Posted Tue Apr 27, 2004 5:19 pm GMT by DocHolliday
I'm not much experienced at tournament play yet, but I had this happen recently and was wondering if I did the right thing. 6 players left in a small tournament (~15 players total). Average stack is about 5000 chips, and I have about 3500. Blinds are 200/400, so I need to make a move. First player raises immediately to 500, one player folds, one player calls, I call. Next player raises to 2500, original raiser calls. Everyone else folds and it's to me. I have 8/10 suited, so I fold. The first raiser had AKo and the other raiser had pocket A's. Flop was 679. I could have killed myself!! Afterwards, I could have reasoned that if two players are betting that big, I should have known that they had high cards and were taking each others' aces and kings away from the flop, so I should have called with a reasonable chance of either hitting two pair, a flush, or a straight without fear of being beaten by trips. I ended up going all-in on the next hand with Q6s and was called (and beaten) by pocket deuces (the pair held up as I did not hit a Q or 6). Should I have called the two players, given the fact that I could have tripled up, or was my hand too weak for those pot odds?
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Posted Tue Apr 27, 2004 5:24 pm GMT by Always_Bored
I would not call a substantial raise with 8-10 suited. Actually I rarely even play them at all.
Posted Tue Apr 27, 2004 5:37 pm GMT by Ninja
No, you made absolutely the right decision with 10 8 suited. Although they were taking high cards out of the deck, you had about a 25% chance of winning that hand. It was a good decision. About the straight, nothing you can do. 5/6 of the time you will lose vs. AA.
However, I am a little curious about your next play. You had 70% of the average-not a horrible position. You had quite a bit of breathing room-you didn't really have to go all-in at all. And Q6s??? That isn't a hand! If your opponent has a Q, you're way behind, if they have A 10 or something, you're still significantly behind. At that point, the only hands I would've gone all-in with are AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ.
Posted Tue Apr 27, 2004 6:10 pm GMT by DocHolliday
Yeah, I know Q6s is not a great hand to go all-in with, but I felt a little bit on tilt after seeing that flop beforehand. In other circumstances.....blah blah blah!
And, as I also said, I'm not too experienced at tournament play yet, so I'm still nailing down the timing of when to go all-in in order to keep playing without being eaten by the blinds, which were going to hit me the next hand anyway. I guess the good thing I can take away from that is that I keep learning every time something like this happens and I have access to this forum, which has already helped tremendously.
Posted Tue Apr 27, 2004 6:36 pm GMT by Nate PT
You may want to pick up a poker book, they can help a lot. There's plenty of threads about books so just do some research and figure out which book is best for you. And folding the 8, 10 was the right decision, playing the Q6 was the wrong decision.
Posted Tue Apr 27, 2004 11:55 pm GMT by DocHolliday
Well, the poker books are what part of the problem was....they tell you to play one way, and it seems like you lose playing that way, so you switch gears. I guess that's why I'm still an amateur, so I want to thank everyone who posted here for reinforcing the correct way to play. Tonight, I went to a cardroom to play some 3/6 and I was going to focus and play correctly. Well, they had a $55 buy-in tournament, so I said what the hell and I was the last one into the tourney. I made it to the final table with 6 players, and we ended up splitting the prize pool, so I took home $280. And yes, I played pretty much near perfect strategy, so I am living proof that it pays to play right!
Thanks everyone!
Posted Tue Apr 27, 2004 11:59 pm GMT by Always_Bored
Congrats on the tourney!
Posted Wed Apr 28, 2004 11:34 am GMT by ORGrinder
right call in my book. i probably wouldn't have even have called a blind with an 89o once blinds where that high. even if you hit the flush... it's a weak one.
good call on the fold. one of the best tips i've read in the books is "Look for a reason to fold."
don't let pride, ego, or the woulda/couldas that come after the flop change your game play. you made a solid play with your fold. good job.
can't win'em all right!
Posted Sat May 01, 2004 10:49 am GMT by nicthestick
Let me understand.... you had 3500 in TC, and the blinds were 200/400, right? You had at least 4 more trips around the table to pick up playable cards to move in with. If you are feeling the pinch, it is imparitive that you protect your chips, and dont gamble them away on less than optimal situations. Wait, Wait, Wait. All the chips you lose chasing bad cards, are chips that you dont have to win from another player. Wait Wait Wait, and you will be rewarded.
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