
Game type: $50 freezeout, Full Tilt Poker
Stage of tourney: Moving toward money
Your image: n/a
Opponent’s image: n/a
Your hand: 8♦8♣
The setup: After losing a big race about an orbit or so ago, you’ve dwindled to a 10BB stack. This hand, you’re in the BB and a short stack in EP pushes. Another short stack behind gets it in as well. The table folds to you.
What’s your play? If you fold, how short would you need to be to call?
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I can’t see a world where you’re not getting the right price to call here. Against most reasonable ranges, you’re at least 35% to win this pot, and you’re getting nearly 2.5-1 on the call.
That’s not a huge edge, and you still have a playable stack for push / folding, so I can see why some might be reluctant to call. The tiebreaker for me is the stack to your left – they can (and likely will) call your shoves pretty wide in late position, so you don’t have the fold vig you might imagine. Also, if you win this pot, you’re up to a reship stack at 20+ BBs. Those factors, combined with the favorable price, make this a call.
What actually happened: You ran into 77 and QJs and held up to win the pot.
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I voted fold, but could certainly see the Staff’s pov. Multi-player pot and being near the money were the deciding factors.
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I call looking to get my money in against an underpair and overcards–which is exactly what happened! Second best would be two broadway hands sharing outs, like AK and AQ.
With only 10BB we’re likely to get looked up a LOT when we shove giving us near zero fold equity, and stealing blinds is really inconsequential when we’re a short stack anyways. We need a triple up bad.
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i voted fold. not because were not getting the right price here, but because were likely to bust even if we’re getting “the right price”. chip value means if were a 33% dog to bust and were getting 2 to 1 pot odds, thats not a good deal. tripling up 1 third of the time is not good enough compared to how bad busting is 2 thirds of the time. besides, we could easily be crushed by a bigger pair. i think we have enough to wait for situations where we’re either taking it down preflop or getting our chips in flipping at worst.
as far as the second part of the question, i wouldnt call in this spot againt two opponents unless i was down to 3bb or less and it was hail mary time. i become a lot more likely to call with a much bigger stack, where i can afford the risk in exchange for knocking 2 players out.
im looking for situations to be the first one in, or shoving over an opener with a solid hand. Big stack to my left or not. If they want to call light because they have a stack, that means I have better odds of doubling up, suits me fine.
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Ah, I misread the quiz. We neither triple up if we win, nor bust if we lose since we’re the biggest of the 3 stacks (barely). But we’re on life support if we lose, practically out….versus not even tripling up if we win. An even worse deal.
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I voted fold. I’d rather not put 80% of my chips in a race vs 2 shoves (even if they’re short stackes).
I understand the logic behind shoving here. I need to make a move soon, and by folding, I’m hoping to get a better chance to shove in the next orbit for less reward.
Of course, if I get all-in against just 1 player, I’d probably have a better chance of surviving and doubling up.
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With the blinds and antes in the pot, it’s almost a triple up. A win puts us at just over $6K in chips.
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I agree with _CityBorn_. Looked at in isolation, the price is just about right. However, the price being right here still means that in 2 times out of three, we’re out of the tourney.
It kind of puzzles me how can one “look to get their money in against underpair” with 88 in pocket here. Are the six smaller pairs somehow statistically more likely to hit small stacks than six overpairs? Or would they play them differently here?
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Small stacks will almost certainly shove any pocket pair and perhaps any broadway, which gives them a wider range than someone with a larger stack who can be a little more patient. I’m not saying it’s more likely to see an underpair than an overpair, just that there’s a fair chance we might be dominating one of the two hands we’re up against giving us tremendous equity in this pot if that’s the case.
It could just be my personal preference here. I do not like playing the short stack and getting blinded out waiting for a hand that doesn’t come. In an MTT I generally shove with any decent hand–not to steal blinds, but to double up and get out of the red zone. With an M of less than 4, this is as a Hail Mary pass in the last 5 seconds of the game. Don’t think too hard about it, just close your eyes, throw, and pray.
I wouldn’t kick myself for calling here if I lost. I would kick myself if I folded, saw that I’d have won, and proceeded to get nothing but garbage for the next orbit. “Oh, if only I had played the 8′s…”
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Relax, I wasn’t really criticizing your decision – like I said, I would personally fold but I really can’t fault anyone calling here, as given the wide ranges of both short stacks the price is indeed right. I was only being ironic over the line of argument that went “I call looking to get my money in against an underpair and overcards” – which is simply wishful thinking in terms of an underpair.
In terms of personal preference, I would rather push with garbage against blinds or a single limper rather than call three-way all in with 88. The ex-showdown equity is likely same in both cases, but there is a slim fold vig on top of that in the latter case.
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I chose fold. The main reason being that you could get through another orbit and maybe find a better spot.
Another reason would be the position of the initial raiser. I understand that he’s short stacked and needing to make a move before the blinds get to him, and i think this widens his range, but not to the extent that we shouldn’t consider his position and the likelihood that he has a bigger pair or at least two overs.
That being said, what’s going on with the button? His hand still has to be stronger.
That combination is enough for me to feel good about folding.
I’d also like to add that I think it’s easy to say “I should’ve played that hand”, or “I should’ve folded that hand”, after the cards are flipped over. This is just one example of the caller having things turn out good for him. But remember, the folders weren’t done either.
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ep shoves range is pretty wide, 88 is pretty much crushing it, if the button is smart enough to realize this his reship range is pretty wide, 88 is decent knowing these 2 things….play ftw not to itm and fistpump get it in
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I originally said fold but I just crunched some numbers on this and the only time a call would be incorrect would be against an overpair.
My read on the situation would say that short stacks are volatile and you can’t be afraid of 99-AA in this situation when a triple up would be crucial to cruising into the money.
So I will change my initial opinion and say that a call is correct here, even against 4 different suited, connected overcards (AKs, QJc etc.).
I’m glad I learned something.
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