Mid Game Small STT Tournament Spot (1 Viewer)

[JMC9389]

Before I get into the nitty gritty of the hand, this is the scenario and cast of characters. At the time the hand occurs, the blinds are 400/800, the second level after the rebuy period ended. We're six handed with the cast of characters below:

UTG: Passive player preflop. Hardly raises pre, but sees a lot of flops. Can be bet off of a trivial hand and only bets out if he has the stone cold nuts for the most part. Never bluffs. Has about 10 BB's left

UTG +1: Competent ABC player that will raise pre and post flop with a nice mix of value hands and bluffs. Mostly tight, aggressive post flop. Isn't that sticky and can be bet off of hands, but has a good read on the tendencies of the other players and adjusts his action based on who is in the hand with him. Has about 9 BB's left

CO: Passive pre and post flop. Like UTG, will only lead out if he has a good value hand. Never bluffs or hasn't shown it if he does. Is very sticky when he does make a hand, even when the board texture illustrates that he may be beat. Doesn't fold much post flop. Will check/call lots out of position, will try and get to showdown as cheaply as possible if he's weak in position. Has about 8 BB's left.

Button: Competent, has loose, aggressive tendencies. He's been taking it on the chin tonight. On his third rebuy and is steaming and playing like a maniac since the rebuy period ended, playing lots of hands in and out of position. Has about 5 BB's left.

SB: Hero of this hand. Most aggressive post flop player at the table. Loose preflop player and sees a lot of flops. Will lead out if he has a hand in or out of position. Will try to buy pots on dry boards when checked to him. Has been on absolute fire tonight. Has 40 or so BB's.

BB: Tight, aggressive player pre and post flop. Will raise pre flop with good holdings and value bet his post flop holdings. Is capable of a rare bluff but doesn't as much as hero. Has the second largest stack with a little more than 25 BB's left.

Anyway, here's what happened:

Cards are dealt. UTG and UTG +1 fold, CO limps. Button min raises to 1600. Hero looks down at

Hero?

 

[jr8719]

Looking at the respective stack sizes you're up against (hero's 40BB against 8BB and 5BB) I'd probably just shove here.

 

[raynmanas]

Looking at the respective stack sizes you're up against (hero's 40BB against 8BB and 5BB) I'd probably just shove here.

BB still has 25BB behind our action...I have a feeling he's going to end up being the wild card of this hand, otherwise it's an easy shove.

Raise enough to attempt to isolate the raiser - make it 5k.

 

[jr8719]

BB still has 25BB behind our action...I have a feeling he's going to end up being the wild card of this hand, otherwise it's an easy shove.

Raise enough to attempt to isolate the raiser - make it 5k.

My bad — misread the positions! As you were...

 

[Mojo1312]

Raise to 4400.

 

[upNdown]

Button raised about half his stack. I’d see that as very strong. I’d just flat here and see a flop. If big blind wants to raise big, I’m ready to fold and just let him and button see what happens.
Hero has a big lead in the tournament here and doesn’t need to get stupid with AQ. What did Doyle say about AQ?

 

[JMC9389]

Alright, so this is how it played out.

SB raises to 4200 to put button all in and to try and isolate BB.

BB looks at his cards, slowly puts them back on the table, and tanks. After about 90 seconds, BB shows UTG on his left (whom folded) and mucks frustratingly.

Button snap calls all in with and SB wins the runout and extends his chip lead.

Now here's the twist.

I was BB in this hand.

I picked up facing an all in from the button and a reraise from SB.

As mentioned in the OP, SB will raise and three bet preflop with premium holdings but is otherwise pretty passive preflop and likes to play a lot of hands. With this, he's either a big winner or a big loser on the night. When he gets cards like he did that night, he's very hard to stop, but he's very exploitable too in knowing his tendencies.

If you're me with AK in this position facing a raise to an all in, what do you do?

 

[jebu]

Before I get into the nitty gritty of the hand, this is the scenario and cast of characters. At the time the hand occurs, the blinds are 400/800, the second level after the rebuy period ended. We're six handed with the cast of characters below:

UTG: Passive player preflop. Hardly raises pre, but sees a lot of flops. Can be bet off of a trivial hand and only bets out if he has the stone cold nuts for the most part. Never bluffs. Has about 10 BB's left

UTG +1: Competent ABC player that will raise pre and post flop with a nice mix of value hands and bluffs. Mostly tight, aggressive post flop. Isn't that sticky and can be bet off of hands, but has a good read on the tendencies of the other players and adjusts his action based on who is in the hand with him. Has about 9 BB's left

CO: Passive pre and post flop. Like UTG, will only lead out if he has a good value hand. Never bluffs or hasn't shown it if he does. Is very sticky when he does make a hand, even when the board texture illustrates that he may be beat. Doesn't fold much post flop. Will check/call lots out of position, will try and get to showdown as cheaply as possible if he's weak in position. Has about 8 BB's left.

Button: Competent, has loose, aggressive tendencies. He's been taking it on the chin tonight. On his third rebuy and is steaming and playing like a maniac since the rebuy period ended, playing lots of hands in and out of position. Has about 5 BB's left.

SB: Hero of this hand. Most aggressive post flop player at the table. Loose preflop player and sees a lot of flops. Will lead out if he has a hand in or out of position. Will try to buy pots on dry boards when checked to him. Has been on absolute fire tonight. Has 40 or so BB's.

BB: Tight, aggressive player pre and post flop. Will raise pre flop with good holdings and value bet his post flop holdings. Is capable of a rare bluff but doesn't as much as hero. Has the second largest stack with a little more than 25 BB's left.

Anyway, here's what happened:

Cards are dealt. UTG and UTG +1 fold, CO limps. Button min raises to 1600. Hero looks down at

Hero?

Were you 6-handed from start?
What are the payouts for the tourney, top two or winner takes all?

Hero should shove here and force CO and BN to figure out if they really want to risk their tournament life on this spot.
Depending on the payout structure, for BB I believe folding even Kings might not be ICM suicide after Hero shoves.

 

[jebu]

Alright, so this is how it played out.

SB raises to 4200 to put button all in and to try and isolate BB.

BB looks at his cards, slowly puts them back on the table, and tanks. After about 90 seconds, BB shows UTG on his left (whom folded) and mucks frustratingly.

Button snap calls all in with and SB wins the runout and extends his chip lead.

Now here's the twist.

I was BB in this hand.

I picked up facing an all in from the button and a reraise from SB.

As mentioned in the OP, SB will raise and three bet preflop with premium holdings but is otherwise pretty passive preflop and likes to play a lot of hands. With this, he's either a big winner or a big loser on the night. When he gets cards like he did that night, he's very hard to stop, but he's very exploitable too in knowing his tendencies.

If you're me with AK in this position facing a raise to an all in, what do you do?

I think a lot of SBs playable hands want to isolate BN min click to further put pressure.
Even with that in mind, I think AKo is safe to fold, given the remaining stacks on other players.
New Hero is not really at risk of being blinded out from the tournament during the next few orbits, I think you can safely fold and be ok with it.
I would consider folding KK here, Aces would be tough to let go but I think that might be wise.

 

[grebe]

CO: . Has about 8 BB's left.

Button:Has about 5 BB's left.

SB: Has 40 or so BB's.

Anyway, here's what happened:

Cards are dealt. UTG and UTG +1 fold, CO limps. Button min raises to 1600. Hero looks down at

Hero?

I cut out all but the important stuff in this hand. You are playing short stack poker. You are chip leader and you have a premium hand. Shove. This is not even a close spot.

 

[grebe]

Alright, so this is how it played out.

SB raises to 4200 to put button all in and to try and isolate BB.

BB looks at his cards, slowly puts them back on the table, and tanks. After about 90 seconds, BB shows UTG on his left (whom folded) and mucks frustratingly.

Button snap calls all in with and SB wins the runout and extends his chip lead.

Now here's the twist.

I was BB in this hand.

I picked up facing an all in from the button and a reraise from SB.

As mentioned in the OP, SB will raise and three bet preflop with premium holdings but is otherwise pretty passive preflop and likes to play a lot of hands. With this, he's either a big winner or a big loser on the night. When he gets cards like he did that night, he's very hard to stop, but he's very exploitable too in knowing his tendencies.

If you're me with AK in this position facing a raise to an all in, what do you do?

TBH, I probably make an exploitative fold. I figure two guys are about to get knocked out....or chip distribution is about to mix this game up. It would be painful, but I fold to the SB's chip stack.

 

[Ben8257]

Joe I am know to put coal in my poker seat and produce diamonds by the end of the night kind of tight... no way I laying down old Anna K. here, of course it has knocked me out of about 1,000 tourneys and not typically by high pairs either (a recent AK suited shove by me 3rd in chips at the time and called by the chip leader with J2 off still has a special sting to it when the duce hit the river) This is "that spot" time to go for winning instead of just cashing, you got the monster in a already juicy hand. I'm pushing them all in bro, every single time.

Not the tightest player I TWO that are tighter... one I just saw post for the first time above @jebu ! Lol no way I am laying down Kings here and to even question laying down Aces... what type of hand are you looking to make a move with? The stone cold preflop nuts isn't it? Wow man

 

[JMC9389]

@Mojo1312 and I were having a good conversation about this hand via PM last night.

One thing I didn't mention in the OP that I should have that is very important is that league points were also at play here. Independent of the hand and stack sizes, I'm up a full game's worth of points on the field halfway through the league season. Sitting at the second highest stack with lots of poker still left to be played if I fold, it would be a disaster to shove here, get called off by SB and get sucked out and walk away second to last place earning no points on the night. Whereas if I fold here, preserve my stack, and look to gain some crucial points with a 2nd or 3rd place finish, this is a good outcome for me. I did end up finishing second on the night and SB won the night, but he still sits 4th out of 7th in the league standings even with the win.

I was never thinking about a call here. It was fold or shove. However, if I'm shorter stacked at 8 or 10 big blinds, this is absolutely a shove. Given the tournament league points structure and with my current standing at the top of the field, it makes even less sense for me to gamble and hope I'm ahead of weaker aces and not behind with one of them having a pair with both the button and SB.

AK in general, IMO, is really tricky to navigate multiways, especially out of position. In a cash game, I'm three betting this hand relentlessly of course, but tournaments are a different animal. Stack preservation and survival is key, especially in a league play structure. I will admit that underplaying AK is a very obvious leak in my game in general (Jammin' in Jersey attendees, cover your ears).

Payouts were 50/30/20 percent of the prize pool for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively, if anyone was wondering.

 

[legonick]

@Mojo1312 and I were having a good conversation about this hand via PM last night.

One thing I didn't mention in the OP that I should have that is very important is that league points were also at play here. Independent of the hand and stack sizes, I'm up a full game's worth of points on the field halfway through the league season. Sitting at the second highest stack with lots of poker still left to be played if I fold, it would be a disaster to shove here, get called off by SB and get sucked out and walk away second to last place earning no points on the night. Whereas if I fold here, preserve my stack, and look to gain some crucial points with a 2nd or 3rd place finish, this is a good outcome for me. I did end up finishing second on the night and SB won the night, but he still sits 4th out of 7th in the league standings even with the win.

I was never thinking about a call here. It was fold or shove. However, if I'm shorter stacked at 8 or 10 big blinds, this is absolutely a shove. Given the tournament league points structure and with my current standing at the top of the field, it makes even less sense for me to gamble and hope I'm ahead of weaker aces and not behind with one of them having a pair with both the button and SB.

AK in general, IMO, is really tricky to navigate multiways, especially out of position. In a cash game, I'm three betting this hand relentlessly of course, but tournaments are a different animal. Stack preservation and survival is key, especially in a league play structure. I will admit that underplaying AK is a very obvious leak in my game in general (Jammin' in Jersey attendees, cover your ears).

Payouts were 50/30/20 percent of the prize pool for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively, if anyone was wondering.

Interesting thoughts.

I guess it does come down to what you are playing for - the money, the ranking? For a small casual league, do the league points really matter? I mean, AK is a monster. CO limping doesn't show a lot of strength...yeah he's passive, but THAT passive, to not bet his QQ or JJ+ hands? Also he only has 8 BBs. BTN you described as loose, aggressive, exactly the hand I'd like to get AK in with. Guy could be donking off with A4o or something. And a min-raise...good chance he'll just fold to your bet anyways.

I guess what I'm getting at, is you could have had your cake and ate it too here. Plus you are way up in the league so taking a beating on this guy might not hurt you too much.

What does being 1st in the league mean?

But I guess this goes to a leak of mine...the opposite of yours...overplaying AK. It's still a drawing hand (which I don't understand - BLOCKERS!!!, LOL.). But here, with fold equity on the big stack and his range being massive, and the CO "only" having 8 BB to your 25 BB, maybe trying to get it in isn't a bad play.

 

[Taghkanic]

Raise big to isolate the 5BB opener (who is making a terrible play there IMHO).

You are not at risk of busting, even if it gets all in, and are unlikely to be called let alone raised except by premiums.

And you have an extremely strong hand even if it goes that far, one which prefers to see all five cards.

I’d put it this way: if you’re not reraising pre with AK as the massive chip leader, doesn’t that mean you are folding everything but AA/KK? Seems highly exploitable.

 

[Legend5555]

Are we close to the money? In the money? Even with all that, I don't think I'm going to fold AK I'm this spot. Chip leader has a good bit to lose here too but baking your jam and going down to 15bb. If it was the stone bubble, I might fold then since it's obviously getting in between B and SB. And even if B doubles, he's only at 10bb and there is still the 8bb guy.