Criticize my play

Played a poker tournament at a local casino on Thursday here in Ventura, California. Got to final table and did a 3 way chop. Top 6 got paid. Throughout the tournament, I won most of my showdowns. Picked my spots and won some small bluffs mostly on post flop. No coin flips. Won one bad beat with QQ vs KK pre-flop for about 30% of my stack.

I was chip leader when I got to the final table and was seated against second chip leader to my right. Came down to 7 handed with 800/1600 blinds with 200 antes. I raised 2.5x UTG w/ 34clubs, and he flatted from BB. I wasn't table bullying up to this point. I had a tag image and had a 2.5:1 chip lead over him. Flop comes 8 4 2 all spades. He checks and I bet out 1/3 of pot. He insta 3-bets with like 30% behind? It didn't make sense and I had a read on the guy before this hand. So, my first instinct was to shove after his 3bet. This was my first time being in the same table with him, and it seemed like it was his first time making it to a final table judging off his other plays.

I just had a gut feeling that he had nothing and probably had two overs with a spade in his hand- and was probably just trying to buy the pot. It was the speed of him 3betting and his posture after which caught raised my brow. I tanked for about 5 minutes, which is probably the longest I ever tanked in my life. After much deliberation, I decided that he could potentially fold to a 4bet due to the situation (7th being the bubble boy). So, I shoved..... and he called........... after about 10 seconds of thining and flips over Q6 offsuit with a 6spade. I'm a beginner to poker tournaments, but I have been playing on occasions for over 10 years.. with some study time. I just couldn't believe he'd call with such a marginal hand worse than Ax with a spade, but I guess the call was a no brainer due to having too much $ invested. But still.. why the he** would he call with a Q6!??? I know I wasn't expecting anything better than 60/40 and primarily was hoping he'd fold. Turn and river were blanks.


This is the first time I have ever made a move like this being so deep and being on the bubble. I don't know what came over me. Please criticize my donkish play. Thanks!

youre whole thoight process is garbage dont raise with 34 and definitly dont go all in with 4 on 2 or 3 4 8 board LOL

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newbie in training said:

youre whole thoight process is garbage dont raise with 34 and definitly dont go all in with 4 on 2 or 3 4 8 board LOL

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Great advice. Your name fits you.

Well.... Your obv not betting 32 UTG hoping it to be the best hand going to the flop lol. However.... If table dynamics are really really tight.... And you think they will give you credit for having a hand UTG more often than they should then by all means raise UTG.... Sounds like u had just a really really solid read on the dude. I personally don't think your whole thought process is garbage. There's a lot of really good stuff going on here actually.

How deep were you? If we know that then we can talk effective stacks and sizing and all that good stuff. Without further information about villain, stack sizes, table dynamics etc..... I'm just gonna go ahead and say "good read".

It's true that your raise pre is questionable.... But that doesn't make it unjustifiable.... U will take flack here without having a very good reason for making that kind of play.

Was your skill edge so massive in this game that u felt u could play 32 likely OOP post flop and just totally out play our opponents? Did you have reason to believe u would take this pot down pre uncontested? Were the blinds really really right on the bubble?

Just some things to consider

Btw don't bet 1/3 pot lol. With sizing like that I'm not surprised he came over the top. Personally I never bet less than 1/2 pot, if I'm betting.... I'm betting somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 the pot

imo 7 handed 34o or s preflop raise in very very rare unless you see them folding a ton of hands imo sorry for the harsh words its just that id never do that unless they were folding every hand

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imo 7 handed 34o or s preflop raise in very very rare unless you see them folding a ton of hands imo sorry for the harsh words its just that id never do that unless they were folding every hand

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+1
I dont quite understand what you were doing here,especially with the flush on the board.
I really dont understand the opening 7 handed with 34s.
Personally seems like A flat and see the flop then take it from there depending on your oponents play would be my choice.
It is A hand that could definatly get you in trouble with so many unbeatable possibilities out there.
Anyway thats just my two cents.

left52side said:

+1
I dont quite understand what you were doing here,especially with the flush on the board.
I really dont understand the opening 7 handed with 34s.
Personally seems like A flat and see the flop then take it from there depending on your oponents play would be my choice.
It is A hand that could definatly get you in trouble with so many unbeatable possibilities out there.
Anyway thats just my two cents.

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It's wrong (IMO) to assume that you should never ever open 34 out of UTG. If table dynamics allow for it on the bubble then by all means go for it. All that matters is that he can justify it in a meaningful way.... When he comes back, allow him to further explain his reasoning, and at that point we can figure out the quality of the play

It's wrong (IMO) to assume that you should never ever open 34 out of UTG. If table dynamics allow for it on the bubble then by all means go for it. All that matters is that he can justify it in a meaningful way.... When he comes back, allow him to further explain his reasoning, and at that point we can figure out the quality of the play

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You are correct in some aspects I suppose if the table dynamics completly exist then yes it would be possible to open from UTG with said hand.
But on the bubble why risk being three bet possibly to shove and wasting chips when obv you would have to fold,and the blinds and antes must be in the higher stages.
So you are correct in sometimes maybe it would be correct but I certainly couldnt see very often,especially from UTG.

left52side said:

You are correct in some aspects I suppose if the table dynamics completly exist then yes it would be possible to open from UTG with said hand.
But on the bubble why risk being three bet possibly to shove and wasting chips when obv you would have to fold,and the blinds and antes must be in the higher stages.
So you are correct in sometimes maybe it would be correct but I certainly couldnt see very often,especially from UTG.

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I mean if he's literally running over the table then I can see it

hi!
it was a weak play from you.what exactly you represented in that spot?
if you had a strong hand there like a flush as you wanted him to belive,you would have called him and wait for his next bet for max value.you were in position..
if you had an overpair you would have called again and wait for the turn to shove if no spade appears
your play is obv a semi bluff.most likely is a coinflip and he felt commited for a showdown

eidikos said:

hi!
it was a weak play from you.what exactly you represented in that spot?
if you had a strong hand there like a flush as you wanted him to belive,you would have called him and wait for his next bet for max value.you were in position..
if you had an overpair you would have called again and wait for the turn to shove if no spade appears
your play is obv a semi bluff.most likely is a coinflip and he felt commited for a showdown

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^this is why it isnt an optimal play! I dont advise raising preflop with a hand like this. Yes there are some instances where it would be ok to do so but those spots are gonna be very rare. I mean since it is on the bubble i could see raising a wide range but 34 suited is just a little to weak.

The raise with the 43 of clubs is fine in some way. If you're viewed as a tight player with a dominating chip lead, then you can afford to steal and all you have to really throw into the pot without a hand is a c-bet and if you feel like you have a read on the opponent, a couple more barrels because it's also especially on the bubble.

The c-bet on the flop was not a great play. There's a good chance your opponent has caught a piece of this flop and people do make plays at these types of boards. Flops like T98 two of a suit or AKJ apply the same principle unless you believe that the person called preflop with a range that missed it often enough for you to c-bet. You also did tank a bit too long, which could have made him call.

If you were planning to make a play at this, I would have checked the flop and shoved the turn after he bet.

Jblocher1 said:

It's wrong (IMO) to assume that you should never ever open 34 out of UTG. If table dynamics allow for it on the bubble then by all means go for it. All that matters is that he can justify it in a meaningful way.... When he comes back, allow him to further explain his reasoning, and at that point we can figure out the quality of the play

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It's pretty fundamentally difficult to find spots where it's correct to play 100% range v 6 100% ranges from
UTG

duggs said:

It's pretty fundamentally difficult to find spots where it's correct to play 100% range v 6 100% ranges from
UTG

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Yeah, I mean the play here is probably a fold unless his reasoning is something other than "look.... I have 34 and I'm going to bully from UTG". We don't know how deep he is I don't think.

Yeah let's just make this easy OP... Fold pre and don't splash around UTG with 34. U should be folding roughly 99.99999% of these spots lol. I'm merely saying it isn't impossible to justify at least in my opinion

If u make a bad read on some1, you will have a rly bad time cuz choosing to fold, call or raise can blow ur head. If your opponent bluffing and u fold this is going to be rly sad. In final table you shoud not play like this with every hand u have. Staying still, waiting for a good hand u can play pre flop can actually give u the pot for free. Playign out of position is not good when u try to bluff or steal pot somehow.

You were the chip leader and the No. 2 chip leader had yet to play. You had no real reason to try to steal the blinds and you were risking getting into a pot with somebody who could do serious damage to your stack. I mean, if the SB and BB were small stack guys and would be forced to play for their tourney life on the bubble, a preflop shove in that spot is not bad. But otherwise, I fold in that situation every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
However, I am confused. You hit a pair of 4s on the flop and he only had 4 spades. You say the turn and river were blanks, so does that mean you won the hand? If you ask my advice, you both played like donks - whoever won just got lucky. Chasing a flush on the bubble when you are the No. 2 stack is not a good idea, and raising preflop with junk when you're the chip leader is not a real good idea either. No reason for either of you to make either of those plays.

Jblocher1 said:

Yeah, I mean the play here is probably a fold unless his reasoning is something other than "look.... I have 34 and I'm going to bully from UTG". We don't know how deep he is I don't think.

Yeah let's just make this easy OP... Fold pre and don't splash around UTG with 34. U should be folding roughly 99.99999% of these spots lol. I'm merely saying it isn't impossible to justify at least in my opinion

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Even if your opponents only play top 10% of hands we are going to be crushed way too often. I'd e hard pressed to find a reason to raise this and I'm looser than most

duggs said:

Even if your opponents only play top 10% of hands we are going to be crushed way too often. I'd e hard pressed to find a reason to raise this and I'm looser than most

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And I'm looser than ALL nah jk jk. Yeah fold pre OP.... That should be ur standard play here