SnG Situation? How do you play this?

[Darby]

Alright... 5 handed in a 10+1 SnG on Empire. 1 big stack, roughly 4300 chips. 3 even stacks, roughly 1000 chips. And me, about 650 chips. I am on the button and get dealt Ah-10c. (I should add that this table was folding a ton, seemed tight, or else everyone was getting dealt the same crap i was.

So, UTG limps, next player limps, and its on me. (Another note: The chip leader (BB for this hand) had been very aggressive, raising and pushing everyone around). So, I folded it. At first I thought it was weak, but my logic was, with A-10o, Im not overly anxious for a call (It was push or fold time with the BB @ 200) which I felt I would get with my all in raise being only 2x BB more. It felt really weak, but my thinking seemed sound to me. Something interesting happened that made me look smart and I will post it in white below.

THE OUTCOME ----->The big blind pushed all in, and the two limpers called. I dont remember what the exact hands were, but the BB flopped two pair. The BB actually busted both the limpers and it propelled me ITM. From there, I busted one other guy and ended up finishing second +$30 for my time.

[Sed]

In that position I like being the first in the pot unless you have a monster. Make everyone else decide if they want to call your full bet not just 2/3 of it. I believe that folding there is a good decision, I'll always give the other guys a chance to bust out for me. You have to figure that at least one of them is going to make a stand only having 5x the blinds.

- sed

[Toasty]

yeah although this turned out ok I think you played this hand wrong. If there were only 4 people left it would have been less of a mistake but you had a good chance to grab 450 unchallenged or a good chance of getting 1750 if called.

AT isn't a bad hand 5 handed with only the SB and BB to show strength. Of course doing this you are going to lose sometimes but I think this action would bring the best EV over the long run.

The only exception would be if the game was playing crazy and you were sure that you could make the money.

For example, let's say if you fold you can sneak into 3rd 50%, come of the time (which i think is generous).

EV=(50%*20$)=$10.00

OK now if you push here lets say 1/3 everyone fold and 2/3s of the time you are called and win 60% of the time (I think this is a conservative estimate).

33% of the time when you are not called you should make 3rd 70% of the time ish.

67% *60% = 40.2% of the time you are called and you win you should make third 60% of the time and 2nd 20% of the time even 1st 5-10% of the time.

As you can see from my very rough calcs pushing all-in although will hurt sometimes is the best move works out to an EV of around $18.


A lot of this probably doesn't make sense but I've just woken up and only had 6 hours sleep.

[bigred]

I agree with toasty on this one. Besides his crazy morning statisitcs, when the blinds get to be 1/3 of your stack you have to push. AT may not be a great hand but it's the best hand I believe you will see in that orbit. Folding would normally result in you having to push as BB with probably less of a hand.

Don't let your second place finish be evidence that you made the right move. I think you just got lucky and what a great result it was! However, when you're that shortstacked you gotta be ready to push with anything decent and pray for the best. I know that doesn't sound very agreeable but I guess the moral is to not let yourself become that shortstack. Congrats on the second place, I better hear how you won 1st in your next story.

[Sed]

The only exception would be if the game was playing crazy and you were sure that you could make the money.

I took it that he was expecting the big stack to put them all in which would lead me to believe that the limpers would probably call since they know the BB is going to push them in. In that situation do you still push?

- sed

[AllinLife]

3 bb

Unless the game was uber-loose at that point, which on the bubble I wouldn't think it would be, that's an automatic push.

You only have 3.5 BB left, and ATo is a golden hand to push with in that situation.

But I guess it worked out for you, so who cares!

[FlyingSaucy]

I like the fold.
Like you said, you are pretty much guaranteed the BB will call your AI, and since the UTG limped (and is tight, it sounds like), he probably has a hand and will call your AI also. Being in (at least) a 3 way all in is not good news for you even if you are holding AT off. It doesn't cost you anything to fold, and you can survive at least 3 more hands. You stand a better chance if you push with any PP or any group 0-4 hand UTG when the big stack is not in the blinds and no one else is in the pot yet. Also, as it was in this case, there is always the chance someone busts out ahead of you.