Interesting Tournament Bubble Hand

Monteroy

This was in one of the Stars 300 FPP tournaments where 1 in 10 advance to the 3,000 FPP one.  15 slots were available, 20 people were left (including a person with 4,000 chips who was sitting out at a different table).  There were 3 tables left, mine had most of the small chippers, one other table had 6 of the top 7 chip people on it (so their action was minimal).  I was in 10th spot or so at this point.


PokerStars Game #3447204965: Tournament #16919643, Hold'em No Limit - Level X
(400/800) - 2005/12/27 - 01:28:06 (ET)
Table '16919643 13' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: Golscrr (4578 in chips)
Seat 2: DJMJ (100 in chips)
Seat 3: dag69 (9058 in chips)
Seat 5: E4OCELLO (21070 in chips)
Seat 6: ctj*abq (3789 in chips)
Seat 7: scott_aber (2016 in chips)
Seat 9: Monteroy (8961 in chips)
Golscrr: posts the ante 50
DJMJ: posts the ante 50
dag69: posts the ante 50
E4OCELLO: posts the ante 50
ctj*abq: posts the ante 50
scott_aber: posts the ante 50
Monteroy: posts the ante 50
Monteroy: posts small blind 400
Golscrr: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Monteroy [6c Jc]
DJMJ: calls 50 and is all-in
dag69: folds
E4OCELLO: folds
ctj*abq: folds
scott_aber has timed out
scott_aber: folds
scott_aber is sitting out
scott_aber has returned
Monteroy: raises 8111 to 8911 and is all-in
Golscrr: folds
*** FLOP *** [9h 8c 3s]
*** TURN *** [9h 8c 3s] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [9h 8c 3s Qs] [4h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Monteroy: shows [6c Jc] (high card Queen)
Monteroy collected 1500 from side pot
DJMJ: shows [Kh Td] (high card King)
DJMJ collected 500 from main pot


Player chat was off so I am sure some people (ie: the lower chippers) were annoyed with how I chose to play this, however I did not see the BB calling the raise with anything but a very premium hand given his chip situation at the time.  While I realized I would likely lose the main pot of 500 chips I would net 750 chips if the BB did not call and that would give me a much more comfortable chip position.

What do people think of this play in this situation?

pkrfce9

Two sides:

1/ Pretty standard move to pick up the side pot. The free chips are nice. Even though your overbet indicates you don't have a premium hand, you will likely only get called by one. So your risk is minimal, however, the 2-5% of time you get called, you will almost certainly lose. Just bear in mind, pokerstars is rigged.

2/ So close to the prize, why push 1 other out who can help get you closer? Your hand is crap. Call if you want but let the BB come in too. 2 against 1 is much better odds, especially since he didn't hit. The extra chips won't do as much to ensure your seat as much as getting rid of a micro stack will. You can be sure the next time you try this you are much more likely to get called with less than premium hands. But maybe you want that next time.

In this case, since you are so close to the prize and merely sitting on your hands almost guarantees it, I don't see the benefit in pushing your luck. There is a very slight risk you will lose half your stack, which would put your prize in serious jeopardy.

You should have had chat on. I'm sure you would have received some choice Christmas greetings.

RAM_Eh

I have seen the play many times in live play. It is a very good move for the extra chips.

beanie42

I like the move, and have used it when I can to pick up free pots. The main thing is to make sure you have enough chips that if called you're not dead, since if called you pretty much lose . You almost have twice the BB's stack, so you'll be in pain but can survive if called.

I find a hidden benefit as well, since I play fairly tight. Showing this crap offsets my image a little, and sets me up for callers later.

pkrfce9 wrote:

So close to the prize, why push 1 other out who can help get you closer?

I'm assuming this is since it was a satellite (in which case I agree)? In regular (sliding payout) tournies, I used to try to "cooperate" to eliminate players, but now my thoughts are that my goal is to get all the chips, not eliminate players. While I like moving up a spot, I'm always shooting for top 3 (missing usually ), and I don't worry about being 16th instead of 18th.

Monteroy - risky play, congrats on taking the chance

Monteroy

This was a sattelite, but my move was in large part based on my chips, the BB chip count and also how many were left.

The 2 on 1 principle I know (and if there was one more spot to be eliminated of course I call), but rememeber the all in guy had 100 chips only, so if I call 300 with my junk hand the odds are I will likely net lose 850 (blind plus ante) to the BB guy and up his chip count to a level I do not like, the flip side is what happened where my chip count got a lot better and sure the other guy was alive but still did not have enough to cover the big blind the next hand (which also meant it was one extra hand till I posted blinds as a result).

Metro

This play worked. However, I think you could have found out the same information with a smaller bet.

If he was slow-playing you are screwed. If you bet $2000 - 2500 there you find out the same info - and possibley save your ass if he has hit.

Any bet he is willing to call for half his stack at this point he will call for his whole stack.

Monteroy

TNORTH wrote:

This play worked. However, I think you could have found out the same information with a smaller bet.

If he was slow-playing you are screwed. If you bet $2000 - 2500 there you find out the same info - and possibley save your ass if he has hit.

Any bet he is willing to call for half his stack at this point he will call for his whole stack.

Who exactly is slow playingm the UTG guy who went all in for 100 chips or the BB who has yet to act? If I bet 2500 into his stack of 4500, what do I do if he shoves? Fold facing 5-1 pot odds?

The only choices I really considered were folding or shoving. I cant see how a smaller raise does anything better against the BB if he has a real hand and a shove may get him to fold some semi real hands like KJ.

Metro

Sorry misread that - thought you went all-in post flop.

Metro

You did most likely push him off a better hand. Such as anything over a J or connected with the board.

SirWatts

What place is the BB in?  You want to steal from people that have something to lose, if he needs to double up to get into the top 15 you might get called by a few more hands than you'd like.  If he's top 15 or close than this is a good move assuming you have a read that he is sane and understands something about satellite strategy.

BBC Z

My only comment is that you should pull this move off by risking the minimum number of chips to get the BB to fold.

All-in seems a little over the top, but it can setup the BB for future all-in confrontations when you have a big pair.. the tradeoff is that he'll open his hand range up to call you if you continue to all-in steal.