Playing against Large Overbets

A hand that I played earlier in a $20 MTT this morning got me thinking about this topic and what to do in such a situation. Here's what happened.

It was about 10-15 minutes into the MTT, so I didnt have much info on any of the players. Blinds 15-30.

I was on the button with KdQh, the action was folded to a middle player who limped in. The player on my right raised to 90, 3xBB. I called as did the early limper. Pot at 270 or so.

Flop comes K 10 2 rainbow. Middle player checks, then the pre-flop raiser bets 660. Thats a huge bet for a pot of 270. Im trying to put him on a hand...

Im thinking, "He raised preflop so he has to have something decent. AA or KK or 10-10, but why would he want to chase out 2 players for a measly 270 pot? K-10, but wouldnt a pot sized bet be more reasonable here? A flush draw is not a possibilty, and its insane to bet so much on a straight draw...Hmm...I think he has QQ, JJ, or 99 and is trying to buy the pot!"

As a result of my thinking, I like my pair of kings with a queen kicker. I decide to make a stand and put him all in. I have him covered by a couple of chips.

The middle players folds, the raiser calls immediately and shows AA. Im crushed and exit soon thereafter.

So, was my thinking wrong? I don't know, but massive overbets like that usually signal weakness of some sort. The huge bet of 660 after the flop with a 270 pot is a peculiar play and I smelled rat. Of course, I ended up looking like the moron while he stacked my chips.

What would you have done in that situation? I like to play aggressively early on in MTTs and try to get a healthy stack for the middle portion of the tournament and get myself into position to cash. Do you think my play was overzealous and unneccesary or aggressive yet reasonable?

Thoughts appreciated.

Na, a double-pot sized bet there in those blinds would definately stop me in my tracks. Still a potential overpair (as he showed!) or any selection of 2 pair or 3 of a kind hands. Its just too aggressive to call with top pair, Q kicker.
Rainbow flop is a bonus, it shows you he's not on a draw as most players would assume that villain would be in that situation, so you know he's hit-not drawing. (He's not value bet as he would with the nuts- and looks as if he doesn't want a caller! to throw you off track). He must have assumed with the pot 3 handed he's get at least one player all in.
If you had a good read on the villain and he was a loose aggressive maniac, i'd perhaps take a look, but judging on what you've said its a fold. Sorry, unlucky.

i had this exact same situation happen in a cash game today, KQ on a Kxx flop, the guy bet like 3x the pot going all in and i called, he had AA too.

it's impossible to read this situation imo though. you can't just pin someone on AA/AK when they do a huge overbet, becuase it looks like a scared bet that a fish with Kx/QQ/JJ would make. tough one

for an overbet it seems like everytime either the player has a big pair, maybe 2 pair or trips, but a lot of the time I have noticed they have been on a flush draw, such as a nut flush draw.

Hi, in my opinion sometimes players like this make stupid large overbets because they don't know how to bet, so I would be wondering if the player is experienced or a rookie, experienced - he's probably trying to buy it with a weak hand/bluff and does not want a call. If hes new he may just not have got to betting correctly and is terrified of the flop so overbets but has the goods. I know it's sometimes hard to know that info on line but the steaks your playing at should give you some idea. Kindest, Jet x x

The reason for the over bet is simple. Make it look like he is stealing it. That way people with TP will call his big raise. Without player history and with only 3bb in the pot it should be an easy fold. Even if he was bluffing it wasn't the first and it will not be the last time you fold to a bluff.

People make this fishy overbet all the time, but it is pretty easy to sniff out IMO. It just makes more sense to fold here anyways. I try to avoid getting involved in big pots with KQ even if I flop top pair. More times than not these type of hands get you in trouble unless you flop the nuts or 2 pair.

When reading through the hand I honestly put the guy on K10 and at the very worst QJ. AA didn't make much sense, but either of those three hands scare me off in this hand with it being so young in the tourney.

I just wrote a reply to this and how I just got taken out of a 27 person sit n go, that took me about 15 minutes to make sure I got it exactly how it happened and when I clicked submit it said I wasn't logged on and I lost it all. Guess I took to long, today is just not my friggn day, lol.

This seems like a bet I would have made about 5-7 months ago. As someone has already stated, he probably had no idea how to bet (like me not so long ago) and threw that huge one out there for lack of a better plan. I have since learned and have settled into the 3-4 X BB for entering pots and 40%-100% pot-sized C-bets. But until you get a handle on correct betting patterns, you make mistakes.

Having said all of that, in your situation, I would have folded. There is really no since in getting into a huge pot like that so early with only top pair.

i personally think its an easy fold. you have TP but why risk your tourney life on just a coin flip when you and i both know there will come a time when u r a huge favorite and get it in than. i could be wrong. i tend 2 place tight in MTT in the first couple of levels in a tourney but thats just me.

its still early in the tournament and you dont have any strong reads on him. better to fold and wait until you have some idea of his play style