Did I play this really badly?

**VancouverKarl** · 25th February 2005, 12:08 PM

Hello all. Nice to find a non-spam-infested forum.

Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on this. Im actually really annoyed.
After scraping through the rebuy period in a pot limit hold em tournament (live) that i played last night without rebuying/topping up (i was on a budget) i managed to keep doubling up taking a few people out on the way (one great hand was my all in with pocket 99, two callers both had pocket 88 - not much chance of them hitting a set!). I finally made the final table in roughly 2nd or 3rd chip position. I had AK and played it aggressively and took out one person leaving me in comfortable 2nd chip position.

With hindsight now i wished id chilled out and let a few people drop ensuring a bit of money back (top 3 paid out but a deal may well have been struck for top 5). Unfortunately I got dealt QQ on the big blind, with chip leader to my right on small blind. He raised the pot and i just flat called it (approx 1/8 of my
stack) hoping to see a flop of low cards and putting him on AK/AQ and hoping he would bet into me. Flop was rag rag rag and like predicted from watching his previous play he bet the full pot. I basically had to fold or raise all in.
Unfortunatey after a bit of thought about it then raised all in........he turns over AA. Damn.

I dont know what i would do if this happened again. Perhaps as he was chip leader and the only person who could have taken me out i should have just folded preflop. But then again its hard to through away a high pocket pair when your already on the big blind! Grrr. I wish id considered the threat of KK or AA a bit more.

Oh well home with nothing

Did i play this really badly? I feel now
(obviously) that I should have seen the flop looking to either get lucky make a set and double up leaving me as big chip leader or be ready to fold a big bet if there was no hit.

Any comments much appreciated. I know that any of you UK poker players who play in casinos will play pot limit tournaments - I only moved away a few weeks ago, just getting to know the Canadian game - mostly limit which im crap at

**Oinkment** · 25th February 2005, 06:05 PM

To be honest it just sounds like a regular Final Table Beat to me - At the end of the day you were really realy unlucky to bet into aces. But you did have queens and to bet aggressivly with them is good standard play. You did have a clue that he had a big hand but he may also have been bluffing. You cannot read every situation perfectly if you could you would always win!

Maybe you played your queens a little too agressivly but how often are the blinds dealt two big pairs each? - The answer - so rarely it hardly ever happens.

Next time you are in that situation you will be most likely in the lead and your aggressive play will pay off - this time however it didnt - but it doesnt mean your play was bad just unlucky.

**SlaineMcRoth** · 26th February 2005, 12:36 AM

On one side I agree with Oinkment on the other side I disagree.

Why do I disagree?

Well the player bets (or calls your bet, I forget) so you can put him on a strong hand. Indeed it could be an A,K or A,Q but also a pocket pair. Could easily be a low pocket pair.

So when the flop comes rag rag rag he could easily have made trips. He could of course also easily have bluffed it but, since he is the only one on the table who can put you all in you might just want to lay it down and survive a bit longer. You've got plenty of chips to play quite a few blinds, so you can see quite a few hands comfortably. So folding here might have been the correct discision. But then again, I might have called as well

**2bad4u** · 28th February 2005, 06:26 PM

Usually, an agressive bet from the SB would mean a VERY strong hand e.g. AA, KK, QQ, AKs. The only thing is you're not going to even have a clue about what he's got from his initial raise. This is where you should have re-raised about the minimum to "define your hand". That way, when he comes back over the top, possibly all-in, you may have been put to a decision that would make folding slightly easier to do. Having said that, if he called your raise, I would DEFINITELY put him on AA or KK.

my $0.02.

**VancouverKarl** · 1st March 2005, 03:54 PM

I think to re-raise the minumum at that point would have left me pot comitted as his initial raise of the pot was large due to high blinds and antes. I think the decision to fold should have been after his initial raise. I still have nightmares about it, wish I had put it down

Not to worry - hindsight is a very useful thing in poker. Ill win it next time

Thanks for the good advice everyone

**Top Pair Ace Kicker** · 23rd March 2005, 01:27 PM

Well as a newbie here I am reading a few old threads to put my 2p in, so here goes.

I dont understand the strategy here at all.

In my opinion you played the hand wrong in only one way, by not re-raising pre flop. All of my chips (or as much as allowed in limit) would have been heading over the table so fast there would have been scorch marks!

You have the third best starting hand, and to even think about folding is, well, unthinkable. What happens if the next round he does it again and you hold 6 2? Sure the field might have thinned out a bit more, moving you up a position, but it might not have.

I also strongly disagree that a raise from the SB who is also the chip leader would signify ANY sort of hand at all.

Its called stealing! If he knows that you are in any way weak in defending your blinds he will do it every time. I know I would! If he knows that you have no fear about putting all your chips in, it would certainly put a stop to thoughts of trying to nick your blinds, without a hand. Sure if he does it again next time you have to be careful, but not in this instance.

Also if he has a lower pair it is criminal to let him see the flop with anything less than the max allowed in order for him to hit trips. If he thinks you have him dominated then again he folds pre-flop and you take your blinds and his and his raise too.

You walked into a pair of Aces. Thats unlucky not bad play.

Put it another way, if the SB had a similar chipstack as you, or even a smaller stack, and had tried the same thing would you have folded then?

**VancouverKarl** · 31st March 2005, 05:36 AM

Originally Posted by Top Pair Ace Kicker

You walked into a pair of Aces. Thats unlucky not bad play.

Put it another way, if the SB had a similar chipstack as you, or even a smaller stack, and had tried the same thing would you have folded then?

Thanks toppair I still have nightmares about that hand

I think If the same situation came around again I would do the same thing. If he had less chips in front of him there definitely would have been no doubt in my mind.