Baby PP late in tourney

Late in a tourney, say right around the bubble, you are chipleader and pick up small PP under the gun, 5s or 4s
everybody's playing either really tight, or is ready to push at the site of an Ace, and so i don't really want to raise with em and have to call an all in
but at the same time i need to narrow it down to at most 1 player
what would you personally do?

ChuckTs said:

what would you personally do?

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UTG?
Fold.

just because it is late in a tourney doesn't change the fact that it is 10 handed.

So you are chip leader and its bubble time? Then you have to be making a play for two fairly simple reasons

1) You are chip leader, anyone who calls and loses will be bubbled

2) You cant bubble here. If you get called and lose, you will have chips to play with

A small pair UTG is normally a fold in most situation but UTG, on the bubble, chip leader - get those chips in and raise big, even move all in if you dont really want a call

Playing the 'correct' way isnt always the way you have to play the game. The only way anyone will call is with a big PP like AA or KK. Players with drawing hands nearly always lay it down and medium PP's dont wanna get outdrawn

ChuckTs said:

Late in a tourney, say right around the bubble, you are chipleader and pick up small PP under the gun, 5s or 4s
everybody's playing either really tight, or is ready to push at the site of an Ace, and so i don't really want to raise with em and have to call an all in
but at the same time i need to narrow it down to at most 1 player
what would you personally do?

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Entirely, completely and utterly dependent on the chip stacks, the size of the blinds and my position. It ranges from fold, to limp, to push.

F Paulsson said:

It ranges from fold, to limp, to push.

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Lol. One of those three huh?

You say you're the chip leader? you should try to keep it that way. As joose said, it's still 10 handed, and your likely to get a call or an all-in from someone who feels this is their best shot at getting back into the hunt. When overcards hit the flop, which they will a whopping 99% of the time, how much more are you willing to risk? I'd save the low PP for emergencies and calling all-ins from weak stacks.

well if the blind is only less then 5% of my stack I would call and hope for a small flop. pp8s and up for all in only if some one goes all in because if they are going all in with any ace its 50 50 that they would be drawing to 3 cards

Four Dogs said:

Lol. One of those three huh?

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Pretty much... UTG at a full table with aggressive players yet to act, I'll fold most of the time.

In middle/late position with limpers (either several shortstacked or one big stack) already in, I might limp if the blinds are small enough that it won't cost me too much (~5% of my stack would be okay, maybe more, depending).

On the button with small stacks (but not so critically short that they'd have to call anything), I'd make a big raise/push and give them a difficult decision. Big stacks in the blind, and I still might try to steal by giving it a 3-4xBB raise, and hoping no one calls.

So yeah, it's a full range of possibilities.

You are the chip leader so you need to be the bully right now. The other player really want to stick wround until they place in the money. Raising here is a good option. You're UTG so that will tell players you have a greay hand (which you actually have a good hand, not great). Chances are, everyone will fold unless they have a great hand. Players tighten their game when you're near the bubble. You have chips to work with, use them.

Depending on how much is the big blind, you should raise it to 4x , your the chip leader and everyone is near the bubble, with means the are probably playing like pu$$# . You need to be extremly aggressive at this point, especially if your table is tight, i remember in a 10 dollar tourny, there was 2 spaces left until the bubble, i raised 12 times in a row and no one dare play , because they knew i would be able to knock them . You have to take advantage of this .

If you are the big strong stack,,and if you are in mid/late position why not raise if everyone else has folded to you. Passive playing gets you nowhere, so why not push a 3-4X BB out there to see if everyone else folds.

OMG, here we go again.
UTG, chip leader, a crappy low pair.
Am I missing something?

Ahmmmm bubble ? What bubble ? Has the table conditions changed (gotten tighter ? Looser ? more passive ? more aggressive ? ) There is no bubble unless one of these things happen. If the table has tightened up to a large degree go ahead and raise, but the only hand youll go up against is a better one, and it may be for a substantial chunk of your stack.

Id fold here, without a doubt unless you give me some more info

I hate low pockets. UTG, I would probably limp, and fold to any substantial raises. Probably not the correct play, but in all honesty, that's what I would probably do.

Nothing wrong with the odd early position raise from time to time to keep your stack ticking over. Remember, only you know you've got a low pair - if everyone thinks you need a big pair to raise from early position you wont get a call. If you do a) you can hit flop and win b) miss flop and win (if you've got 33 and someone called with AK for eg. c) you get called and lose (but you've shown everyone you'll play weak hands from early position meaning action if you do hit a hand). Dont overdo it, but stay active (and early position bluffs are less obvious than button steals).

but at the same time i need to narrow it down to at most 1 player
what would you personally do?[/quote]

You really have completely the wrong idea here because you objective is leaking like a tap.

In this position, you should not try to narrow it down to 1 x player as you probably do not have the implied odds to make a regular play with this hand (disguised set) - that you only hit one in 7.5 times. Let's say you raise 3 x BB and somebody goes all-in for 8 x BB, you have to pay 5 x BB to win a pot of only 12.5 x BB. So you are getting only 1.5 to 1 which is not enough to play for disguised set value.

You can legitimately make the same play to steal the blinds but then again, you do not need a pp for that....almost any 2 will do if the table is really tight. Only thing to watch out for is a higher PP in which case you will be dominated....and there still 7 players to come so it really depends on stack sizes, your table image, and the behaviour of every other player.

Small pp's play best in multi-way pots or when YOU are short stacked.

Your play will be either to raise (objective - keep accumulating chips during bubble play) or to have someone all-in (objective, knock somebody out).

For all other reasons, it is best to fold.

As a sidenote, with a big stack there's no reason you should ever risk your entire (or very large parts of) your stack on a low pocket pair. You can raise to try to steal the blinds, but then again, you can do with 7-2 as well.

Point is that a low pocket pair is barely more than a cointoss against most random higher cards, and there's no reason to make narrow gambles - even if you DO have the better of it - in a tournament. In a cashgame it's different, but in a tournament, you want to be a bigger favorite than 55-45 if you decide to race.

late tourney full tables are too volatile for you to just call utg. either push or fold.

If I havent bet in awhile and the table is extra tight due to the bubble I might rase it up and steal the blinds. If I am a huge chip leader and the others cant hurt me significantly I may even make it an all in call for them if Im pretty sure they'll fold anything but AA or KK. It all depends on my table image and how well Im reading the table. However, most often I will fold that hand when blinds are big and play is tight. Its usually not worth it.

Good answer Three Sixs. If the table has titghened up to a good extent ill raise and attepmt to pick up the blinds and antes. Remember the only hand that will push back is AA or KK, (not always).

Out of position with a crappy pair, either call to attempt to hit a set, or fold. Remember you are large stacked and can afford to be patient.

well as it was i folded
i was considering really bullying as i had won like 4 of the last 6 hands, but decided to play it safe, as i knew one of my opponents was set on playing back at me...and 5s were not the best hand to have that happen to me
in any other situation, i would fold - i mean UTG with 55, ten handed? immediate fold.

thanks for the input guys

ChuckTs said:

well as it was i folded
as i had won like 4 of the last 6 hands,

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If I played 4 of the last 6 hands I fold it every time.

I would probably fold and let some of the other players fight it out, wiating for a betterhand to get some additional chips with -- unless I had one of those gut feeling things about getting trips.