Another hand from Regina

Goms27

Hey folks - Another hand from Regina.

We were a couple hours in. Blinds were in the neighborhood of 200/400. I have around 11,000 in chips. I am in seat 7 and get dealt AJs. I raise 1200 and the player on the button raises all in. He has 9,800 in chips. After some thought I fold. For some reason I show my cards which is something I hardly ever do and everyone at the table can't believe I laid down AJs. 2 guys at the table proceed to talk to each other like I am crazy to lay that down. The big stack at the table comments that it was a huge lay down.

One guy asks why I would do such a thing and all I tell him that I am not willing to put my tournament on the line for a coin flip.

Did I make the right play? I like to think I did - but am interested to hear some other insights.

Goms

Dave Scharf

Good fold. They are the one's who are crazy.

ScottyZ

An easy fold.

I don't know what your opponents were on.

AJ is way worse than a coin flip when facing a big re-raise like that.

EDIT: D'oh... What he said. :cool:

ScottyZ

Unknown

Agreed. It's almost a no-brainer fold unless the button's a really loose cannon. What interests me is why everyone at the table would think it was a HUGE laydown... either they're relatively new (which I wouldn't expect, given the cost to play in those tournaments) or they're trying to get inside your head and the heads of other players at the table. Basically, encouraging people to make huge calls with borderline hands like AJ. Do people DO that? I don't know, I can't say I've ever encountered that particular tactic before.

Again, unless you have a really solid read on your opponent, it's a good fold. And even if you DO have a solid read on your opponent, would it be worth it to call if you somehow knew he had KQ, TT, etc... probably not. FWIW I think he had JJ or QQ, without being there or knowing anything at all about the texture of the game. A wild guess, for the heck of it, and I'll never know the answer.

Just read Scotty's post. What he said, and what Dave said too. It's a hot night for hand analysis at the good ol' forum!

ScottyZ

Could this have been a conscious attempt by your opponents in real time to "teach someone the wrong thing" at the table? After all, what incentive do your opponents have to improve your poker game?

I doubt that's what it was, but whatever the case, this is a great example why you should not listen to your opponents' strategy advice. They could either be clueless or trying to manipulate you.

Or on rare occasions, both. In that case the two would essentailly cancel out and you'd probably end up with some darn good advice.

ScottyZ

ScottyZ

What interests me is why everyone at the table would think it was a HUGE laydown...

I've heard they've been putting a lot of poker on TV these days. :cool:

Possibly because AJs is a monster hand in a lot of the TV coverage which is often 2-, 3- or 4-handed?

Well, whatever the reason, I'll have to admit that you do have to be fairly seasoned before you stop overrating some of the trouble hands like AJ and KQ in NL.

ScottyZ

Dave Scharf

you do have to be fairly seasoned before you stop overrating some of the trouble hands like AJ and KQ in NL.

I think that's the answer. There are a lot of players in Canadian tournaments who cannot dream of laying down A-Js. Under any circumstance. My guess is that Goms27 simply had a high density in the peanur gallery at his table.

RAM_Eh

ScottyZ wrote:

I've heard they've been putting a lot of poker on TV these days. :cool:

Possibly because AJs is a monster hand in a lot of the TV coverage which is often 2-, 3- or 4-handed?

Well, whatever the reason, I'll have to admit that you do have to be fairly seasoned before you stop overrating some of the trouble hands like AJ and KQ in NL.

ScottyZ

I am not sure what you guys are talking about because AJ is a huge hand.
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we are talking black jack right :redface:
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hmm, never mind. Easy laydown.

I layed down QQ early in a tournament after a raise and a hard rereaise by the chip leader, and the rest of the table thought I was nuts.

Goms27

The most interesting response/reaction came the chip leader at our table who made the comment of it being a "huge laydown".

After I tossed my cards up he got off his chair and made a grunting sound and came back to the table chuckling and then commenting on the huge laydown. It was almost like I couldn't understand if he was saying good play or he was calling me an idiot!


Thanks for the advice - it is always good to get positive reinforcement on a play!

88Fingers

You did the right thing imo too - and most of all your reason was valid and thought out. That is as important as the 'big laydown'.

IvanaWinapot

This makes me think of the whole strategy aspect of when do you show your cards?
Many people say that you should never show your hand, but I think that it is a big part of manipulating your opponents. However, the one time that I DONT show my hand is when I am making a BIG (perceived or not) laydown. I like to show the odd bluff, mediocre laydown etc, but not a big laydown. I think that savvy opponents will get too much information from the big laydown and use that to have a BIG advantage over you after that. I think anyone that thinks your laydown was a tough decision is wrong. AJ is dominated by too many starting hands in this particular situation.