K
3.5K
Stacks (approx, but very close):
UTG - 160K
Button - 150K
SB - 500K
Me (BB) - 100K
The blinds were an extremely oppressive 20K/40K. We just got back from break, and of course, I was the BB, leaving me with 60K after posting. I was dealt T5o. UTG folded, button limped, SB raised an amount I don't remember (not that it matters), and I of course folded. Button folded as well. That one was pretty easy, IMO.
Is this one as easy?
Very next hand, I'm SB with JQo. I'm in for 20K, and have 40K left. Folded to me, and I move in, raising short another 20K. The BB of course called.... he would be correct to call me with any two. He had better than any two though, he had JKo. No help for either of us, and I finished 4th.
I was wondering if anybody would have folded that JQo (surrendering 20K), and saved their remaining 40K for the next 3 hands.
Any comments appreciated,
all_aces
ps: As an aside, from the 'kicking it old school' files, I ran into a player I've posted about before, from my 'Extremely Long Casino Regina report'. Here's what I said about him:
andShortly after that, I raised in EP with AhTh and a very good, very young player with his hood up 3-bet me. I called with a very bad feeling. Heads-up to the flop of 9h 7d 3h. I checked, he bet, I check-raised with my flush draw, and when he just called I put him on overcards. I had almost exactly enough left for a turn and river bet--he had only slightly more. One hand at these limits will cripple you; nobody at our table could afford more than maybe one or two mistakes. The turn was a brick, I bet my flush draw and tried not to move, think or breathe while he considered the situation, and he folded. He told me shortly after the hand, during the break, that he had AK.
This dude is a very solid player. Unfortunately, I knocked him off the final table in tonight's tournament, as well... with the better hand, for once. He told me earlier in the night that he saw my face on CPP in GBH and said: "this is that guy who knocked me out of the tournament". Always nice to be remembered fondly... I'm not feeling too bad about it though, he told me he was in Vegas for 6 weeks during the last WSOP, playing--in addition to a few of the tournaments, including the main event--100/200 and 200/400 at the Bellagio.My stack was dwindling, fast, when I made a semi-steal attempt from the cut-off with 8dTd. The big blind--the guy with the hood--called, with very few chips left. In retrospect, it's a bad idea to steal blinds from someone who has barely any chips left, because they're committed, but oh well.
The flop came AJ8 rainbow and I bet after he checked. He checkraised me, and I called because he only had enough left to bet short on the turn, which he did. Luckily for me, the turn was a ten, giving me 2 pair to call his all-in with. He had A4o, no help on the river, and I apologized to him as I shook his hand. "That's poker", he said.
Comments
I'm not sure I would have folded the T5o though.
Further thoughts when it's not 4am...
ScottyZ
So with 100 (yours) + 100 (sb) + 40 (button - dead money)
If you can pull this pot out, even with crap cards you're at 240,000 chips and ideally positioned to land in any spot between 1-3.
Folding here you are almost, short of a miracle (which you also need with T5o) you will be playing to outlast 4th and end up in 3rd place. You'll need to double up twice twice with your remaining 60,000 after posting to get the same shot.
Still it's hard to want to put all your money in with T5o, but 240000 tc seems like the type of hammer you could do something with.
Was folding T5o in that spot a mistake? I'm not sure. Here are two mistakes that I've never made in a tournament before though, and I'll mention them as examples of what can happen when you aren't completely focused.
Mistake #1.
4 or 5 left, not sure, but the blinds were 15K/30K. I'd just doubled up, and was stacking my chips, and thinking about the hand I'd just played, and some other stuff. The cards were dealt, and the dealer was tapping the table in front of me saying '30 to call'. So I folded. As it turned out, he was asking me to put in my BB, which I of course had to put in anyways, despite the fact that I mucked my hand. I REALLY could have used that 30K. It's possible that the dealer might have mentioned something about my blind to me, but if he did, I didn't hear it. All I heard was the last thing he said, which was '30 to call'. Ugh.
Mistake #2.
5 left, and I'm dealt AJo on the button. A player who I perceived to be very tight raised 3XBB, and was called by MP. I folded. Well, long story short, the preflop raiser had suited connectors, the caller had AT, and I would have won a big pot with a flopped pair of aces, jack kicker. Speaking from a less results-oriented point of view, I can identify my mistake as this: my opponents adjusted to the fact that we were shorthanded one hand sooner than I did. Ugh.
Regards,
all_aces
You got hosed here by the dealer. Twice, or arguably 3 times.
First of all, a good tournament dealer will not begin dealing the cards until the blinds are properly posted.
Second, although you were not playing attention, the dealer was not properly doing his job making sure you posted your blind. Tapping the space in front of you and saying "30 to call" is *not* the right thing to do. This is totally misleading, as well as technically incorrect. Better would have been something straightforward, like "It's your big blind".
The third (and debatable) way you got hosed was that your hand was in all likelihood recoverable (as there was likely no muck at the time). While throwing your cards in generally kills your hand, your hand should have been either been recovered, or the hand declared a misdeal, as an error made by the dealer has occurred.
Back to the original T5o, I like calling here. Assuming the button will fold, you're getting 3 to 1 on your call. You'll rarely be in such bad shape that you can't call for those odds.
The button is key to the analysis. Why is he limping in on the button? Does this mean he has a big hand, or a true limping hand? If you can't put the button on a *high* probability of trap-limping, you can call with the T5o.
ScottyZ
Would you usually fold AJ to a 3X raise. Depending on my stack I would probably call (A hole in my game maybe?). I will not play AJ in infront of a re-raise ontop of a 3x raise but I will usually call a 3x raise with AJ.
I didn't think he was trap-limping... I thought he was just trying to avoid being busted out of the tournament lol. You are right, I probably should have called, as much as it would have killed me to call off my stack with that cheese.
Lol, I should write a list. Nah.... I just know that I prefer online to B&M, mostly for the sake of convenience.
I should have mentioned that 3 X BB basically pot-committed anyone at any point during the final table. There was NO room to move, it was all-in or fold. Before we were down to 4 players, the chip leader at the table at any time never had more than 11 X BB. So, a 3 X BB raise has some significance. Still, I think I should have played this, because it's a good hand in a shorthanded situation.
Regards,
all_aces
Pot commitment does change this significantly. I still would have called after all against any thing but Pocket Pair JJ or better and AQ AK you are a favorite or in a race.