Big lay downs thanks to stupid players. :)

I made 2 very big lay downs and all thanks to a stupid player.

So its the very first hand of a 10 player SNG, I have QQ on the button. The UTG makes a massive 22 BB raise, now as I am contemplating whether to just call or go all in.........a middle position player goes all in. Now I am like surely I am beat? I fold after using all the available time to decide.

Turns out the UTG had AA and the middle position donk had A5s. A king did come on the flop but I doubt I would have gotten away with the hand if I had called. This was the very first time I ever folded QQ pre-flop.

Now comes the second part and this one is even better play on my part I think. Its a 30 player SNG and I am a huge stack(50 BB) with just over half the players remaining, the table is 9-handed. The chip leader is UTG and raises 5 BB, UTG+1 calls who is a medium stack. Now I am a middle position with QQ and I feel like shoving here but the UTG has me covered and I have position on both so I just call.

Its a 3 way pot then with me having position. The flop comes T9T, I immediately think that JJ is the only big pair I am beating now. The UTG makes a half pot bet and I make my mind to call it. However the UTG+1 makes a huge re-raise and now I tell myself surely I am beat? So I fold.

Now turns out in the end the UTG had KK and UTG+1 had 33 lolol. The turn card was an ace and certainly I could have folded after that but it would have considerably worsened my tournament position. As it turned out I did make it in the money and that hand was the key in the end I believe.

So thats that I'll like to hear if you have had similar situations where a bad player helped you immensely in getting away from a hand?

Big raise followed by a call or a reraise usually means trouble. Sometimes a call is even worse, because it means the caller wants more players in the pot

good play there, it depends on your opponents and how good they are but you obviously had a read on the skill of your opponents and their raise and reraising range so well done on both folds!

I have recently been laying down bigger hands in my tournament game that I wasnt laying down before. Mostly AK and AQ pre flop...but i did lay down JJ the other day and the initial raiser had QQ. But all of this to say...that as of recently my final table appearances at my usual 5k tourneys has increased greatly. I attribute this to laying down these so called "trap hands" where you play AK and cant get away from it causing you to lose a significant % of your stack.

The first situation seems tricky, but I don't mind folding. However I think you made a mistake in the second one. I think this is a good spot to shove over the top. The pot is already big enough, and you have a great hand and a huge fold equity. Additionally, UTG+1 call seems very week and the original raiser's opening range is probably pretty wide, since he's got a big stack. And you don't really want to play in a multiway pot with QQ in this spot (even in position), and then probably have to fold if an ace or king pops up and the postflop action is big and your opponents are too aggressive and loose. That being said, I think I would probably shove in this spot. Luckily for you, you didn't and you avoided elimination, which is great.

AvaloNNN said:

The first situation seems tricky, but I don't mind folding. However I think you made a mistake in the second one. I think this is a good spot to shove over the top. The pot is already big enough, and you have a great hand and a huge fold equity. Additionally, UTG+1 call seems very week and the original raiser's opening range is probably pretty wide, since he's got a big stack. And you don't really want to play in a multiway pot with QQ in this spot (even in position), and then probably have to fold if an ace or king pops up and the postflop action is big and your opponents are too aggressive and loose. That being said, I think I would probably shove in this spot. Luckily for you, you didn't and you avoided elimination, which is great.

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I would have raised with a 3-bet but a 5-bet UTG seemed strong to me especially the fact that the chip leader only had a couple of more blinds than me so he wasnt in a position to bully the whole table.

PrecisionBets14 said:

I have recently been laying down bigger hands in my tournament game that I wasnt laying down before. Mostly AK and AQ pre flop...but i did lay down JJ the other day and the initial raiser had QQ. But all of this to say...that as of recently my final table appearances at my usual 5k tourneys has increased greatly. I attribute this to laying down these so called "trap hands" where you play AK and cant get away from it causing you to lose a significant % of your stack.

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When it comes to AK I lay it down if I miss the flop. The great thing about AK is that I hardly ever lose with it if I hit the flop and when you are dominating your opponents pair it pays off big time.

Great play analyses. These "trap hands" make big problem for me, sometimes I just fall in love with them, hopefully, I will take something from this.

Last week laid down AA after the flop was J 10 3 - Have the exact scenario happen when I bet and was raised and the 3-bet by the 2 remaining players. Found out both players flopped a set J's and 10's. But there have been times I didn't listen to instinct and it cost me as well. Good lay downs.

good laydowns, it's always good to have a donk at the table giving you important informations. On the other hand, I just hate when I'm forced to make a big laydown and it turns out that the remaing players were both having some rags.