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Early Tournament Life
PS Home game.. the “monthly”, so the points matter (at least to me!) 2nd hand. 99 BB effective stack.
PokerStars – 15/30 PL – Holdem – 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4:7high11 (CO): 100 BB
roadstar33 (BTN): 117 BB
mbabker (SB): 99 BB
osloborger (BB): 100 BB
Kekgeek (UTG): 87 BB
leftie19 (UTG+1): 100 BB
JonLutsey (MP): 97 BB
gfhawk (MP+1): 100 BBmbabker posts SB 0.5 BB, osloborger posts BB 1 BB
Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB)
7high11 has Qd Ac
fold, fold, fold, fold, 7high11 raises to 3 BB, fold, mbabker raises to 10 BB, fold, 7high11 calls 7 BB. Mr. Babker seems to be a solid player who I don’t think I have ever seen get out of line. When I see his hands he has always shown up with value. I don’t ever remember having seen him be forced to show a bluff (not saying he hasn’t, but I don’t remember it). Hence I put him on a very tight strong range here…10s+, AK, AQs, maybe AQ. Since I’m in the CO and he is raising from the SB perhaps it is wider, but that is what I remember thinking at the time.Flop : (21 BB, 2 players) Jc As Qs
mbabker bets 10 BB, 7high11 raises to 36.67 BB, mbabker calls 26.67 BBI’ve flopped top two. Yes there is a straight draw on the board but I don’t have AJ in his range (likely a mistake but remember you can never go back and add to a range!) I block Aces so there is only 1 combo of AA left. He has 6 combos of KK, 1 combo of QQ, 6 of JJ, 6 of 10-10, 16 of AK, and only 1 left of AQs. I didn’t list these all off live at the table, but I remember thinking it through some and realizing about half his range was AK (I had ruled out 10-10 on the his C-bet). Going back like this and counting he has 31 combos, 22 of which I am ahead, 1 is a chop and 8 I lose to. (Out of all these combos I don’t think there is a single flush draw he could have).
Turn : (94.33 BB, 2 players) 3c
mbabker checks, 7high11 bets 53.33 BB and is all-in, mbabker calls 52.33 BB and is all-in . His check makes me think even more that I am ahead, and I shove 53 BB into a pot of 94BB.River : (199 BB, 2 players) Td
mbabker shows Kc Ad (Straight, Ace High)
(Pre 75%, Flop 27%, Turn 16%)7high11 shows Qd Ac (Two Pair, Aces and Queens)
(Pre 25%, Flop 73%, Turn 84%)mbabker wins 199 BB
So it turns out I WAS way ahead, and he hit one of 7 outs (a 10 or a K). So not being results oriented, I’m happy with my play and would do the same again in a cash game.
THE QUESTION IS is was this properly played as the 2nd hand of a tournament, especially one that “mattered” to me? Should I have been exercising pot control? At the beginning of the hand I never expected to get 100 BB in the middle, but as the hand went on I felt my bet sizing was good. We learned that even at the 2nd hand of a tournament there is a small amount of ICM pressure, though if I felt my read was right it would not have been enough to change what I was “supposed to do”.
Is this just a hand where variance slapped me in the face and I should be satisfied and walk away, or could/should I have played it differently?
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5 Replies
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I think that you have to take spots in tournaments when they come if they are good spots. Early in the tournament you want to accumulate chips. Although playing tight is preferred, that doesn’t mean not playing. And if you are playing well, you will be putting your stack at risk (unless you are just playing ‘Bingo Poker’). You just need to make sure the risk that you are taking is justified by the potential reward. Playing more poorly to save your tournament life early will only lead to less money (or points) overall if you turn down spots to get it in ahead.
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Yep, well played! Sometimes we need to play the spots we’re dealt, even on the second hand of a tournament where we want to last longer. If we don’t take those spots, we’re not going to do as well long term. You’re an 85% favorite when the chips go in here. That is a slam dunk. It’s especially a slam dunk because you block some of the more likely hands that beat you (AA/QQ). Sometimes they roll over JJ and that hurts, but there is a lot here that will call you. So I jam this and don’t think twice about it when that 15%er comes in.
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Played perfectly fine here! You are at the very top of your range here. (I don’t AA her much and you will have QQ a small amount of the time and you should never really have K10 here). I think an argument can be made I would rather have AQ here then lets say JJ because you are blocking AAs and QQs here and if you had a set of JJs it you don’t block those combos (Im probably going broke with a set of JJs also but it is something to think about that AQ here is better than JJs in my opinion in this spot).
Overall well played, you got it in good, you got unlucky, it happens. I will take the chance to double up early in the tournament 8.5 times out of 10 any day of the week. Especially when we only start 100 bbs deep.
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We’ve talked about this spot in various podcasts and strategy discussions. It has to do with the mentality of the recreational player. The recreational player is much more risk averse in a tournament setting. We don’t want to drive an hour to the casino and then bust the second hand and drive an hour home. This causes the recreational player to play passively in an attempt to last as long as possible. They are reluctant to take spots that could be the end of their tournament. This is suboptimal play and leads to bubbling or min-cashing without the potential to run deep. Congratulations 7High11 you did not do this. You played with the aggression the situation warranted without the fear of busting the tournament. Not only that but you got it in with the best hand as an 80%+ favorite. Hold your head high young man.
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It’s a big 3-bet pot (3x raise, 10x re-raise), and so the fact that it’s only the second hand of the tournament doesn’t – shouldn’t – matter at effective starting stack of 100bb. Hero has an SPR of only ~4 at the flop, and so if villain were to c-bet even small-ish (say, a little over 1/3pot) at the flop and turn, it would set up an all-in at the river. There is hardly any opportunities for pot controlling in this scenario.
Hero got jebaited by the poker gods, unfortunately. 4 times out of 5, hero would be the one doubling up after the second hand of the tournament.
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