Tournament Hand of the Week: September 10th

[RichEO]

Apologies for the delay, the conclusion to this hand will be revealed later today.

Thought as much

Have you not learnt the most important lesson of deadlines? Always give one later than you think you can make, then when you beat it everyone ( / your boss ) is impressed. And more importantly it will reduce the number of times when you overrun!

[boldie]

Apologies for the delay, the conclusion to this hand will be revealed later today.

Thought as much

Have you not learnt the most important lesson of deadlines? Always give one later than you think you can make, then when you beat it everyone ( / your boss ) is impressed. And more importantly it will reduce the number of times when you overrun!

lmao

[snoopy1239]

Hey. It's still today in my mind, I haven't gone to bed yet. 

[snoopy1239]

The answer to this hand, and some post-match comments from Mantis, can be found by clicking the link below:

http://www.blondepoker.com/index.php?q=node/12187

... and it's still today!

[doubleup]

I suppose this result was predictable, but I think Mantis got what he deserved.  He never wins a big pot in this hand against a competent player and occasionally loses one.  Against an idiot his play is ev+, but he also occasionally loses a big pot.  I don't think that the default assumption in a £1000 tourney should be that an unknown opponent is an idiot.

[MANTIS01]

As improving players we read and think a lot about poker strategy. This makes our thinking refined to the point that we ensure we don't overestimate the value of hands like A-J. D Brunson dislikes A-Q for the very same reasons.

Tournament play is about being alive to the possibilities of every unique situation. Actual hand strength is just one of the factors to take into consideration when making a play. I think if you go into tournaments with a rigid and predetermined set of values you will fail to take advantage of some of the possibilities on offer.

So in this week's hand I see the equation A-J + OOP = Fold...being quite a prevailant philosophy. More often than not that is going to be sound advice.

But let me point out the additional criteria that entered my thoughts in this particular and unique situation. A) Bettor's Position - First to enter comes from the cutoff. He doesn't need A-Q or better to raise from here. If it was an early raise or there was a pre-raise limper I default to A-J + OOP = Fold strategy. B) Stage in Tournament - At the start of a big event I want to see a few cheap flops and try to get lucky. Trying to get lucky shouldn't be frowned on. Every tournament winner gets lucky at some stage. I am not going to have many opportunities to see cheap flops as the tournament progresses. C) Hand Type: I have a chance to see a cheap flop drawing to the nut flush/straight. This can and often will win a big pot if you hit early in a tournament and a flop like A-J-3 wins a big pot from A-K...there are many possibilities. D) Post-Flop Play: My position is not good, but do I absolutely need position to win a pot from this guy? I can find that out here cheaply. And actually playing a hand gets me a lot of information I could be waiting hours for. E) Double-Chance - The nature of the tournament meant I could play a bit freer. F) Other Factors - Body language and bet amounts can help me put an opponent on a hand. G) Raise Size - If he raises more I would fold but 225 is cheap enough.

So by taking ALL this information into account I thought calling for 225 chips in this unique situation with A-J was a reasonable play. From the reveal you can see that the A-J was ahead for most of the way and seemed destined to win a sizeable pot. A-J Vs A-4 is a +EV situation most of the time:)

[pswnio]

a) Of course. But you don't know the geezer from Adam, you've no idea what his raising range from cut off is, and you're OOP of course. Unless you hit the flop massively, you're unlikely to know exactly where you are.

b) Agree with this, but are you likely to get paid off if an ace hits and he doesn't have one so early on? I'd much rather play medium suited connectors here. Perhaps more likely to get paid off if you hit big, and less difficult to get away from if you only hit one pair.

c) IF he has AK and IF you hit AJ, yes. But if you knew for sure he had AK and an ace was going to hit, would you call with AJ? If not, then using the "I might win a big pot if AJ hits" is illogical.

d) Agreed, but I'd rather try and take a pot away from him without being attached to the flop; that way if he fights back, you don't have a difficult decision. Agreed about the cheap information, if indeed you can get it cheaply.

e) It's all coming down to what hands you'd rather play with, isn't it? Of course you can play a bit freer, but see point b) - I'd rather try and get lucky with a hand I'm not going to get attached to if I partially hit.

f) Yes, but a bit later on you'll have even more read information. Why try and play him off now rather than later when you'll know a bit more?

I understand your points but I'm still not in any way minded to call OOP with AJs in this position. Having said that, I don't think I'm good enough and confident enough to make the right decisions when holding this kind of hand, and that clearly influences my starting hands selection.

[MANTIS01]

The most compelling factor to consider in a tournament is the clock. So you may not know what your opponent's particular range is when raising from the cutoff but imagine how long it's going to take before acquiring that sort of specific information. Then when you get a guy's range you inadvertently get moved or the table gets broken. I think it's better to default that the cutoff can raise with a wide range and treat any additional information as a bonus. Many tournament situations are going to be more marginal than you would like. We are worrying a lot about a better hand whilst disregarding any thought that we could be holding the best hand.