Ok, so I haven't played poker in a while...

[TylerK]

I'm playing some $10 SNGs for fun, and this hand kind of threw me. Am I just rusty, or am I right to be confused?

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (6 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

saw flop|saw showdown

BB (t1355)
UTG (t1060)
MP (t2650)
Hero (t995)
Button (t850)
SB (t1090)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, 8.
2 folds, Hero raises to t150, 2 folds, BB calls t100.

Flop: (t325) 8, 7, 6 (2 players)

Hand converter screws up...BB goes all in, Hero...?

[vqc]

u got stop and goed by a fishy?

I dont raise preflop here, and I dont mind folding here.

[Fortune 500]

Welcome back.

Hero might consider mucking that preflop.

[TylerK]

Is there some newfangled SNG strategy I missed? Because mucking that hand preflop in the CO in a 6-handed game is complete insanity in my book. Clue me in...

[Aplomado]

A8 is borderline 6-handed. I personally would muck it preflop. It's just not that great of a hand, dunno why you think otherwise.

I wouldn't be completely against calling with it here, but a 3xbb raise would be out of the question.

[vqc]

Is there some newfangled SNG strategy I missed? Because mucking that hand preflop in the CO in a 6-handed game is complete insanity in my book. Clue me in...

its more about how ur stack is going to play out in future rounds than it is about the strength of ur hand. (at least thats wat it is to me)

if your stack was 1500 u could raise here with 2 cards and it wouldnt have mattered.

[JeffreyGB]

I could see playing it the same here. Limping is pointless.

Whether or not to call depends a bit on reads, but without them I play as follows:

Given that he called a preflop raise, the chances of him having the straight are slim. There's a slight chance of a set, but that's also unlikely, because he isn't worried about you having the straight, so he doesn't need to push to protect (thus he'd try to extract a little bit). With no other info, I call here, figuring that he's an aggro player who assumes the flop missed me and that my tptk is thus good.

[JeffreyGB]

if your stack was 1500 u could raise here with 2 cards and it wouldnt have mattered.

In my book, you have a lower M here than with 1500 chips, meaning that you have MORE reason to raise. That's my opinion anyway.

[Fortune 500]

To me it's a muck or call. Raising represents about 1/6 of your stack... I'd much rather do this with a big hand, naturally.

A lot depends on your read of the blinds too... which we don't have.

Based on the information, I vote for Muck.

Post flop, I think you've run into a set, no? That, or pocket 9s.

[JeffreyGB]

To me it's a muck or call. Raising represents about 1/6 of your stack... I'd much rather do this with a big hand, naturally.

A lot depends on your read of the blinds too... which we don't have.

Based on the information, I vote for Muck.

Post flop, I think you've run into a set, no? That, or pocket 9s.

The more chips this raise represents, the stronger the argument to make the raise (because the chips you gain are more important to you!).

Fearing a set/99 here is very weak/tight IMO. You're assuming that your opp has one of a handful of hands that beat you AND that he's misplaying the hand. A hand strong enough to beat you should be looking for more value than a straight up push. I'd fold if I have a read of my opp pushing big hands only, but otherwise I call.

[Fortune 500]

You don't push a set on a 3 straight two flush board? Me either.. But I bet Pot.

And we're assuming his opponents are entirely rational. That's a big mistake.

Don't be so quick to rule out a set.

The raise preflop isn't bad... It's just not what I'd opt to do here given his stack. You can make arguments for raising, folding, or limping and they all have some merit.

I'm not a fan of raising the A8 here, and I hate to limp, so I lean towards mucking.

I still think you're probably beat post flop by a strongish hand that's scared of that board.

99 and the set are all rational hands to call the PF raise with, and as are TT and JJ. There's just a lot of ways to lose, and TPTK When TP = 8 is a bad way to get broke. I take the safe route.

[JeffreyGB]

I agree that there are a number of hands that beat him that would call a preflop raise. I don't think that any of them are scared by that board when facing a preflop raiser.

As you said once before, ultimately, reads are huge here, as they can tell you if an open push in a moderately small pot means monster or semi-bluff or complete bluff. My gut tells me it doesn't usually mean monster.

[konahead]

Looks like bb is on a draw to me. I'd say he has something like K9hearts or something like that and therefore enough outs to push and either win it there or try to hit. He probably put you on two high cards and figures he can get you off the hand.

With TPTK and backdoor flush draw, I call his push here. (but I like to gambool sometimes....)