was i wrong to make a continuation bet my friend disagrees

[the sicilian]

in a recent live tournament with blinds 400-800 i have a stack of about 8000. hand is folded around to me in the small blind i have  A J o/s. I make a standard raise of 2400 to play and the big blid calls.  The flop is K 8 3 rainbow.Iv'e missed but feel a contiution bet is a good move as my opponents holding is likely small to medium pair or A  x as he has not re-raised me.

I decided although i missed i would continue the action as i was the pre flop aggressor and it was odds on my opponent missed as well and bet half the pot . my pal thinks i am wrong and that i should check because i missed and could get away from the hand. i feel this would show weakness and invite my opponent to take the pot away from me.

As it turned out my opponent re raised allin, i had him covered felt commited and went to showdown where he turned over A K.

Although i lost i think my play was at best correct and at worst viable.Also i think my opponent played AK weakly and should have re raised pre-flop.

Was i wrong to bet after the flop

[TightEnd]

Firstly,  to Blonde


Secondly, very unlucky to find a big hand in the Blinds and find a bigger one behind you

The problem here is at the start of the hand you have only 10x BB. A standard raise takes that down to 7x BB

In my opinion once you are called by the BB (You are hoping not to get called clearly!) you have two possible options post flop, check fold or all-in. On this flop I probably move all in and if the BB has got a K well fair enough

After your continuation bet (another 2400? 3000?)meets resistance you probably only have 3000 left. I can understand why you felt committed but on the other hand you have a full round, the blinds now having passed you, to be first in and try to double up

So I tend to think you haven't got the chips to have the flexibility to try a continuation bet, it would have been all in post flop miss or not

[the sicilian]

Thanks tight end . Do you play at Luton?

[AndrewT]

You were just unlucky here. Once it gets to the flop, given the pot size, the remaining stacks and the raggy nature of the flop, you've got to stick it all-in. If you check, even if he doesn't have a King, most players will bet, a bet you couldn't really call.

The pot is 4800, you have 5600 left. If you assume he only calls an all-in bet with a pair of Kings or better, your bet has to be successful 54% of the time to be profitable. The chances of him having a hand of Kings or better are far less than that (IMO - you might have an idea of his range of calling hands better than I would).

Therefore going all-in on the flop is the move I'd make - you're just unlucky he has a good hand.

In this tournament situation, with 10BB left, and the blinds as they are, I'm losing all my chips - simple as that.

EDIT: By the way, I know there's a case for making a bet small enough so that you don't go all-in on the flop, but it's not something I would do - I want to send the message I'm not getting away from the hand - I don't want to leave the opportunity for my opponent to bluff-raise me (which is possible).

[TightEnd]

Thanks tight end . Do you play at Luton?

yes mate. do you?

[thetank]

The pot is 4800, you have 5600 left. If you assume he only calls an all-in bet with a pair of Kings or better, your bet has to be successful 54% of the time to be profitable.

With your tournament life on the line it needs to be successful more than 54% of the time to be profitable. I'd still do it though.

[AndrewT]

The pot is 4800, you have 5600 left. If you assume he only calls an all-in bet with a pair of Kings or better, your bet has to be successful 54% of the time to be profitable.

With your tournament life on the line it needs to be successful more than 54% of the time to be profitable. I'd still do it though.

Ah, the old 'is each tournament a separate event, or just one small part of your overall tournament life' chestnut.

[thetank]

 'is each tournament a separate event, or just one small part of your overall tournament life' .

Both.


= master debater

[the sicilian]

yes tight end in fact i  think you were sitting to my right at luton a couple of wenesdays ago when this hand occurred. im usually with vince

[TightEnd]

OK, well say hello next time.

Just don't tell this lot what a fish I am 

[byronkincaid]

There's a lot of information that we don't know about this hand but my default play with 10BB is all in. This is definitely a +EV play in this situation and while there are certainly times when I'd raise 3xBB here eg if there's a good chance BB will reraise me all in, I'd be interested to know why everyone is saying a none all in raise here is the best move.

[TightEnd]

byron, the question was concerning post flop. All in must be the play here

Personally, pre flop, it is for me too

[byronkincaid]

Oh yeah definately c bet then.

[the sicilian]

will do tight end LOL

[celtic]

Am i right in assuming then that you advocate risking your tournament life, a tournament that you have been playing for close on 4 hours for what is essentially A High?