An old FT hand
Not many strategy posts in a while so I guess I'll post an old hand of mine that is maybe a little interesting. Live tournament, $1450 first, $800 2nd, $600 3rd. Three players remain. Button has 300K, you are in the SB with 235K, BB has about 90K before posting. Blinds 5K/10K ante 500. The button has been playing fairly solid. Aggressive like you have to be playing shorthanded, but not out of line yet. He certainly knows how to modify his starting requirements for shorthanded play though. He makes an unusually large raise to 50K from the button. First case: You don't have any read on why he raised so much from previous hands. You look down and find KQs, what is your action? edit: You have the image of a fairly tight but strong player but he proabbly suspects you are capable of making some moves on occasion, especially shorthanded.
Comments
I'd hate to lose an extra $600-$800 with an attractive yet weak hand like KQs. In saying this, if I get mid pp in the same situation I'm pushing and gambling for the win and not worrying to much about the possibility of finishing 3rd...
stp
From my experience in sharthanded play, this is typically a low pocket pair.
He may be willing to get his chips in preflop, but is scared to see a flop full of overcards.
Pushing preflop will likely get you in with the worst hand, and I don't like it.
Call, check out the texture of the flop - Â I consider any K or Q to be good, even with an overcard.
I don't think there is any way I can let this go preflop.
You have a solid raising hand, but one which cannot stand up to a legitimate raise, even being 3-handed.
Raising to 50K into the BB who began the hand with 90K establishes very clearly that the button has a hand which he is probably willing to play all-in versus the short stack. Though there are a few hands you might be in okay shape against with KQ, your opponent's range of hands is likely to contain a lot of hands with showdown strength, like Aces and pairs.
Seeing the flop against a raising hand which is even somewhat legitimate isn't too appealing. The alternative to folding seems to be moving all-in on something of a re-steal. Unfortunately, the raiser committing himself to the pot versus the BB suggest that the "steal" aspect of this play may be dicey.
Whether or not the 50K amount is unsual depends on the rule used for re-opening the betting. If the BB moving all-in for 30K more would not re-open the betting action, then raising to 50K (rather than to 30K, say) makes sense.
ScottyZ
This is a good point. I do not know the exact chip counts but I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with the raise size in this case.
calling will likely terrify him, and may give the BB the odds he wants to get in on the action - then you can both call and check it down.
If BB mucks, then you just outplay the button on the flop. SImlple as that!
Curious as to how you acted here watts....
Check it down? Not gonna happen with a pot that big.
My plan exactly... unless SirWatts was the BB. I don't mess around with that guyÂ
/g2
Well, a couple of things could easily happen here. You don't hit your K or Q and then, assuming this player is like most and continuation bets, you will have to fold. Or you do hit your K or Q and he has you outkicked or has hit a set. I know the ladder is less likely but still a possibility. Calling here would be the last thing I would do.
There is NO way the small stack will be calling here if the two bigs are involved unless he has a monster and in that case he'll be pushing the rest in and you'll need to get luck to not triple him up. Anyway, my fold stands and calling just blows IMO.
stp
Move all-in.
This is suddenly an easy value-based raise, with the additional bonus that you also don't mind both opponents passing since the pot has already gotten somewhat large.
Without the concern that you are probably facing a legitimate raising hand, the KQs now becomes a 3-handed powerhouse.
As Stpboy might put it, calling (still) blows.
This is a very instructive hand. Varying the size your opening raises generally gives information away, and this hand (together with recalling the opponent's previous behavior) is a glaring example of this.
ScottyZ
I fold and wait for a hand where I can take the lead. Alternatively, move all in preflop. But I still prefer folding here.
/g2