$11 5k gtd review

[revolvingiris]

I am working really hard on my MTT game right now and could use any advice. Thanks

http://www.flopturnriver.com/Online-...ment-4247.html

[revolvingiris]

Now looking back on it I think I see two hands where I should have folded..

H 24- This was a tricky hand for me. After I raised villain he had thought for a long time before he pushed. This tipped me off that he wasn't happy that I had popped him...Preflop, this is actually -EV to make his AI call if he hypothetically would have just open pushed...I chose to gamble after he raised me back because at that point my pot odds were 35% to call his re raise AI. My question is, should I have looked at it more from the hypothetical stand point. I was fairly certain he had a PP. I made this call due to odds but Im not sure if that was the proper thinking??

H 31- same situation as above. I couldnt just raise half my stack. The blinds were just about to go up and villain has a wide range from here as hes one of the chip leaders. However, is this a gamble that I NEEDED to make?

H 14- The reason this one isnt considered like the other two is villain would have made the same play with K5s.

[chardrian]

H 24 is standard. Pretending that he had actually pushed preflop is just silly - he didn't, there was dead money in the pot, this is a snap call.

H 31 - you can do a go'n'go here (standard raise pre, shove any flop if he calls) but the shove is fine/standard.

H 30 - 66 is close - I think folding there might be best since there are still so many players left to act.

You also folded AJs from UTG w/an M of 6ish. I raise there as my standard play, and will limp/push at aggressive tables.

[sinister1]

Hand 5: Fold pre...too many ppl left to act and your hand is marginal. You maybe could have played this in earlier levels, but now its costing you too much.

Hand 9: This is ok, but you don't have to bet full pot here 300 is enough. Also if this guy has been completing from the sb a lot I don't mind a raise pf here every now and then.

Hand 10: Throw this one away. Smaller pp's are bad from early/middle position with your current M. As played, bet less on the flop (500-700) b/c overcards will fold for a lot less, and you lose less to overpairs that call or reraise you. You commited way too much of your stack here with a weak hand, be careful of doing that in general.

Small pairs are NOT good hands to open raise with. I found this out when I went into PokerTracker and discovered that 22-66 as a whole were losing hands when I opened with them from the HJ or earlier. They're just too hard to play out of position post-flop. You can't double barrel like you can with suited connectors, because you have 2 outs. And if you're out of position it's impossible to control the pot and try to get to showdown cheap. So nowadays I just open-fold small pairs unless I'm the CO or button. I'd much rather steal the blinds with any two big cards or any suited gapper that might give me more flexibility to double barrel if I need to.

For more on small pp's go to this thread: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...st-t36038.html

Hand 11: This one is very close. I think it depends on how loose the players behind you are. Several of them can call you fairly wide and not even sweat it. In the thread I linked to above, it says shove 22-66 with less than 10xbb from any position but you have nearly 12xbb. If you think the players behind you are not too loose then by all means shove, otherwise you can fold it.

Hand 13: This one is pretty close, you could wait at a loose table, but I do not mind a shove here either since the antes are out there for the taking.

Hand 14: Fold to the reraise, also since you are utg open for a bit more than 2.5xbb. You are showing strength raising utg and he is showing a lot of strength by reraising you utg + 1, so unless you have a read that this guy is reraising you light for some reason you need to throw this away. You have no fold equity since he will be getting better than 2:1 to call you and he already showed strength so your only chance is to win at showdown. If you think somehow you are ahead of his range by enough than by all means shove, but here I am pretty sure you need to lay down. Also, just as a general rule, AQ is one of the worst hands to hold when facing a reraise.

Hand 16: Fold. This hand looks tempting but your stack is actually too shallow to play a small sc like this. Having the BU and some decent implied odds is nice so its not totally out of line to call, but unless you think you can just outplay the guy post flop its not a great spot to call. As played I would seriously consider just reraising on the flop with your combo draw. Most of the time he will fold weaker hands that he is cbetting and you don't have to worry about actually getting there. On the turn you can reraise also, and he will call with a high spade you might get some extra value. I don't think flatting here is that bad if you think he will 3 barrel it and most of the time you are so far ahead that it might be your only chance to get extra value on the hand which you did. River is good, he clearly is 2nd best so try and get some value.

See this thread for more details: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...ts-t75437.html

Hand 17: Another troublesome small pp in early position. Just dump it. As played, OK.

Hand 18: OK. You may want to raise more utg with this hand because as you saw in the previous hand people are calling pretty light at this table pf, and QQ does not play well in multiway pots.

Hand 19: I am a big advocate of just calling with AK pf early in mtt's but now the blinds and antes are getting up there so it is time for a reraise! Calling is sometimes ok too, but here you are in mp and do not want to invite other players into the pot, also you have position on the original raiser if he happens to call. Make it 2.5-4x his raise. As played, fold the flop b/c there is still someone left to act behind you and you are drawing from 0-6 outs. I would also reraise the turn since he is likely shutting down on most rivers and if he does indeed have a worse ace he will pay you off. He could have picked up a draw on the turn and you should make him pay to see the next card. River is a bit questionable because he could be getting tricky with the Ten, and although unlikely you would have to fold to a reraise. On the other hand you will get extra value out of some Ax hands that you beat and possibly some pp's like JJ-KK. I think you are good most of the time here but too rarely getting paid off, so just check behind.

There is a QTs hand in the CO-1 that you open folded, you could raise here if you liked, but folding is perfectly fine too.

Hand 25: You are right in trying to isolate the shortstack, but you do not need to go all in to do so. If the bb woke up with a hand there you would be hating life, and most of the time he will not and he can just fold. Make it about 10k and if he shoves over you can get away.

Hand 30:

66 is close - I think folding there might be best since there are still so many players left to act.

Hand 31:

you can do a go'n'go here (standard raise pre, shove any flop if he calls) but the shove is fine/standard.

[revolvingiris]

Hand 5: Fold pre...too many ppl left to act and your hand is marginal. You maybe could have played this in earlier levels, but now its costing you too much.

Hand 9: This is ok, but you don't have to bet full pot here 300 is enough. Also if this guy has been completing from the sb a lot I don't mind a raise pf here every now and then.

Hand 10: Throw this one away. Smaller pp's are bad from early/middle position with your current M. As played, bet less on the flop (500-700) b/c overcards will fold for a lot less, and you lose less to overpairs that call or reraise you. You commited way too much of your stack here with a weak hand, be careful of doing that in general.

Small pairs are NOT good hands to open raise with. I found this out when I went into PokerTracker and discovered that 22-66 as a whole were losing hands when I opened with them from the HJ or earlier. They're just too hard to play out of position post-flop. You can't double barrel like you can with suited connectors, because you have 2 outs. And if you're out of position it's impossible to control the pot and try to get to showdown cheap. So nowadays I just open-fold small pairs unless I'm the CO or button. I'd much rather steal the blinds with any two big cards or any suited gapper that might give me more flexibility to double barrel if I need to.

For more on small pp's go to this thread: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...st-t36038.html

Hand 11: This one is very close. I think it depends on how loose the players behind you are. Several of them can call you fairly wide and not even sweat it. In the thread I linked to above, it says shove 22-66 with less than 10xbb from any position but you have nearly 12xbb. If you think the players behind you are not too loose then by all means shove, otherwise you can fold it.

Hand 13: This one is pretty close, you could wait at a loose table, but I do not mind a shove here either since the antes are out there for the taking.

Hand 14: Fold to the reraise, also since you are utg open for a bit more than 2.5xbb. You are showing strength raising utg and he is showing a lot of strength by reraising you utg + 1, so unless you have a read that this guy is reraising you light for some reason you need to throw this away. You have no fold equity since he will be getting better than 2:1 to call you and he already showed strength so your only chance is to win at showdown. If you think somehow you are ahead of his range by enough than by all means shove, but here I am pretty sure you need to lay down. Also, just as a general rule, AQ is one of the worst hands to hold when facing a reraise.

Hand 16: Fold. This hand looks tempting but your stack is actually too shallow to play a small sc like this. Having the BU and some decent implied odds is nice so its not totally out of line to call, but unless you think you can just outplay the guy post flop its not a great spot to call. As played I would seriously consider just reraising on the flop with your combo draw. Most of the time he will fold weaker hands that he is cbetting and you don't have to worry about actually getting there. On the turn you can reraise also, and he will call with a high spade you might get some extra value. I don't think flatting here is that bad if you think he will 3 barrel it and most of the time you are so far ahead that it might be your only chance to get extra value on the hand which you did. River is good, he clearly is 2nd best so try and get some value.

See this thread for more details: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...ts-t75437.html

Hand 17: Another troublesome small pp in early position. Just dump it. As played, OK.

Hand 18: OK. You may want to raise more utg with this hand because as you saw in the previous hand people are calling pretty light at this table pf, and QQ does not play well in multiway pots.

Hand 19: I am a big advocate of just calling with AK pf early in mtt's but now the blinds and antes are getting up there so it is time for a reraise! Calling is sometimes ok too, but here you are in mp and do not want to invite other players into the pot, also you have position on the original raiser if he happens to call. Make it 2.5-4x his raise. As played, fold the flop b/c there is still someone left to act behind you and you are drawing from 0-6 outs. I would also reraise the turn since he is likely shutting down on most rivers and if he does indeed have a worse ace he will pay you off. He could have picked up a draw on the turn and you should make him pay to see the next card. River is a bit questionable because he could be getting tricky with the Ten, and although unlikely you would have to fold to a reraise. On the other hand you will get extra value out of some Ax hands that you beat and possibly some pp's like JJ-KK. I think you are good most of the time here but too rarely getting paid off, so just check behind.

There is a QTs hand in the CO-1 that you open folded, you could raise here if you liked, but folding is perfectly fine too.

Hand 25: You are right in trying to isolate the shortstack, but you do not need to go all in to do so. If the bb woke up with a hand there you would be hating life, and most of the time he will not and he can just fold. Make it about 10k and if he shoves over you can get away.

Hand 30:

66 is close - I think folding there might be best since there are still so many players left to act.

Hand 31:

you can do a go'n'go here (standard raise pre, shove any flop if he calls) but the shove is fine/standard.

H 14- I pushed back because I did have a read on villain. He was re raising with suited K and suited A. Along with calling AI's with J8o.

[revolvingiris]

H 24 is standard. Pretending that he had actually pushed preflop is just silly - he didn't, there was dead money in the pot, this is a snap call.

H 31 - you can do a go'n'go here (standard raise pre, shove any flop if he calls) but the shove is fine/standard.

H 30 - 66 is close - I think folding there might be best since there are still so many players left to act.

You also folded AJs from UTG w/an M of 6ish. I raise there as my standard play, and will limp/push at aggressive tables.

H 30- I agree...I got greedy instead...

[allLiving]

H5 - Fold PF
H6 - Nice float
H16 - Pretty well played. Depending on the player, you could have 2.5x-3x
H30 - Fold...

[revolvingiris]

Thanks for the reviews guys, this answered all of the questions that I had.

[mcatdog]

Hand 30 isn't that close, I'd fold 77 and 88 too and shove 99+ AQ AK.