5.50$ PS tourney, feeling uneasy about some hands

[elitemob]

Hey guys,

just finished a 5.50$ tourney and I thought I'd post it for review as I felt uneasy about some hands. Especially: 4, 5 and 6, I'd appreciate your comments if you guys have the time I'd also appreciate comments on the ITM play.

Some comments myself:

Hand 4: I though that I'd better call the (not that large) donkbet even though I was on a draw myself, as it usually makes opps feel very uneasy if they're on a draw themselfes. I was prepared to c/fold it though if turn wouldn't help. Would you have bet the turn or check behind too?

Hand 5: c-bet gone awry.

Hand 6: pot sized bet, I fold. I wasn't sure if they were starting to play back at me but I didn't want to risk it. (3rd PFR in a row)

Please don't ask my why I played hand 8 :P

Here's the link:
http://www.flopturnriver.com/Online-...ment-3990.html

Cheers,
elitemob

[Illfavor]

H2 is a fold I think. KQo UTG+1 is a no-no in my book (Colin Moshman's too :P)

H4, I'd consider raising the donkbet, as a donkbet doesn't usually mean "I have the goods."

H5, maybe bet a little less on the Cbet? I like the rule "never bet more than you have to to bluff down the pot." Something like QJ probably won't fold there anyways, and I'd probably check it down.

H6- I'd fold just bc I have an irrational fear of any flop with JT on it. It usually hits 2 pair for someone. But that is by no means legitimate analysis.

H12- I don't think you can set mine anymore. Better ppl than me: Is this a good spot to squeeze?

H15- Generally speaking, do not limp at these blind levels.

H18- I'd just fold.

Good job not letting them limp.

Between 27-28 K6o SB, I'd shove it prolly

Nice job.

[mikeneron]

Hand 2: I am folding this preflop
Hand 3: I am folding this preflop
Hand 4: I tend to limp these Ax suited hands in the early rounds. I would probably fold on the flop, but as played with his check on the turn that shows weakness, I would have made a bet there instead of waiting till the river.
Hand 5: I am folding this preflop (yes I know I'm a nit)
Hand 6: Again, I am limping this. As played, I think the fold on the flop is fine.
Hand 8: I am folding this preflop. As played, your raise on the flop is good...have to protect your hand against flush draws.
Hand 11: Why raise 4x BB here? If you are going to raise, raise 2.5BB or to 250 there.
Hand 12: I think this is a bad call preflop. I am just dumping this hand. It is also the chipleader making the raise.
Hand 13: Again, I would adjust your raise amount preflop.
Hand 14: I would just raise to 400 preflop and then once called then just check/fold. That is not a good flop for this hand.
Hand 15: Fold preflop.
Hand 17: Did you get a read on him limping here? I would just check this instead of raising preflop.
Hands 19&21: Raising 4x preflop
Hand 22: I am thinking you do have a read on him
Hand 26: tough one...for some reason I see the underdog winning these a lot lately.

I think once you were ITM, you played pretty good.

[elitemob]

Hey thanks for the comments, currently working through them.

Just wanted to say about Hand 15 (should have done that right away) ... I was testing how BB reacts to completing with a semi playable hand. I usually do that at one time or another during a tourney just to get an idea.

H18 - Good point, I have only a faint idea why I did that. Probably b/c it was a button raise and I thought he would raise pretty wide. I didn't feel like reraising him with that so I just called for a change. I really have to pay more attention though, this could have been a good waste of chips.

Funny you point out the K6o hand there. I thought about that for a second there but was a little afraid he'd spite-call, so I tried to let it cool down a little.

About my larger raises: That was more of a reads thing. I noticed that the table called a lot of PFR (mostly with ATC, sometimes good stuff, sometimes junk), so I tried to find a appropriate amount to raise to limit their calling range, you know, so I have a better idea about what they might hold?

The first time I raised SB completing was again a "test" how they would react.

So thanks again for looking through, some valuable info right there I'd of course appreciate other comments.

[Illfavor]

You probably don't need to be testing anything like this at these levels. In your tests, don't 90% of your opponents check their BB? If you're spending 200 chips each SnG testing something you already know, then it's prob a waste. If you're trying to see if he comes over a lot, you can just watch his play in general to make that choice. But even then, you probably shouldn't be limping a hand worth shoving over with to begin with. All in all, I wouldn't be running too many tests.

On second look, H5 is probably a fold. UTG limp (prob. not a big hand being tricky, but your hand really isn't that good.

[taipan168]

Not sure how much I can add to the others' reviews, but for what it's worth here is my opinion:

Overall comments:
- You need to tighten up your hand selection range, particularly from EP when the blinds are low. The KQo/AJo/KJo type hands are definitely folds for me.
- Once the blinds his 50/100, consider raising less than 3x BB - maybe to 275 at 50/100 and 2.5x BB after that. Definitely 4x BB is not necessary and can build a large pot where you'd prefer to play a somewhat smaller pot. There were a couple of spots where you could have lost a lot more chips than you needed to by raising too much preflop.

2. KQo - I fold this preflop from UTG.

3. T9s - call is OK because you close the action and you have huge implied odds.

4. AQs - I think your line is OK, you could also bet the turn after he checks. No way am I folding the flop getting those sorts of odds to hit one of my overcards.

5. AJo - I fold preflop from early MP, I hate playing AJo from bad position like this.

6. AQs - fine

8. KJo - I definitely fold this preflop from UTG+1. As played, your raise is good, on that sort of board I want to play pretty fast. Maybe you could have raised a little less like 300 or so but I don't think it would have made much difference, if they'll call 300 they'll call 360.

J T BU (M = 27.73; f+f+f+f+F) (between 9 and 10) - I might raise this if I'm feeling frisky, at 25/50 blinds the blinds start to be worth stealing

10. 62o - I don't overbet the pot here, 200 would be a better bet. You actually don't mind a call here since 200 gives them incorrect odds to chase.

11. ATs - I make it 250 to go here rather than 400, you can burn a lot of chips by raising too much in these spots, particularly if you get shoved over and have to fold or get called, want to c-bet the flop and have to give up after that.

12. 88 - I don't like the call preflop, I just fold and hope that the CL takes out the other player. As played, that's a tough spot you've got yourself into, there are a lot of hands that beat you that the CL might have, but having gotten yourself into this spot there's not much else you can really do I guess. Folding preflop would be the best move IMO.

13. KJo - again, 2.5x BB is plenty rather than 4x BB.

14. 66 - I make it 400 preflop, flop c-bet is OK I guess but once you get called, time to give up as you did.

15. 54s - I either raise or fold preflop rather than completing. I guess completing isn't terrible however for some information as to what the BB will do if you do complete.

17. Q5s - raise preflop is OK, checking is OK too. What to do is read dependent.

18. A3o - I dump this preflop when you're OOP postflop. Not sure what flop you really want to hit here other than two pair or better and the chance of hitting that is less than 5% so you don't have implied odds to call.

19. ATo - 400 preflop is plenty.

20. Q7o - I would bet turn for 200 or so after opp checks the flop and the turn.

21. JTs - raise is fine but make it 400 not 600.

22. Q6o - fine given your previous raise and his fold, I probably make it 500 rather than 600 however.

23. K9o - again, 400 preflop would have saved you 200 chips.

24. TT - I think this is fine, but your c-bet could be a bit smaller at 800 or so. Again, if you made it 500 rather than 600 preflop your c-bet could be smaller still (say 650 or so). If you get shoved over, 500 preflop and 650 on the flop would save you 450 chips compared to your line.

26. AKs - fine, I almost never fold here without a real solid read since you're priced in to flip against 22-QQ and he shows up with a worse Ax quite often.

27. J6s - I would probably just fold this, you have no FE and you're not totally dead to have to take this spot.

K 6 SB (M = 5.40; f+F) (between 27 and 28) - definite insta shove here with such a small stack

2 J SB (M = 4.40; f+F) (between 29 and 30) - another definite shove

34. ATo - this is kind of a tough spot because you don't have a huge amount of FE against the big stack considering his large preflop raise to 800. Tends to be read dependent as to how aggressive he has been.

[elitemob]

Thanks man, I appreciate your comments too

Well, I suppose I really have to work on my bet sizing (pre-flop and post-flop) when blinds get higher and tune it down, as all of you suggested and I most definitely should miss those shove spots there, when it was folded to me.

Thanks guys, cheers.
elitemob