Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Posts: 554 Location: California
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:07 pm Post subject: $5 STT Bubble Play
4 Players remain, all of which seem like legitimate players except for the shorty, who is quite loose/passive.
UTG (Hero): 5,000
BTN: 2,500
SB: 4,400
BB: 1,600
I am UTG and hold . The blinds are 50/100, and my table image is fairly solid...though perhaps a little bit aggro being that I've been stealing more often than the cards should dictate. I raise to 300.
BTN folds.
SB raises to 950.
BB folds.
Whats your play??
I considered my options, and just called.
Flop:
SB takes about 2 seconds to push all in, overbetting into the 2,000 chip pot. I muck my hand.
What do you all think about just calling with A K against the only stack that could do serious damage against me? If I reraise all in preflop, I'll be racing a pair 90% of the time IMO, and if I lose that race I go from chip leader to crippled. I felt that I was outplaying my opponents and didn't need to flip coins against the other big stack to win the tournament, but at the same time didn't want to fold my A K.
Anyway, as it was played I ended up getting 3rd for slightly less than 2X my buy in. Kind of wish I pushed on this hand in retrospect, but I'm not sure if it would have been the right decision.
I think you're absolutely right. Even though you've been actively stealing, you're still behind the range he would consider reraising with. If you push and he calls (which is an assumption that might not hold true), you'll be crippled on the bubble if you lose. You'll have a dominant lead if you win, but since you're already the chip leader I would guess that it still wouldn't increase your prize pool equity by much.
Calling and seeing the flop with position is reasonable because you will most likely be able to take down a nice pot if you flop an Ace or King and can get away from the hand if he makes a big CB and you miss.
Bottom line: there is no reason to get over-involved in a big pot with the only stack at the table that can cripple you on the bubble.
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. The blinds are 50/100, and my table image is fairly solid...though perhaps a little bit aggro being that I've been stealing more often than the cards should dictate. I raise to 300.
