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I received this question and thought it good for all.

glossforumadmin 242 posts

"Earlier today I played a hand in a $500 online multi-table tournament. What do you think?


I was on the button with blinds of 50/100. Everybody folds to me so I raise to 150 holding Q 10 off. The small blind immediately goes all in. Big blind folds. I have played several tourneys with this guy and I know how he plays. He will make a huge overbet from any position to push people off. The size of the pot before he bet did not warrant an all in. From past experience I figured him for a pretty crapy hand like K 9 or  maybe A rag or maybe even total trash. This made it a coin flip at worst so I called. He in fact had A 6 off. I made my hand to cripple him and he went off like a skyrocket. According to him I am the biggest donk on the entire planet. I don't think so because I knew if I could win it I would be in pretty decent shape going forward. This is aggressive but I believe that if you are going to win you can't just sit back.
So the question. What do you think of the play?"


Well...here is my understanding of the situation, as it is rarely just a matter of what you hold: 
1.  You knew the player. 
2.  You were going for the advantage of stack size should you win. 
3.  You took a calculated risk as to what he held.
4.  You were looking at the timing of the tournament to your hand and stack size.
5.  You played aggressively.  Rarely is it bad to play aggressive poker.



Whether he went off on you is irrelvant.  He is steaming and you happened to be the one on the receiving end.  Its good that you ask about it based on him being so irritated and mouthy because it says you desire to view any hand from different angles.  Your angle, his angle and now mine.  Here is what I see: 
1.  You had decent position and tried to use it by raising with good indicators behind you.  99.5% of the time is the right play.  This time, from what is known, is and isn't the right play.  The only reason I say "isn't" is because you knew the player may try to push all in to get you off it and it is a very tough decision at that point with the Q10 off hand.  It should be thought through before the play, not during.  It sounds like you had already thought it through.  There are times on a particular player I expect that he/she will push all in and I have already decided I would go with that hand all in against that player.  If you are setting him up for another hand, by folding that hand then whacking him later with big pockets then that is another reason for raising against that type of player.  It comes down to:  If you didn't want the tough decision of calling a large bet or all in, then wrong play.
2.  You knew the player might play loose and you played loose against that player.  This is what you will hear pros say to players that ask:  Tight table, play loose.  Loose table, play tight.  Playing loose against a loose player makes for a fast gain, fast loss or very fluctuating stack.  Playing loose on a loose table is recommended only for those that have much experience.  You have to be able to read a hand well, know what the other players are betting or calling with, for, or on.  You must be able to fold a hand and have the guts to push all in on a stone bluff knowing they will fold.  You can't play a game of chance, you must play a game of odds.  Odds they will fold.  Loose tables rarely fold.  Remember it is a people game played with cards and not a card game played by people.  If they aren't folding, you aren't bluffing at the river.  Only you know if you are ready for this level of play, so if it is working for you nobody can tell ya different.  If it isn't working, you know by your bankroll movement downward.
3.  Here is where I think you should evaluate your odds on the hand.  The situation of the blinds and your strategy going into the game.  You said he didn't have odds to push all in to steal the pot, but did you have odds to call his all in play.  He is likely to push in with "K9 or maybe A rag or maybe even total trash".  What are your odds with Q10 against what you believed he would push with in that situation.
Against any random hand  Q10 is going to win 57% of the time, but when he re-raised all in, that is not a random hand.  Against 1 over card, like you believed he might have had Ax or K9, you are behind about 55% or slightly more.  Two of the hands had you behind.  Against the total trash you were ahead.  To justify calling this guy, the risk must be only 1/3rd of your stack since you were behind 2/3rds.  You were ahead only 33% of the senarios you believed he had, so only risk up to 33% of your stack.
4.  Screw the odds and go with your gut.  You evaluated the entire situation from blinds, the player, the hands, and you decided to go for it.  If you had not considered everything, I would say you were taking a huge risk uneccessarily, but sometimes we go with our gut and it hurts us or helps us.  In that situation, you made a decision.  You didn't pull the slot lever and hope.  We learn from our mistakes and victories.  One thing I know, its hard to win chips if you aren't in the hand and making plays.  Calling is definately different than making the bet, but you established that you were going to make a play on the hand.  At some tables you can't look soft or you get abused by the table.  You started the play and ended up calling.  I could tell him he screwed up by pushing without a big hand on you and that his play was risky against you.  He lost and therefore misread the hand and his opponent.  You won...who can say it was the wrong play...well...other than the player that lost it.  :)