Raise pre and you are still in.
Limping makes your hand kinda transparent, i don't see how Kunku takes it off you on the flop surely you know how to call?
yeah, as i said, raise pre and i am still in. dont think thats really the point though - it doesnt confirm raising as a better play. you may as well say "throw you cards at colclough and you are still in"
the point of raising pre-flop is not to avoid some kind of sick cooler, it is to either get value from a strong hand or because that hand plays well HU. by limping i am much more likely to be on the good end of a cooler. set vs overset is very unlikely if no pre-flop raise occurs and set vs. underset or two pair seem much more likely than set vs. an unlikely straight.
and of course i know how to call. thanks for the sarcasm. by raising in this spot i am likely to see a flop HU or 3-way. also, this is very likely to be against tabatabai, sitting in late position. when there is a player of absolute class at the table i dont actively seek to play pots against them out of position and put myself in a position to be exploited
lastly, i dont understand why limping makes my hand more transparent. i limp utg with a much wider range of hands than i raise with - any suited connectors, any small or medium pair, and occasinally big pairs too (though perhaps not in this early stage of a tournament). raising utg requires a stronger hand, meaning my range is reduced to medium-high pairs and big aces
It's not limited to those hands if you start raising suited connectors UTG is it?
Limp calling raises with pairs to hit sets just doesn't work, unless you hit sets more than everyone else in which case, keep bleeding!
It's ok to play pots OOP vs better players when you already have a hand!
Just from this post it already appears that you sat at the table and decided everyone was better than you, so whatever you did it probably wouldn't have worked out to well because you would have spent the day levelling yourself, there is not much difference between the top players and you Tom, don't get intimidated.