Broadway blind battle near bubble, NL MTT
Game type: $50 1R 1A tournament, Full Tilt Poker
Stage of tourney: Near bubble
Avg stack: 18k
Your image: Very aggressive
Opponent’s image: TAG
Your hand: K♣J♠
The setup: You’re nearing the bubble of a $50 1 rebuy 1, add on tournament on Full Tilt Poker. You’ve been playing very aggressively and have shown down a mix of strong and mediocre hands.
This hand you get KJo in the SB. The table folds to you. You make it a little over 3x. The BB thinks a bit and then shoves.
What’s your play?
Loading …3.10.10 / 3am
Good quiz this one. Lots of info on images which makes things a bit more complex.
Initial thought, he’s a tag = fold
Second thought, he knows our raising range is close to any two, which opens up his 3-bet range, and I’m discounting big hands, which I’m sure he would try and get value out of = call
Third thought, we are behind to a weak ace or a small/mid sized pair, but getting the right price = call
Fourth thought, we’ve got the chips = call
Fifth thought, my brain hurts, gotta make a decision. To me this hand screams A5-A10, 55-88 type hand, unlikely we’re dominated.
Call.
[Reply]
3.10.10 / 8am
I understand why some people might call here. But I’m folding. I’m not down to race for that many chips yet. We are a big stack at this table. By the looks of it there will be multiple short stack confrontations soon and we are a shoe-in for the money if we don’t do anything stupid. I don’t think the extra 10 or 11 K chips would help us as much as losing 10 or 11 K in chips would hurt us at this stage.
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3.10.10 / 9am
I’m folding here. We’re either a slight dog or significant dog but at best we’re flipping for 1/3 of our stack. I’d rather save the chips to make a late run. If this were the final table I might call, but I’m not convinced V’s range is opened that much.
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3.10.10 / 9am
once i saw the stack sizes it became an easy call. our image and the action so far make him likely to shoving a weaker range…we could easily just be pressuring him.
we can knock a player, beef up our stack for a deep run, plus we can take the hit and still be fine if we lose as well….lets rock.
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3.10.10 / 9am
Call. He’s stealing, except we’re not stealing light, so let’s get dem chips in there!
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3.10.10 / 10am
Voted fold. If hero does nothing (fold), they are on course for a deep run. While the average of v range may calc to a call, you could easily be a 2-1 dog here. KJ has little showdown value in this spot, and I don’t discard v over-playing a big hand like AK. Not enough to place your deep run at risk.
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3.10.10 / 12pm
to all the people who fold, why would you raise if you not going to call the rest of HIS stack? you no that he nos that you are loose in the blinds so thers al chance you have the best hand. also if he had a monster e.g AA-JJ he would play to max value like just call or even min raise. calling is the right play..FACT
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3.10.10 / 12pm
2 mistakes I see a lot of people making in answering these quizzes:
1. Refusing to make +EV plays because they “don’t want to risk their tournament”. Taking risks which have a positive expectation is what poker is all about.
2. Assuming that “TAG” means nit. Generally a TAG is a good player who is capable of making bluffs and steals at appropriate moments, but just isn’t crazy loose or passive.
Oh, and Call.
[Reply]
_CityBorn_ Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
point number 1 is debatable. in fact, its actually wrong. in tourney play chip ev is not the same as cash ev. the value of your chips is not equivalent to dollars you will win, so a 55% favorite for your tourney life on the bubble, for example, is a bad move….whereas in a cash game, a 55% favorite is always a go.
tourney is much more about survival and positioning yourself for the long haul, not taking big risks where you might be a slight favorite and might bust. thats not to say you shouldnt be aggressive, which includes risks. or you shouldnt make the call if someones bullying you and you have to stop the bleeding, for example. im just making the point that the chip ev is not the same as cash ev due to payout structure.
i agree completely about point number 2. didnt want you to feel i was just being disagreeable 
[Reply]
Pete Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Yes this is true, when I say +EV I mean prize EV not chip EV. However in most large tournaments the prize structure tends to be such that at most stages a 55% edge is plenty (I think); limping into the money is seldom a profitable strategy. They’re not like sit’n'goes or satellites. I do mostly play cash though and haven’t actually done the maths on this I would have to confess.
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Anonymous Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 6:04 am
well said; changed my mind
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