betting at side pot??

[gabe]

AM I allowed to bet at this? Or am I supposed to check it down?


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (8 handed) converter

Hero (t5570)
MP1 (t6720)
MP2 (t9290)
CO (t2610)
Button (t4590)
SB (t5280)
BB (t455)
UTG (t5985)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with A, J.
1 fold, Hero raises to t600, 4 folds, SB calls t500, BB calls t255 (All-In).

Flop: (t1655) K, Q, A (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: (t1655) 4 (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB bets t200, Hero calls t200.

River: (t2055) 5 (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB bets t1200, Hero calls t1200.

Final Pot: t4455

[boost]

well, you had TP, why do you check the flop? I understand if he had pos, but.. what do you put him on here? That is a bit of a scary flop, but I bet that. Normally I am fine with checking it down when there is a guy all in. But there is a good chance you have the best hand here, and there is no reason to give free cards. When you check, he thinks you are scared, even so, on the turn I reraise him. Do you really put him on the flush? He checked to you on the flop, if he does have something hes trying to slow play it, you check, this is weak, so he stabs at it on the turn. Thats my read. If he comes back over the top of you, drop it.

[vqc]

HEs betting at it, I dont see why you cant bet at it either.

I have heard that etiquette is for the 2 other players to check it down when there is a 3rd player thats all in. Also Its a bad idea to bluff into a sidepot if there isnt anything in it. IN this case, I dont see anything wrong with betting into the sidepot to take it down if you think you have the best hand.

[gabe]

I was thinking "check it, we can eliminate the guy." then i was just trying to hurry and get to showdown.

[boost]

yah, if you HAVE a hand you bet it. what do you think the ass hat whos all in has? Obviously he doesnt have you beat. If you really feel the need to check it down, fine but on the turn he bet, this is a green light to rape him.

[vqc]

o by the way never type out "lets just check it down" thats a bad idea. Someone would probably report you for collusion.

[gabe]

this is a case of winning the the pot v eliminating opponent. if the guy allin has KQ, i want the other guy to stick around because he might make something that beats two pair. All tourney theorists please respond what you think was more important.

btw this is final table of 3 table sng, so eliminating a person puts me closer to ITM.

[iwa]

Yes, in that situation you are allowed to bet the side pot. The pot is close to 1k, which is a decent size pot, and the flop was a pretty scary flop. I would bet it out with top pair to isolate out he SB who could have a number of draws. I would assume you have the BB beat at that point who was basically allin preflop...

[Staresy]

yeah, my understanding is that (a) you are allowed to bet at the side pot and (b) you shouldn't bluff at a dry pot when there is a chance to eliminate someone.

In this situation, there is a side-pot and you have a legitimate hand.

[drmcboy]

A bet when one guy is AI says "I have a legit hand, we're not checking down". You have a legit hand, more importantly one that needs protection.

I don't see the value in giving up chips just to eliminate this guy. Even IF he holds KQ he's still the short stack at the table. You shouldn't be thinking about ITM here, you should be thinking about winning.

[Rockymv]

You have to distinguish between betting at a dry sidepot and bluffing into a dry sidepot. There's nothing wrong with betting into a dry sidepot when you have a decent hand. Bluffing the sidepot with nothing so that the shortie wins with j high is what idiot assface bastards do.

[jmontis]

he's all-in, he can't get anymore chips, so bet your hand if it's good. Anytime you can prevent someone from drawing out on you, you do it.

[DWDuck]

Meh. Etiquette schmetiquette. I don't swear at the other players or call their mothers really heavy gorillas... that's the only etiquette I think you should follow. When it comes to taking chips and winning the tournament though, I don't care if my betting hurts another guys chances of being ITM. I'm not playing to make somebody else money, I'm playing to win!

Darkwing

[face]

The benefit you get from helping knock another player out is only worth 1/N, where N is the total number of players left in the tourney. So let's say allowing your opponent to stay in when you know you are sure you have the best hand after the flop will increase the chance of knocking out the shortstack by 25% (arbitrary number), but decrease your chance of winning the pot by 25%. Let's also say knocking out the short stack will improve your expected return from the tourney -- and everyone else's -- by 10%, and that this increased chance is worth 10$ to you. Let's say winning this pot will increase your expected return from the tourney by 30%, and is worth 30$ to you. So, in this case, if checking along will diminsh your chance to win something worth 30$ by 25%, or cost you $7.50; and will increase your chance of knocking someone out by 25% -- worth $2.50; it's obviously not worth it to check along. The main point is -- you have to split the benefit of knocking someone out with everyone at the table, whereas the pots you drag are all you. Don't be a nice guy and hook everyone up with a one rung increase on their finish unless it's worth it to you to do so. I think you should bet the flop and play it from there.