Your in the hotseat.

[action man]

so we have made the final table fo the daily $50k on stars $55 buy in. We have grnded out leather ass off in this unbelievably not seing AA/KK/QQ the whole comp.
We have been getting chips only by 3bet jamming preflop. The final is full of very weak players according to OPR and also what i have witnessed watching the other table from 18 out. We have around 260k chips at 6/12k and lie 8/9 but still not desperate. Read on villains weak/passive/bad.


PokerStars Game #17135466398: Tournament #86192387, $50+$5 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIII (6000/12000) - 2008/05/01 - 21:02:32 (ET)
Table '86192387 10' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: ThEcLaiMEer (263406 in chips)
Seat 2: LPGAfan (678789 in chips)
Seat 3: Foosball1980 (461212 in chips)
Seat 4: Iteopepe88 (579238 in chips)
Seat 5: 1ofaKind420 (230467 in chips)
Seat 6: Akaperion (511040 in chips)
Seat 7: BIGTEE8 (394706 in chips)
Seat 8: Till The Riv (801296 in chips)
Seat 9: stalli 13 (543846 in chips)
ThEcLaiMEer: posts the ante 1200
LPGAfan: posts the ante 1200
Foosball1980: posts the ante 1200
Iteopepe88: posts the ante 1200
1ofaKind420: posts the ante 1200
Akaperion: posts the ante 1200
BIGTEE8: posts the ante 1200
Till The Riv: posts the ante 1200
stalli 13: posts the ante 1200
Akaperion: posts small blind 6000
BIGTEE8: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ThEcLaiMEer [ ]
Till The Riv: folds
stalli 13: calls 12000
ThEcLaiMEer: ?

[booder]

call,lot of players to act, see what happens.  another f/t  nice one Rick.

[riverdave]

Well you've got too many just to shove so there's 2 ways to play this one, 60k to play calling any rr but that opens you up mainly to just races or if you're very lucky aq. I really like the slightly sicker limp behind the limp though which increases the chance of someone making a genuine or steal raise behind with weaker hands, obviously if this happens your going to shove unless maybe there are 2 further significant actions before it gets back to you. The limp with ak can never really be a disaster because if you don't get the required raise you see a flop for 5% of your stack and pass if you miss, if you find an ace or king high flop you will get your chips in more often with the best hand than you will have let someone flop a set or 2 pair.

[boldie]

I don't mind any play here really..but the one I like best is the limp. The problem is that you said the players were weak and that therefore there is not likely to be a steal (or not as likely as you might expect in a normal tourney). Either way is fine for me...i probably raise here as UTG +1 limped and will probably cal a raise. 45k to go.

[action man]

PokerStars Game #17135466398: Tournament #86192387, $50+$5 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIII (6000/12000) - 2008/05/01 - 21:02:32 (ET)
Table '86192387 10' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: ThEcLaiMEer (263406 in chips)
Seat 2: LPGAfan (678789 in chips)
Seat 3: Foosball1980 (461212 in chips)
Seat 4: Iteopepe88 (579238 in chips)
Seat 5: 1ofaKind420 (230467 in chips)
Seat 6: Akaperion (511040 in chips)
Seat 7: BIGTEE8 (394706 in chips)
Seat 8: Till The Riv (801296 in chips)
Seat 9: stalli 13 (543846 in chips)
ThEcLaiMEer: posts the ante 1200
LPGAfan: posts the ante 1200
Foosball1980: posts the ante 1200
Iteopepe88: posts the ante 1200
1ofaKind420: posts the ante 1200
Akaperion: posts the ante 1200
BIGTEE8: posts the ante 1200
Till The Riv: posts the ante 1200
stalli 13: posts the ante 1200
Akaperion: posts small blind 6000
BIGTEE8: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ThEcLaiMEer [As ]
Till The Riv: folds
stalli 13: calls 12000
ThEcLaiMEer: raises 36000 to 48000
LPGAfan: folds
Foosball1980: folds
Iteopepe88: folds
1ofaKind420: folds
Akaperion: folds
BIGTEE8: folds
stalli 13: calls 36000
*** FLOP *** [ ]
stalli 13: checks

??

[Royal Flush]

His hand is pretty much mid pairs at this point, i am checking behind.

[ACE2M]

His hand is pretty much mid pairs at this point, i am checking behind.

seemed to get jammed on so often when c-betting here so i probably go with this but i always feel like such a weak passive nit when i pass to a raise on the turn.

[Royal Flush]

His hand is pretty much mid pairs at this point, i am checking behind.

seemed to get jammed on so often when c-betting here so i probably go with this but i always feel like such a weak passive nit when i pass to a raise on the turn.

Turn bricks he leads then i raise, if turn bricks and he checks then i check behind again as he is prob some donk with AJ/KQ

[AlexMartin]

His hand is pretty much mid pairs at this point, i am checking behind.

so true,  good god average players ranges are so narrow.

I like limp pre for the reasons riverD described. I like the stack sizes if someone tries a nick.

[action man]

PokerStars Game #17135466398: Tournament #86192387, $50+$5 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIII (6000/12000) - 2008/05/01 - 21:02:32 (ET)
Table '86192387 10' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: ThEcLaiMEer (263406 in chips)
Seat 2: LPGAfan (678789 in chips)
Seat 3: Foosball1980 (461212 in chips)
Seat 4: Iteopepe88 (579238 in chips)
Seat 5: 1ofaKind420 (230467 in chips)
Seat 6: Akaperion (511040 in chips)
Seat 7: BIGTEE8 (394706 in chips)
Seat 8: Till The Riv (801296 in chips)
Seat 9: stalli 13 (543846 in chips)
ThEcLaiMEer: posts the ante 1200
LPGAfan: posts the ante 1200
Foosball1980: posts the ante 1200
Iteopepe88: posts the ante 1200
1ofaKind420: posts the ante 1200
Akaperion: posts the ante 1200
BIGTEE8: posts the ante 1200
Till The Riv: posts the ante 1200
stalli 13: posts the ante 1200
Akaperion: posts small blind 6000
BIGTEE8: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ThEcLaiMEer [As ]
Till The Riv: folds
stalli 13: calls 12000
ThEcLaiMEer: raises 36000 to 48000
LPGAfan: folds
Foosball1980: folds
Iteopepe88: folds
1ofaKind420: folds
Akaperion: folds
BIGTEE8: folds
stalli 13: calls 36000
*** FLOP *** [ ]
stalli 13: checks
ThEcLaiMEer: bets 214206 and is all-in
stalli 13: calls 214206
*** TURN *** [ ] []
*** RIVER *** [ ] []
*** SHOW DOWN ***
stalli 13: shows [ ] (a pair of Tens)
ThEcLaiMEer: shows [As ] (high card Ace)
stalli 13 collected 553212 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 553212 | Rake 0
Board [ ]
Seat 1: ThEcLaiMEer showed [As ] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 2: LPGAfan folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Foosball1980 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Iteopepe88 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: 1ofaKind420 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Akaperion (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: BIGTEE8 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: Till The Riv folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: stalli 13 showed [ ] and won (553212) with a pair of Tens


this prolly a mistake then lol.
I just felt that as he was so passive he could have a number of hands AJ/AQ/QK/JK/JT etc... oh well

[ACE2M]

His hand is pretty much mid pairs at this point, i am checking behind.

seemed to get jammed on so often when c-betting here so i probably go with this but i always feel like such a weak passive nit when i pass to a raise on the turn.

Turn bricks he leads then i raise, if turn bricks and he checks then i check behind again as he is prob some donk with AJ/KQ

before the full hh was added i was going to say that yes i like to do this when it doesn't commit me but here your going to shove your stack with zilch against someone whos probably commited once they have raised.

[MANTIS01]

Your tournament overview before you begin is "The final is full of very weak players". So finding yourself all-in with nothing isn't a good strategy for someone with the skill advantage you think you have. We know bluffing weak players isn't a good idea.

I have always liked the limp pre-flop in this type of situation.

[action man]

Your tournament overview before you begin is "The final is full of very weak players". So finding yourself all-in with nothing isn't a good strategy for someone with the skill advantage you think you have. We know bluffing weak players isn't a good idea.

I have always liked the limp pre-flop in this type of situation.

are we limping to set up a squeeze, or to play small ball with AK? 

i didnt mention my image at the time was very tight i had a maniac on my left for nearly all the comp so had to be very very selective.

[MANTIS01]

Although you say your image was very tight, in the op you say that you have been getting your chips by 3bet jamming. So in reality you have an aggressive image, haven't shown any hands, and have a tendency to go all-in to defend a hand. Look how your knock-out occurs in this tournament. Your oppo is hoping 3bet jam-man stays aggressive after checking to him with tp.

Approaching this final I would want my first showdown hand to be a strong one, not a bluff. Aggression + Quality is going to make for a good image to play with. If you raise with A-K so early in the final, with no chip advantage and this image you will certainly get business, at least from the weak implied-odds loving limper. Most of the time you will then find yourself c-betting on a missed flop. Or in other words bluffing. Something you don't want to do.

If you think you have a skill advantage then you want more chips in your stack so you can outplay your oppos. Chips in the middle pre-flop don't play to your skill advantage. So keeping things smallball at this stage is a better strategy for someone with skill. The squeeze is an added benefit of this play. A later raise is quite possible, and we know weak limper will probably call. When he does, we push and now they're facing a massive early decision. Another bonus is if weak limper were to re-raise a later raise his hand would be transparant.

More appropriate to bluff when your image is properly established and you've shown a hand or two imo. Because while you think you had an edge here, the facts are that your oppo, who admittedly played very shitty pre-flop, trapped you like a dog on the flop. Playing smallball helps prevent this, and checking the flop like some of the other guys have said is another way to keep control of things.

[action man]

yeah agreed, i was angry at myself. I spoke to moorman who didnt like it either, he said he prolly jams preflop.

Btw my oppo here didnt trap me on the flop, he timebanked down to 4 seconds and called fwiw