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Trouble in the $21 Bounty Hunters on GG Poker
Hey all I’m back on the online MTT grind! Took a little mental break from the game but now I’m grinding the weekend schedule on GG and the Home Game International Series. Watching the WSOP on PokerGO and catching up on the podcast has really made me want to get back in and battle.
This weekend was my second weekend grinding a few tables. At the top of my hit list is the $21 GG Bounty Hunters that has a 20k GTD on Saturday and a 40k GTD on Sunday. The bounties always add an extra element and people are usually looking to gamble to pick up the juicy $5 bounty.
This Sunday I registered in hopes of making a run. I have a lot of experience playing in this tournament and is one of my favourite online MTTs. It’s early in the tournament playing 8 handed with about 2500 players and lots of late registration left to go.
With blinds at 100/200 ante 30 it folds around to MP1 who makes it 400 (2BB) off a stack of 9352 (46.8BB). We have no real reads on this player with only 35-45 hands of data their VPIPing at 23% with a 3 bet of 7%.
We have 8737 (43.7BB) make the call with KhJh on the button. This is the first spot that I had a real decision to make. We have a connected suited hand in position vs. an average opponent with no real reads. I definitely considered 3 betting in this spot. We still have two players in the blinds, we will have position if we get called and a pretty good hand that flops well. The downside I think is our stack size. We could be dominated by the original opener especially if they call. Sizing wise for a 3 bet I was thinking about making it between 7-7.5BB. In position I think this is a good sizing but leaves us with 36.2BB behind and 17.7BB in the pot provided the blinds fold after we 3 bet and the original opener calls.
In game however I decided to just call. I think there is a discussion to be had about what the best play is pre flop and I’m still not sure. Either way both the blinds call (which is another downside of not 3 betting) and we head to a flop. 5c6sJd with 1840 (9.2BB) in the pot. Both the blinds check and the main villain in the hand c-bets 1380 (6.9BB). We call and both the blinds fold. This is a big bet! I was not expecting this sizing and they put the bet in very fast. Usually timing tells are hit or miss online but this definitely set off alarm bells. On the other side of the coin we flopped top pair, second kicker on a fairly dry board. I would have liked to have seen at least one heart on the flop to give us at least a little backdoor equity but Im still quite happy with my holding. There are a few straight draws out there but Im not sure how many are in their range. My guess would be 34s, 78s, 79s. I left out 74s just because I don’t think they would be opening that wide.
With 4600 (23bb) in the pot, flop 5c6sJd the turn comes the 8c. Our villain bets again, very fast 3450 (17.25BB). One of the backdoor flush draws comes into play and also completes some straight draws mentioned in the previous paragraph. My first thought is that there is a low chance he is doing this with the backdoor flush draw with no pair. It’s not a terrible card but some of the straights got there but considering the ones I mentioned before I have a hard time believing that they made their straight. Another consideration is we don’t cover for a bounty and if we call this bet it sets up nicely for a shove on the river for our opponent.
I was really torn between 3 options: Calling and see what happens on the river, shove or fold. This was one of the tougher spots in my session and I’m curious to see what everyone in rec poker land would do. I’ll post the rest of the details of the hand once I see what everyone thinks.
Good luck to everyone on the tables!
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10 Replies
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- I think I am going to study PKOs after my ICM study just to scramble my brain. Doing ICM in a PKO might make an omelet. 😜
You have to take notes on how people fast play.
They only bet fast when the decision is easy, so it’s always a tell. What’s an easy bet here?
I assume your bounties are the same, so I am also assuming they don’t affect your chip stack value. Is this true?
I would call, but I’m not a doctor, a financial advisor, or a poker professional. Not even on TV. Your results may vary.
I don’t play GG, but I would lean towards them having an over pair here. I don’t know the aggressiveness of the site or the tournaments so I could be way off. They could also have easy decisions with sets. They may or may not consider what you called with if they have top pair-top kicker. That also might be a quick bet. I think draws would slow down and think about their bet size.
It’s a tough fold for me not being there, but table dynamics could make it a very easy fold. If they are all aggro with any pair then it’s an easy call.
When I shove, I always pick one hand under my hand and ask, “Would they call my shove with Queen Jack and/or a draw? If not, shoving isn’t the answer.
Good hand, I hope someone who knows PKOs can give us a better answer.
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Couple more thoughts. He slightly covers me so I can’t win his bounty but he can win mine. He has already picked up a bounty but we have very similar stacks. The thing is if we shove and win it sucks when he jams the next hand and we have to contend with the other players isolating for the bounties. However if we do win we will have a big stack in the tournament and a good chance of making a good run. Also we will cover other players at our table and increase our chances of winning future bounties.
From what I have read about bounty tournaments the goal is to win bounties early and treat the later stages the same as a regular MTT with the same ICM considerations
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Just popping back in on this hand. @EANDERSON85 Thanks for the reply! I ended up folding. I couldn’t find enough bluffs. Funny the hand I posted last week was KJs on the button! I see a pattern..
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I would of 3bet pre with KJ to see how strong his hand was. If he 4bets, then you can fold. If he called, I would of put him on pairs JJ or lower and paint cards. You have KJ and are blocking JJ.
If he’s got trips on flop then so be it. Surely he isn’t slow playing AA-QQ.
I dont think he’s calling a 3bet with mid connecting cards to hit a straight draw or 2 pair…
He could have the flush draw on turn, but either he’s got the flush draw, a set, AJ or nothing… Again, i’m not taking any straight draw or 2 pair cards into account, since there is only 1 high card on the flop and because if we 3bet pre like we probably should of been, I don’t think our opponent would be calling with mid connectors type cards, to hit 2 pair or a straight draw.
The worst case scenario, he calls our 3bet and leads out on the flop BIG, like 2/3 pot.
I would have to lean to folding in that case, as that sends off alarm bells.
I was in the exact same position a few months back when I 3bet pre with JJ and had the overpair on the flop and opponent lead out 2/3 pot and I stupidly raised my entire stack of 60BB and put him all in and he insta called with the set to decimate me.
Your line of calling pre is not too bad, but he instantly bet flop and turn, so yes I agree with you and others, in that situation, that usually signifies strength. So good fold here 🙂 He either has top pair – Ace kicker, 2 pair, or set, based on the insta bet on flop.
To win a poker tournament, you need to avoid the land mines, and you did very well buddy right here 🙂
How did you go in this tournament?
Looking forward to your feedback here 🙂
Cheers,
Richard (card sharks)
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Just adding to the mix AA-QQ in his range after you called pre. I put him on 2 pair, trips, AJ, but forgot to mention AA-QQ, so that’s why i’m replying again 🙂
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Another reason to 3bet? His range would of got tighter had we made the 3bet with KJ and he called out of position.
If he called the 3bet, he doesn’t have AA-QQ or 2 pair in his range and we are only dodging AJ, or set! 🙂
Also another benefit of 3betting pre ourselves? He could FOLD himself! 🙂
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One final thing to talk about – how much would I of made the 3bet? 10BB.
Why make the 3bet to 10BB? To make it 5x his raise to try and make him fold. And if he calls, it makes an easy fold on the flop for us, had he had the balls to bet into a 20BB pot, with both of you having 30BB+ left over heading to the flop.
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Another thing to take into consideration, is would the blinds call if you 3bet pre? Probably not, as the blinds calling 3bet ranges are usually very tight.
Overall, well played my friend!
A guy with 25% VPIP usually has the goods, if he is making 2/3 pot size bets and is insta 2barrelling the flop and turn.
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By the way, that JJ hand that I described of a hand I played, i actually called pre in position hitting the overpair on the flop. However, even if I 3bet to a big amount, he might of called anyway, hitting trips on the flop to decimate me.
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Thanks rich for all your feedback! I pretty much agree with everything you said! I’m going to try and add in some more three bets to my game especially if I’m in position. I can’t remember how I did in this one so it could have been anything too crazy. I’ll try and post a hand this week in the forums
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