Daily Hand Quiz

The large re-raise probably indicates that they have some kind of a marginal holding and hope that you will go away. They almost certainly don’t have a huge pair. But even knowing that, I don’t think I want to risk my tournament life here.

This is likely going to be a flip and they could certainly be making this move with 9s, 10s maybe even jacks. There are a few Ax hands you’re doing well against, but I think I want to see a couple more in the range before I get it in here.

What actually happened: NemoStars22 called and Mescalin8 showed Ac Th. He flopped an ace and took you out.

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The small raise from the button was a mistake. It was better to limp, hoping for a push but with many hands in his pushing range, or a bigger raise in order to say – hey, I’ve a big hand don’t mess around with me! – The small raise invited the reraise but we don’t know where we are in the hand. At best we are coinflip so I prefer to blame myself, kiss the 400k goodbye and continue to play with a reasonable stack.

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I agree, hes probably on a steal, but I wouldnt choose to be flipping coins just yet.

On the other hand id shove those 8′s over someone else raise and have them sweat it out.

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I hate calling off my chips with those middle pairs. I’m folding here and playing more poker.

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Ultimately your tournament life will depend on just such a coin flip, and here you have an overly-aggressive player to flip against so it’s not really a bad spot to do it. If you win you can tighten up and wait out the next bubble before going full steam ahead.

However it’s always better to be the pusher and not the caller as even a little fold equity is important to have going for you.

But being as it looks like you have a slightly-below average stack, you will soon be forced into this type of action anyway – and may find yourself wishing for this spot back within just a couple orbits. I’d go fo it here.

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this is the sunday million with 2 tables left. that is HUGE. just sit it out you have a stack.

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This is a really close decision imo, and the votes reflect that.

The important factor making the call a reasonable option is positions and stacks. You have a ~20BB stack, making you the perfect victim for a resteal. You are opening late, which villain knows you do with a wide range, of which only a small fraction can call.

Still, I chicken out and fold. I dont doubt that villain would push 77 and 66, so I MIGTH be in front. Only problem is that he is more likely to push hands like QJs than A7- in a resteal, so the flip is really likely. It is really close, 99 I would call. Does better vs J9s, T9s, 98s and the like which are all in his range. Important fact missing here is our opening frequency. We are told that hero plays tigth, but if we are still opening a lot of hands to pick up blinds it favors the call, compared to if we were complete nits.

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well, our first mistake was not either a.)limping or b.) raising 4x-5xBB, raising that much will sell hero’s hand as a serious one, and limping gives away nothing of strength, although villian most likely still shoves if hero limps, however that is still nice, because hero loses less and still can walk away from that pot. however that is not the question, hero needs to know what to do from here, so i say fold, villian’s range is broad, although with an M of just over 7, that’s 7 more orbits around(unless there’s an blind increase soon), hero has enough chips to wait for a better spot to make their move. However next time hero catches 88′s wired in an unopened pot, shoving is not bad.

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you guys suck, either way if he limps or raises 4-5x the guy isn’t folding 99+, the hands he doesn’t want to get it in against.

You want him to shove A9/AT not to mention 44-77 and small Ax which he will shove over a regular raise sometimes but not a limp or 4x/5x, this is the best chance you’re going to get at a 55/45 with an overlay, make a standard raise, let him resteal weak hands, you snapcall, and you get in the pot with a significant +cEV edge.

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lol I bet the votes wouldn’t look like what they do if the “what actually happened” bit was that your pair held up.

It’s an easy call especially with the bubble gone. (18 players are left) You will be coinflipping for your stack soon enough, you have an M of roughly 11 only. This is a good spot to get your chips in.

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I must agree with greg, a lot of donkish suggestions for play has come up. You don’t freaking openlimp on the button, and you dont change your bettingpattern. You open for 2.5-3BB, just like you do when you have 97o and are stealing the blinds.
And wheather you make an instant call with 88, or you draw the line at TT, depends on how often you have had the chance to make a blind stealing attempt.
dave’s remark about blinding out is also ridicoulus. I dont play stars, but I assume the the prize difference between 18th and 11th is max 25% or so, and that is where you bust out if you play for scared money. You don’t give up your chance for finishing top 3 for that.

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You have the stack to survive a couple more orbits, and there will be better places to push. Sometimes you gotta know when to fold.

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You’re way ahead of his range, but not dominating too much of it. If you’re playing to win you simply must call. You just can’t guarantee you’ll find a better spot.

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I hate the play of calling off chips for a race, but this is about as close a decision as it can be. Here’s why:

You’re in great shape against a smaller pair. (4:1 favorite)

You’re in decent shape against A7 or less (2.5:1 favorite)

You’re coin fliping with any two overs (at about a 13:10 favorite) and you’re literally 1:1 against a hand like JTs.

The only horrible sitation is against a larger pair (4:1 dog), but I doubt a player this late in the SM would waste a big pair in the BB unless he was really trying to make it look like a re-steal and hoping you actually picked up a hand to call with that he’ll be dominating. (Obviously a very unlikely play).

I think with the 2.5x BB raise from the button, we were asking to get repopped. With the investment we have made thus far, we’re about even money on a call after factoring in all the odds.

I’m folding here, because I don’t want to race. Next time I’ll make a larger raise on the button if I have a stronger hand for two reasons:
1.) I have better odds to call a reraise steal
2.) I look more serious about the hand than the last time I raised 2.5x BB on the button and folded to a reraise

Long analysis I know… I just enjoy questions like this.

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Even bad players hit big hands. Why risk it? If he turns over JJ you’re going to fell pretty bad about the nights takings.

And you can talk about who’s the underdog and by how much but even if he’s stealing it’s not hard for him to have two overcards. And that’s more risk than you need to take here.

Although, I agree with those who say the raise was too small.

I’ll pick a better spot.

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