Sat winners include :
Dave shoelace
Bigfella?And me ;-)

I was at your first table for a couple of hours. You were playin a good solid game apart from the donk calling you 96 all the way for all his stack. Good recovery and congrats on the ticket. I got one also

Difficult spot to be in, he raises 3.5bb initially UTG and then check raises your  1300 bet.  It seems to me more often than not these days that an open raise from UTG is normally AA, KK, QQ and AK all of which anihalate your hand.  Once I have been check raised I am inclined to fold. 

If you perceive the player to be a little bit "busy" I may have stuck a raise in from the button pre flop to find out where I am. 

I don't like the situation at all tbh i have a feeling I am behind but my decision would be player dependant.  That said this looks like a strong play and moreoften than not strong = weak.  Against my better judgement I probably push.   

Well QQ doesnt annihilate your hand because you're miles ahead of this and its probably the hand that the villain had. Raising from the button to see where you are is horrible advice. There's a few reasons to raise PF, but to "see where you are" isn't one of them.

As played i'd push over his c/r. If i raise UTG PF with AA, KK or AK,  and i hit this flop against 3 other players, i'm leading it 100% of the time. It will look like a cbet and may get raised, which gives us a chance to stick it in, while we also might get floaters that dont think we are so strong, and if anyone wants to draw to the straight or flush, they're going to pay for it. I wouldn't be checking it hoping my opponents bet it.

Now i should mention, our villan has played more than half of the hands delt in the tourney so far, and has shown a lot of garbage so far, We think we have a slight bead on this guy but not confirmed yet.

You basically folded the 2nd best PF hand in the game, to a complete donkey, who's playing more than every second hand, and showing down rubbish?

I think its a horrible fold. Youre preflop raise should be closer to 1500, he'd probably raise to 3000, and then i push and probably expect him to call with AK, AQ, 88+ because he's priced in and maybe fold the rest. The amount of times he has AA is what makes the fold so bad, and the fact that you showed it is even worse, If you're going to fold KK preflop, dont advertise to the world that you're doing it

25k starting chips for $100

where?

and with blinds starting at 7/15! Wow what a sick game, please tell where it is!

This would possibly be the worst call ever if you did. You have the best hand about never, you're splitting a small percentage of the time and you're behind the vast majority. I'd muck a queen high flush here and have a serious think about a king high flush, never mind calling with an 8 on a 10976 board.

I am not sure of his name, he played a pot on LNP years ago with Helmuth .  Helmuth complained that he did not have him covered. French guy?     On first sight he may seem unfit, slightly slow and ageing, however he looks like he could have handled himself well a few years ago in a bar fight .  It is always the guys who seem non threatening( sp? ) who are the dangerous ones. 

Apart from him, perhaps Lindgren .

Not sure of his name either but i remember it, I think Korosh was in the hand aswel. I think the French blokes nickname is "le dangerous" or something.

I'd say Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi can look after himself and Martin Wendt looks like a tough nut...I reckon Jeff Lisandro packs a punch. Pity it didnt happen during the World Series!

Thanks for the replies folks. I decided that even if i was behind that i had outs to win the hand. My worst case scenario was that i was up against a set and maybe QQ with the queen of clubs so staright away, 2 of my flush outs were dead. I really didnt think this was an instacall but as some said, passing up this opportunity in a live tournie would be the wrong move.

I called and the loose player to my left called. I flipped my hand up first and stood up. The UTG player who minraised PF, called my raise and pushed the flop had QJo....loosey goosey to my left have AKo and neither had a club..wtf??

I was ahead all the way and hit my flush just to make sure. I've always thought my reading of my opponents was a strong part of my game, but i was so far off in this hand, it would have been a horrendous fold. UTGs minraise threw me a bit and i played the hand differently that i normally would have because of it.

So i've decided that from now on, no more contemplating hero folds with AA..I'm gonna go broke with them everytime because i have Aces....and nobody folds Aces!!

I would have raised a little more PF especially after an EP limper. I'd also raise the flop because as the others said, the board is quite draw heavy and theres a few players to act behind you. If he's going to chase his double belly buster, make it expensive for him so he's calling without the correct odds.

If this is said by a JH girl selling apples and oranges in Dublin theres 3 syllables in it....

e.g. "Sorry love, wheres your bananas?"
JH " Theyre up me hole (pronounce hoe-el)

so arsehole is obviously 3 syllables

[AJ doesn't "play well" (as they say) against AK/AQ]

I don't like the raise with AJ from early position so I ussually limp with it aswell. Raising with a hand like AJ/A10 is a sure fire way of losing a lot of chips as AJ doesn't "play well" (as they say) against AK/AQ

Hence the reason why i usually fold OOP. If i was to raise with this hand and the flop came A or J high and i found resistance with my flop bet, i'd know where i stand a lot quicker than if i had just limped with it. In the OP, i reckon i would have just called his raise on the flop and re-evaluate the turn

I dont like your PF bet. Theres 1 limper so you must protect your hand. QQ isnt the monster that most people think it is so when you say that you want hands like J10, QJ etc to come along, thats not a good idea. What you really want it EITHER J10 or QJ to come along.

QQ isnt an easy hand to play in a multiway pot but its slightly easier against 1 opponent. I'd rather have 1 player in for $1.50 than 2 in for $.75

As played, i'd bet about $1.50 on the flop. Without reads, its hard to know what hands he's playing but 98 is just as likely as 109,87 or 76. I'd fold because youre not beating much now

Nce Post Senior Flushsky, & welcome aboard.

Thanks Tikay. Been reading for over a year but thats as far as i went. Seems as blondepoker has joined up with BigSlick Poker in Ireland, i might get a chance to meet some of the posters on here so making a start.

I'm not clear from your Post what the average stack is, as I don't know the starting stacks, & this is relevant, as the hand could play differently if you were a shorty. But you have 17 x BB, so seem to be in tidy shape.

It was the grand opening of a new casino in Dublin. Cool hand Lukes. The buyin was €75 for 4k chips plus you could buy an additional 2k chips for €25 which went to charity. Top-Up was 5k so i reckon most availed of 11k chips. We were on the upper floor and didnt have access to the main screen so wasnt aware of exactly what the average is, but i reckoned i was there or there abouts.[/quote]

I normally 3bet a little heavier than less than 3 times the OR but i was expecting it to be folded around to UTG and hoping he'd push because i hadnt shown down a losing hand all game

Played perfectly imo, well done.

I wouldnt say perfectly. He got out when he was behind but i'm not a fan of limping UTG with AJo. Either come in for a raise or put it in the muck. Personally i muck this OOP at this stage of a tourney. Its tough to know if TPTK is ahead but along with AA, its a hand that i never go broke with in an unraised pot.

Its possible he has KJ but unless i had a read that he was a complete donk and KJ was possible here, i'd fold

Should I be stealing with hands like JT knowing that chipstacks relative to blinds are so low that a blind will almost certainly come over the top holding an ace and maybe even two pictures?

Theres an easy way to avoid being put in that position and thats just to push preflop. 5 handed, a raise UTG wont scream as much stregth as it would 9 handed so i'd probably push over the top myself if i was shortstacked and found a any pair or a decent ace in the blinds.

At least that way, i get 2 chances of winning the pot. 1 if you fold and the other if you call and i win. However, if you push preflop i lose 1 of my options so i wouldnt be as quick to make any marginal calls.

As far as your original question goes, i'd make the call with KQ and JT because unless your facing an over pair, you have the odds.

HI all. I'm a long time reader but first time poster...

Just interested to see how many people think this is an instacall or if they play the hand any different.

Playing a live tournament €100 buyin with 1 optional rebuy/addon for €100 and we're into the freezout stage. Theres 44 out of 124 players left and blinds are 500/1000/50

I'm sitting on 17.5k

UTG minraises to 2k. Its the first time he's done this. I havent seen him showdown a hand and he's been quite active. 2 orbits ago i folded KK to him on a QQ84 board (pot 28k) after i 3bet him PF from the BB.

I make it 5800 with AcAd hoping he has KK/QQ and comes over the top. CL directly to my left calls 5600. She's quite weak/passive. This hand could be anything from 78s up to KK. Just a flat calling machine that never shows any aggresion in pots regardless of hand strength.

Folded to UTG and he calls 5600.

Flop is Jc10c9c and UTG moves allin for 12300.

I'm trying to rule out KK or QQ now because i feel he would have 4bet PF but they could still be in his range here. I have 11800 and dwelling over my decision while the player to my left is counting out 12300 and looks ready to call.

I'd be getting roughly 4/1 on my money should one of them have a set

Easy call??