ITM with chip lead

[Ironside]

blinds 2/4k 400k appox in play you have 160k+

3 players left


3rd £295
2nd £580
1st £985

button/utg limps in sb folds

you have QQ

you make it 12k more, is this about the right size or should it be a little more?
its called
flop comes 235 rainbow

do you lead out or check to reraise?

i checked to reraise but didnt get the option when he moved in for 92k

do you snap call?

i did

he hit but i still think i played the hand well

dont think i can get away from the hand at any stage

[GlasgowBandit]

I am making it slightly more pre flop, you are giving weak aces in the blinds an opportunity  a chance to ping on you.

As played u must call.

[Ironside]

I am making it slightly more pre flop, you are giving weak aces in the blinds an opportunity  a chance to ping on you.

As played u must call.

what blinds i was big blind he was UTG/button and limped in

[boldie]

everything is fine here mate. 12k more is decent pre..maybe even slightly higher than I would make it..(don't want to be scaring off too many shitty holdings, do you?).

On the flop this is always a call.

[EvilPie]

For him to go all in here you must be ahead surely.

The only thing you can be behind to is slow played aces or kings but why suddenly change tac and shove?

2 pair, trips or the straight should all be giving you a chance to catch up a bit so they should be out of the question.

I agree with Boldie here as well. I would be raising a bit less to make sure I kept my customer. I'm not bothered about weak aces because I'm a big favourite over them anyway so I don't want to scare them off. A smaller raise also gives hands like smaller pairs the chance to 4 bet steal which means we may get it all in pre. I suppose this depends on how cagey everyone's been in these late stages.

As played yep snap call. UL

Did he have A5 and hit something on the river? If he did his limp was terrible.

[Ironside]

For him to go all in here you must be ahead surely.

The only thing you can be behind to is slow played aces or kings but why suddenly change tac and shove?

2 pair, trips or the straight should all be giving you a chance to catch up a bit so they should be out of the question.

I agree with Boldie here as well. I would be raising a bit less to make sure I kept my customer. I'm not bothered about weak aces because I'm a big favourite over them anyway so I don't want to scare them off. A smaller raise also gives hands like smaller pairs the chance to 4 bet steal which means we may get it all in pre. I suppose this depends on how cagey everyone's been in these late stages.

As played yep snap call. UL

Did he have A5 and hit something on the river? If he did his limp was terrible.

A5 hit 4 on turn

my thinking was i did nothing wrong and in cash it easy and profitable

but as i had so many chips i was thinking i still have massive stack and was able to play them off hands without taking any risks

but i am 99% certain i should never pass there but i am thinking that i should be able to bully them off hands and out play them on flops

they were getting fed up with my bully from 14 players left onwards and were making comments about it hence the playing A5 for a limp hoping to catch me at it

[EvilPie]

For him to go all in here you must be ahead surely.

The only thing you can be behind to is slow played aces or kings but why suddenly change tac and shove?

2 pair, trips or the straight should all be giving you a chance to catch up a bit so they should be out of the question.

I agree with Boldie here as well. I would be raising a bit less to make sure I kept my customer. I'm not bothered about weak aces because I'm a big favourite over them anyway so I don't want to scare them off. A smaller raise also gives hands like smaller pairs the chance to 4 bet steal which means we may get it all in pre. I suppose this depends on how cagey everyone's been in these late stages.

As played yep snap call. UL

Did he have A5 and hit something on the river? If he did his limp was terrible.

A5 hit 4 on turn

my thinking was i did nothing wrong and in cash it easy and profitable

but as i had so many chips i was thinking i still have massive stack and was able to play them off hands without taking any risks

but i am 99% certain i should never pass there but i am thinking that i should be able to bully them off hands and out play them on flops

they were getting fed up with my bully from 14 players left onwards and were making comments about it hence the playing A5 for a limp hoping to catch me at it

If they're limping 3 handed with an ace then having to shove the flop with an inside straight draw and an over card I'm not surprised you were able to bully them.

Your QQ is exactly the hand you need when you've got this reputation and all the more reason to raise a bit less to give them the chance to shove pre.

[Royal Flush]

If they're limping 3 handed with an ace then having to shove the flop with an inside straight draw and an over card I'm not surprised you were able to bully them.

Your QQ is exactly the hand you need when you've got this reputation and all the more reason to raise a bit less to give them the chance to shove pre.

Is he supposed to fold top pair top kicker and a gutshot draw?

I am making it slightly more pre flop, you are giving weak aces in the blinds an opportunity  a chance to ping on you.

As played u must call.

I lol'd

[gatso]

I am making it slightly more pre flop, you are giving weak aces in the blinds an opportunity  a chance to ping on you.

As played u must call.

yeah, we don't want action 3 handed with QQ

[EvilPie]

If they're limping 3 handed with an ace then having to shove the flop with an inside straight draw and an over card I'm not surprised you were able to bully them.

Your QQ is exactly the hand you need when you've got this reputation and all the more reason to raise a bit less to give them the chance to shove pre.

Is he supposed to fold top pair top kicker and a gutshot draw?

No, not at all. He should have wanted a customer that's my point. He couldn't expect much better than this yet still he wants to put 92k in to a 26k pot.

The limp also seems really weak to me. Surely an ace is worth beefing up the pot a bit.

Shoving it just seems like a "fuck it, I might get him to fold" thing. He didn't play the hand to it's strength I only say this because Iron says he was bullying. My point was that if they're limping and then shoving with decent hands then you should not be raising too much with queens because you don't want to scare them off.

[Rookie (Rodney)]

If they're limping 3 handed with an ace then having to shove the flop with an inside straight draw and an over card I'm not surprised you were able to bully them.

Your QQ is exactly the hand you need when you've got this reputation and all the more reason to raise a bit less to give them the chance to shove pre.

Is he supposed to fold top pair top kicker and a gutshot draw?

I am making it slightly more pre flop, you are giving weak aces in the blinds an opportunity  a chance to ping on you.

As played u must call.

I lol'd

QFT

[MANTIS01]

The pre-flop raise is perfect imo. There is something not quite right in wanting to raise less so you don't lose your customer. We are going down the path of adjusting raise size in accordance with the cards we hold and this can't be a good thing. When you do this don't expect your oppo to always be some blind idiot who wont be able to detect a variance in your play. Putting in a raise that looks like you don't want your oppo to fold may well affect action on the flop because your oppo will be suspiscious. You have a raising hand so just raise normally. This deep, 3-handed, the limper is always calling anyways. I would c-bet as normal and hope to be re-raised before insta-shipping. As played snap-calling is elementary.

People. From this day forward we are never worried about shitty hands calling and pinging on us. If they need luck to dig themselves out of the mess they're getting themselves into we are playing good poker.

[EvilPie]

The pre-flop raise is perfect imo. There is something not quite right in wanting to raise less so you don't lose your customer. We are going down the path of adjusting raise size in accordance with the cards we hold and this can't be a good thing. When you do this don't expect your oppo to always be some blind idiot who wont be able to detect a variance in your play. Putting in a raise that looks like you don't want your oppo to fold may well affect action on the flop because your oppo will be suspiscious. You have a raising hand so just raise normally. This deep, 3-handed, the limper is always calling anyways. I would c-bet as normal and hope to be re-raised before insta-shipping. As played snap-calling is elementary.

People. From this day forward we are never worried about shitty hands calling and pinging on us. If they need luck to dig themselves out of the mess they're getting themselves into we are playing good poker.

If every time you raise it's a 4x raise then yes there's no reason to change it as it would arouse suspicion.

If you make different raises all the time to keep your oppo thinking then this is one of the times to make a raise in the middle to low end of your raising range to make sure you keep them.

IMO obviously.

[Ironside]

my raise preflop at that stage of a comp is always "around" the size of the pot
the pot was 10k and i made it 12k more

james the question i think i am asking if your winning lots of small pots and feel you have an edge when you have the pot sizes under control would you risk 2/3 of your stack with this call when you know you can get them back faster than you let them go

[MANTIS01]

my raise preflop at that stage of a comp is always "around" the size of the pot
the pot was 10k and i made it 12k more

james the question i think i am asking if your winning lots of small pots and feel you have an edge when you have the pot sizes under control would you risk 2/3 of your stack with this call when you know you can get them back faster than you let them go

I'm sure Flush will give his own take on this. But for me that thinking is pretty warped. You are playing for a seriously big pot and almost definitely a tournament win in this hand and you find yourself in a dream situation. You really should want this scenario without question. When the money goes in villain is hunting like 9 cards vs the rest of the deck for you. He is at a massive massive disadvantage and you stand to win everything. However good you think your edge is across a series of small pots I can't think it is better than it is in this one big pot. Not only that the mentality you carry forward for the remainder of the game if you fold a dominating hand because you are scared of the suck-out really wont stand you in good stead in what is prob going to be an aggressive pre-flop shoot out. You are always risking your stack by playing poker in the first place.

EvilPie do you change your raise size around? I've never really got why changing it to keep your oppo guessing is better than keeping it the same to keep them guessing. Maybe someone who does this can explain the virtues to me.