Advice on some early shoving spots

[Nakamura]

I've been running into spots at the early blind levels where I'm not sure what the best play is. Any advice here would be great.

Hand 1

Villain is is 27/20/2.0 over 51 hands.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, 16 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (7 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button (t3165)
Hero (SB) (t1765)
BB (t1440)
UTG (t2905)
MP1 (t1365)
MP2 (t1120)
CO (t1740)

Hero's M: 23.53

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, A
UTG bets t150, 4 folds, Hero raises to t1765 (All-In).


Hand 2

Opp is a decent TAGG and tight at early level. This might be a missed opportunity to shove.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, 16 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t1645)
CO (t1495)
Button (t1335)
Hero (SB) (t1420)
BB (t1758)
UTG (t685)
UTG+1 (t2230)
MP1 (t1455)
MP2 (t1477)

Hero's M: 18.93

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, A
4 folds, MP3 bets t150, 3 folds, BB raises to t1758 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t325


Hand 3

Opponent is loose running at 31/24/7.0 over 117 hands and is frequently stealing.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, 16 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP2 (t1300)
CO (t1685)
Button (t3490)
Hero (SB) (t1365)
BB (t1350)
UTG (t1275)
UTG+1 (t1565)
MP1 (t1470)

Hero's M: 18.20

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, Q
5 folds, Button bets t150, Hero raises to t1365 (All-In), 2 folds

Total pot: t350


Hand 4

I doubt stacking off or raising here is a good idea. Do you just relegate this hand to a set-mining hand?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, 16 Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t1500)
Button (t1590)
Hero (SB) (t1430)
BB (t1500)
UTG (t1500)
UTG+1 (t1500)
MP1 (t1480)
MP2 (t1500)
MP3 (t1500)

Hero's M: 47.67

Preflop: Hero is SB with J, J
2 folds, MP1 bets t100, 4 folds, Hero calls t90, BB raises to t400, MP1 calls t300, 1 fold

Flop: (t900) 3, 7, 3 (2 players)
BB bets t1100 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: t900

[drmcboy]

hands 3/4 good, hands 1/2 I take a flop. In hand 1 I would probably just c/f if you miss because this guy should give some value if you hit. Hand 2 I would lead out or CR some flops you miss on.

I don't see how shoving these can be -EV, I just think you'll win more on average post flop.

[Nakamura]

Thanks. I need to work on my post-flop play at the 25/50 and your advice makes a lot of sense. The 15/30 and 50/100 levels are definitely much easier to play!

FWIW the villain in hand 1 snap-called and flipped up KQo =). I'd like to think this is on the bottom of his range here, but the insta-call seemed to suggest maybe it wasn't. Given that he probably isn't folding a pair or hands like AT+, just calling PF gives him an opportunity to fold unimproved broadways.

If an opponent is crazy enough to play in this manner, is shoving or calling better?

[djh860]

when I play. I always feel that I am by far the best player at the table. Therefore my opinion is that I have a huge edge over the rest of the field. To say the least my edge is far greater than the tiny edge AK has over the range of hands that will call your shove. I don't shove there because most sng players are only calling with AA KK QQ AK JJ poss TT. Ak is not looking very good vs that range. Sure it does ok all in when you consider the folds, the suck outs and the few poor calls where you are way ahead but it might take 1,000,000 hands for its edge to show up in your BR. I think its better to reraise and lead out with a Cbet 100% of the time or call and stab at every flop.
My thought is all ins reduce my game to luck. Why settle for luck when my skill is so great.
So my desire is to only get all in when I have made 2 pair or better and play small ball in most other spots. The longer I last the more chips I will accumulate.
Poker is a skill game don't opt for coin tosses when you don't have to.