Tournament Hand of the Week: September 24th

[MANTIS01]

Las Vegas 2007

I followed the Final Table at The Venetian with a couple more good cashes.

I started thinking about using some of the $'s to buy into the Friday afternoon tournament at The Bellagio. This is right at the top end of my budget...but I was showing a healthy profit and was feeling confident.

The tournament starts at 2:00 in the afternoon and the entry fee is $1,000 + $80

The hand this week is the third hand from that tournament after evetually deciding to give it a go. I was trying to organise a latte during the first two hands so actually sit down at the table just as the third hand is about to be dealt...and it's my big blind.

Location: The Bellagio. Las Vegas

Buy-In               $1,000 + $80
Starting Chips  $5,000
Players              70

The Hand

As I am settling in UTG raises to 200. There is a caller in middle position and the button also calls. The small blind folds and when the action gets to me I look down to see...

  

Two red kings....welcome to the tournament.

I gather most players will be raising here but the interesting question is...How much do you raise, why, and what are you hoping to happen? If you would just call the raise then please say why you choose this option.

I decide to raise it up to 800. UTG folds, middle position folds, and the button calls.

So we go to the flop heads-up with 2,025 chips in the pot.

The Flop

The flop comes down....

    

What is your strategy and thinking here? Do you bet and if you do what is the right amount? Is checking a better option? and Are you thinking about body language?

More action and the turn will appear on Wednesday...

[boldie]

ok..nice one

Pre-flop I do pretty much the same as you..standard raise to 800.

on the flop I lead out. you're killing the deck here..noone will  expect you to bet with a full house and any ace should give you plenty of action. I am ofcourse hoping UTG has a big ace AQ/AJ and all that and moves all in on me. Lead out for 1k and hope someone has something. By leading out for 1k'ish you're just about pricing the FD in aswell so that's always nice.

[Flea]

That's actually a scary flop, whilst you probably are ahead I'd suggest you don't want to give your opponent free cards, he may have called with either a smaller pair,suited connectors (less likely),a big ace or aces therefore I think it's important to find out where you are in the hand and if he did just have a big ace not give him any free cards to hit the house.

I'd bet 1750 and see what happens, if it takes the pot there and then so be it if he comes over the top worry he has you beat already and if he just calls then I'd suggest he's either playing the big ace or aces cutely.

You have no info on your opponents so at this stage you are just playing the cards not the player so it's difficult to know exactly where you stand although if you are behind then that's a bit of a cold-deck and unlucky (so if he does come over the top I may well call anyway).

I say he (obviously it may have been a she you haven't told us either way).

[totalise]

I'd make it a touch more preflop 1k or so

on the flop id just go ahead and bet out, I dont like checking in these spots, it always feels so transparent, but if he has an ace, you get it in somewhere no matter what you do, and if he doesn't, you normally dont, so I guess checking lets him catch a 2 outer if he has a small pocket pair. I'd still bet though.

Hey Flea

You have no info on your opponents so at this stage you are just playing the cards

are you a math guy?

[Flea]

Hey Flea

You have no info on your opponents so at this stage you are just playing the cards

are you a math guy?

Well I did A level statistics and work in an Actuarial department so yes I guess I'm a bit mathematical

[AlexMartin]

That's actually a scary flop, whilst you probably are ahead I'd suggest you don't want to give your opponent free cards, he may have called with either a smaller pair,suited connectors (less likely),a big ace or aces therefore I think it's important to find out where you are in the hand and if he did just have a big ace not give him any free cards to hit the house.

I'd bet 1750 and see what happens, if it takes the pot there and then so be it if he comes over the top worry he has you beat already and if he just calls then I'd suggest he's either playing the big ace or aces cutely.

You have no info on your opponents so at this stage you are just playing the cards not the player so it's difficult to know exactly where you stand although if you are behind then that's a bit of a cold-deck and unlucky (so if he does come over the top I may well call anyway).

I say he (obviously it may have been a she you haven't told us either way).

ROFPMSL

I think you have to lead out here Mantis, pray the guy has AQ/AJ and stack him early. Leading out deffo encourages a bluff v a thinking oppo. You wont get any more action from lesser hands anyway so you have to hope he has an ace or wants to try a move.

[KarmaDope]

I make it 750 to play. Never been a fan of simple 4x raises/re-raises, tend to go for a mix. Definitely re-popping with pocket kings though, how anyone can flat call a raise with these is beyond me.

With that flop I bet out hard, somewhere between 1500-2000. I'm looking for action from a bare ace, however I am kinda worried about another paint card coming out because if he's got AQ or AJ then he'll have the higher house. Other than those 2 hands you've probably done enough to take the hand down. If he has AK, then I can't see him re-popping, and you're just unlucky.

I'm gonna take a stab in the dark here and say he has A8, completely overplays it and hits the 8 on the river

[TightEnd]

bet out half the pot. One of those hands where by betting out you can extract more later on

Checking too obvious

When you get knocked out by Ax on the river you can at least know that your $1,000 latte can be savoured!

[MANTIS01]

Can I ask what strategy people have if the flop comes A high with the kings here? And does that strategy change if you have two callers insead of one?

[bolt pp]

Can I ask what strategy people have if the flop comes A high with the kings here? And does that strategy change if you have two callers insead of one?

I always c-betting against 1 opp here, two....almost always checking

[snoopy1239]

How much do you raise, why, and what are you hoping to happen?

I don't really fancy too much action at this stage, so I'm happy to raise the pot and hope for just the one caller.

What is your strategy and thinking here?

Considering that it was the button that called and not the initial raiser, I'm thinking I'm 99.99% ahead and want to extract as much as I can from my opponent. I'm also trying to work out what his range is so I can play accordingly.

Do you bet and if you do what is the right amount? Is checking a better option?

I actually think his most likely holding here is a middling pocket pair so I'm happy to play this slow and maybe make a small bet along one of the streets.

Are you thinking about body language?

I think body language is overestimated sometimes, but I guess if he's jumping up and down and swinging his trousers in the air then I might put him on an Ace.

[snoopy1239]

I think people are forgetting that stacks are only 5k, so if he's got an Ace, the chips are going in at some point another. However, if he has a pocket pair, then you can sneak a small bet out of him by playing it slow.

[pswnio]

Can I ask what strategy people have if the flop comes A high with the kings here? And does that strategy change if you have two callers insead of one?

I picked up KK from BB recently, second hour of a 500 runner game. Blinds at 75/150, UTG+1 raised to 600, button called, I made it 2100. I wanted one caller but was happy enough with two; I rated neither after the flop. Flop came Axx. Cursing, I put in a just over 1/2 pot continuation bet, with the full intention of laying down if someone fought back (neither was going to bluff me there) and they both folded.

In this situation, against what is a better standard of player, and without any kind of prior info, I check against two players but cont bet vs 1.

[pswnio]

In this situation, I lead out for just over half the pot, hoping he'll see it as a standard continuation bet and raise me. I don't credit him with AK but he could have played this way on the button with AA. Unconventional and I've seen trappy types do this. But hitting quads is extremely unlikely, and if he raises, I'm going to be getting all my chips in.

On the question of body language - no, no, no. I have no idea whether his body language is conscious or unconscious, and this early with no pointers at all I don't think I can reliably use body language as a basis for making decisions.

[MANTIS01]

The question regarding body language was one for us and how we want to be appearing here rather than one about how our opponent looks.

A lot of players are betting out in this situation. So do you bet out with strong body language to fool your opponent? Do you bet out and try to look weak and nervous? Or do you not think it matters all that much?