Champions of Poker

Hi,

I joined a rounders tournament the other night. I remember the buy in was 5 $ but only in the first level.

There were two top players at the table then and both moved on to the next level hoping to get the $3000 first prize.

I was in level three when three remained. The chip leader then had 10,000 while I had 8,000 being the second. The other guy had only approximately 2,000. By the way, blinds were 150 and 300.

On the button, I was dealt JJ. Big blind then folded. What I did next was that I doubled my bet up to 2,400. Consequently, I called. Flop then followed and brought 2 4 10 rainbow and so he checked to me. I then went all in. Suddenly, he called and the flipped QQ. River and turn came but there was no Jack, therefore I lost.

If you were on my shoes that night, what might have you done? Any advice?

Thanks!

Triem
Triem,

I would have made a bet about ¾ of the pot. Chances are he would have raised you all-in. With the flop the way it came, I probably would have called the all in.

Either event, I would have been all-in on the flop too considering there was no reraise. It is hard to put someone on an overpair when they didn’t raise.

You ran into a bigger hand. Sorry about your bad luck.

Me and some colleagues played $20 SnG. Blinds were 100/200 and we’re down to 5 players. Player 1 who was me had 4672, player 2 had 4249, player 3 had 3172, player 4 who was the SB had 4545 and player 5 had 3362.

Back then, my opponent was actually player 4, the SB. I believe he played aggressively. In the event other players limp in or make min raises, he would raise preflop, and if weakness is just around the corner, he would raise.

It was mid-part when I was dealt Ad Ks UTG. Then I raised to 600, SB called, while BB folded. The pot at such point was $1200. Flop then came and brought 3d 6d 9d. Later, SB checked and I placed 700 bet. SB once again called. And so I thought he might have KdQd or an overpair with a diamond. He might also be considering the idea of stealing the pot which was $2600 then.

Turn came and brought 9c. SB then checked and so I placed 1500 bet. He then called. Pot then was already $5600. River came and was 4c. SB then checked and I followed. Revelation time came and he flipped over 5c 5s. I was surprised to be honest.

Now as I recall the said event, I was wondering if my mistake was with my turn bet. If I could have pushed more at some point, maybe I was able to take home the pot. Maybe if I could have also checked and taken a free card, perhaps I went home happy. What do you think?

In general, was it a misplay? At first, I thought he was the idiot but later I realize it could have been also me, who was the idiot or what.

Thanks in advance!

Brewer
Brewer,

That was a pretty strong call by your opponent. He may have felt that you were raising with an ace and just continuing on the flop. You tried to stay aggressive and he kept calling it down.

Your opponent may be somewhat of a calling station. I don’t think your play is bad in that spot, but I wouldn’t have tried it again on him.