How I typically bust in tournaments

Last hand in the cards chat freeroll seems to be symbolic of how I typically bust in tournaments

I pick up QQ in middle position, make the standard 3x raise and am called by villain in late position....blinds are negliable

flop comes 5J8....I bet out and villain raises a significant amount....I put him on no more than a pair of something since I wasn't heavily reraised pre so KK and AA, premium pairs I don't think are in play.....it could be two pair but I think in such a case there would be a value bet or call not a heavy reraise….I think im ahead

I reraise all in and am called immediately and am correct....he turns over KJ....
Im fine I think the only things that I need to worry about is a K on the river funny enough I think as the turn comes brick

enough people have folded that I figure the remaining js are probably folded....I should be fine

the game pauses slightly then a k turnsover on the river :ahhhhh:and Im out....

what if anything should I have done differently?

toss queens pre?

smh…..

You played it perfectly, don't let the end results get you down, as long as you play it right, that is all that matters.

A few quick things:

1. You played the hand fine, and you literally got the best possible scenario, you got all your money in as a huge favorite
2. If this is how you're busting in most tournaments, you're likely playing too tight and missing out on spots to gain more chips earlier, ironically leading to you being at the mercy of luck when you do get the premiums.
3. Depending on the tournament there are tens or hundreds or thousands of other people who also want to win. That many people busting in the span of hours isn't going to be most people getting outplayed, it's going to be based on mostly luck. Even if you play perfectly, your tournament results will almost always be much more luck-based than skill-based. Some of the best tournament players in the world have literally gone years without making any money at tournaments. If you can't handle this kind of variance, try cash games
4. The idea that most jacks had probably been folded is an odd one and you're vastly overthinking things. Generally you want to treat folded cards as random cards. Is someone really more likely to fold a J than a 2?

when the time comes all in. no luck at this time!

That logic about Js being folded pre is kind of off.. he has 5 outs to beat you and any of those 5 outs can come..so.. K or J in the river it just happened to be a K this time

ironduke11 said:

the game pauses slightly then a k turnsover on the river :ahhhhh:and Im out....

what if anything should I have done differently?

toss queens pre?

smh…..

Click to expand...

You made a great play. He was over playing his TP and your QQ was way ahead. You got your entire stack in when you had him crushed. He just out drew you. It hurts, but it happens. I got knocked out of a satellite tournament in a similar way very close to the bubble. My KK got beat when my opponent made 2 pair on the river. As long as you are getting your chips in when you are ahead and aren't making any big ICM mistakes, you're playing well. Keep at it and it'll pay off.

I like to run the equities through Equilab or something similar when occasions like this occur. You'll see you were making +EV calls preflop and flop.

In the long run, you want players overplaying top pair against your even better pair as that'll cause money to flow from them to you in time.

You did the right read, you did a play that in most of times you win so you have to understand that you have to continue doing this, sometimes you lose but most of times you win.

I really don't think you can do too much to change the outcome of this hand as unfortunate as that is. As was mentioned before, you got your hand in WAY ahead and hot unlucky, He hit one of his 5 remaining outs once it was out of your hands.

With that being said I know how frustrating hands like this can be. One thing I try and think about when this kinda stuff happens is that your opponent had to get LUCKY to beat you.

You made the right play and got sucked out on, chalk it up as the cost of doing business and look for another spot to get your money in as good as you did this time!! :elefant:

i agree with the others
you played it perfect and ran into a piece of bad luck
don't change a thing, next time it holds

ironduke11 said:

Last hand in the cards chat freeroll seems to be symbolic of how I typically bust in tournaments

I pick up QQ in middle position, make the standard 3x raise and am called by villain in late position....blinds are negliable

flop comes 5J8....I bet out and villain raises a significant amount....I put him on no more than a pair of something since I wasn't heavily reraised pre so KK and AA, premium pairs I don't think are in play.....it could be two pair but I think in such a case there would be a value bet or call not a heavy reraise….I think im ahead

I reraise all in and am called immediately and am correct....he turns over KJ....
Im fine I think the only things that I need to worry about is a K on the river funny enough I think as the turn comes brick

enough people have folded that I figure the remaining js are probably folded....I should be fine

the game pauses slightly then a k turnsover on the river :ahhhhh:and Im out....

what if anything should I have done differently?

toss queens pre?

smh…..

Click to expand...

You got very unlucky here and this is definitely a smh moment that's for sure. Just know this, if you keep playing this well against people that play mediocre hands and hold onto them on these kinds of flops, variance will prevail and you will win in these spots more than lose. Your opponent held on and got lucky, plain and simple, your a big favorite to win (76%) but the 3/1 chance(24%) comes in sometimes. You just have to shake your head like you said and move on and continue putting yourself in these spots where you are the huge favorite to win.

That being said another thing you could have done is just call, not that it would have mattered all that much because he was probably shoving turn depending on chip stacks (which always matter in a MTT) and what card came down. I myself hate just getting my money in on a flop and running two cards out, I never feel great no matter how much of a favorite I am. I might have just called the flop raise to see what he did on the turn and if it is a ugly card you could possibly fold or if it went check check you could fold the river. This option is just coming from the tourney nit I am, I never like getting my money in unless I have to nuts.

The funny thing about that is you both played it like the nuts (a set) but were both only holding pairs. Even though you were pretty close to the nuts he still had 24% with two cards to come(never a comfortable spot) and he hit that. This also depends on yours and his chip stack from the beginning of the hand, chip preservation is very important in tourneys so if you were both real deep then there might not of been a reason to put all the money in on the flop with two semi-mediocre hands. Just a few things to think about, although you did get very unlucky, a tourney grinder never gets all his money in on the flop with one pair especially facing a re-raise, they would call, see a turn and re-evaluate. Better luck next time. Cheers:beerglass:beerglass

I would have played that slow, but it would have probably ended in the same situation, which is the villain raising until we were both all-in.
But in the late phases of a tournament you have to be risky, otherwise you will bleed before the bubble, I think.

The thing to remember is that you are playing a freeroll, so people are far more likely to gamble than when they coughed up $10 tournament buy-in from their hard earned bankroll.

It's frustrating as hell, that is very true. But just hold on to the math: you were an 80% or 4:1 favorite to win the hand. Are you crazy? That is an insane advantage to get the money in.

So no, do not toss QQ. Do not ever play the hand differently. You will win more of these flips versus losing them.

I need a lot of tips too on how to maintain the tournament !!

Would you also have felt unsure about this hand, if the runout had been good for you, and you had won? Probably not. So then why start to question your play, just because the runout was bad, and you lost? As someone said risk free tournaments do not exist. Because of the increasing blinds in tournaments we will always be all in before the river multible times, and unless we get lucky most of these times, we dont win the tournament.

Yes it sucks to bust a tournament, because your overpair got outdrawn after the flop. But it also sucks to bust, because someone happened to wake up with pocket aces the exact hand, where you had pocket kings or ace king. This is also just bad luck, and one is not more unjust than the other.

I don't think you did anything wrong, man. The villain misunderstood you, maybe he thought you were with AK or some pair smaller than J.
He played what he thought about you and having the highest pair at table J, according to the assumption he made and in the end was the variation.

ironduke11 said:

Last hand in the cards chat freeroll seems to be symbolic of how I typically bust in tournaments

I pick up QQ in middle position, make the standard 3x raise and am called by villain in late position....blinds are negliable

flop comes 5J8....I bet out and villain raises a significant amount....I put him on no more than a pair of something since I wasn't heavily reraised pre so KK and AA, premium pairs I don't think are in play.....it could be two pair but I think in such a case there would be a value bet or call not a heavy reraise….I think im ahead

I reraise all in and am called immediately and am correct....he turns over KJ....
Im fine I think the only things that I need to worry about is a K on the river funny enough I think as the turn comes brick

enough people have folded that I figure the remaining js are probably folded....I should be fine

the game pauses slightly then a k turnsover on the river :ahhhhh:and Im out....

what if anything should I have done differently?

toss queens pre?

smh…..

Click to expand...

So this is how some people get tilted and feel like they lose control at that point.

You have to take the mindset of realizing you made the correct decision. You read his hand perfectly and he had to get lucky to catch up. Just take that hand with a grain of salt and keep playing your game. You're going to win more times than losing playing that way.

Remember this, you got what you wanted on the flop. A player who did not think but reacted and made a mistake. Sadly this time he hit his about 22% equity hand this time and you were out. Perfectly played on your part.

You played correctly 99% of the people in your place would have played the same way, you just had no luck, it happens, it's poker

Forget the hand and move on, sick run out but you run that risk getting it all in on the flop.

If your read on the villain is that he doesn't have sets in his range then getting it in is fine he could however have strong draws (you didnt say if there were suited cards on the flop) as well as a bunch of two pair combos which we are not blocking.

I think he could have 2 pair combos more often than you think and if he does raising big to deny your equity is valid especially if he puts you on an over pair also on top pair if he holds vs a shove he stands to double.

I think JJ could be in his range sometimes, I will sometimes flat strong pairs with the aim of out playing post flop.

I think we can easily put him on at least a Jack though and most likely with a decent kicker after the 3 bet.

I think I prefer check calling the flop for pot control and re-assessing the turn and river, probably leading the turn for a good sizing maybe 3/4 pot or check jamming.

That said there is nothing wrong with how you played it at all based on your reads.

Also worth thinking about what the villains perception is of us too.

Wp dude you got it in good and thats the best we can hope for

I agree with what most people have said on here mate - you got your money in when ahead and wasn't even 60-40 it was a good 70-30. . . I seem tyo be on the losing streak of these kind of calls myself but iot happens and as someone has already said - a person with a %25 chance will technicaly 1 in 4 times. . . I don't think you could have played any differently I think I would have done the same or at least similar. . . I have been watching more and more videos and think maybe you could have flat called the original raise to see what else comes out as its not ridiculous for a raise with A,K either? Ive started to slow down my bets now and try not to get to much into the pot without seeing at least the turn . .

All I can say is ouch. You played it well enough and I don't see many players tossing QQ preflop. bummer.

You made the right decision geting all your chips in while you were ahead,it's frustrating when you lose like this,but in the long run you're gonna get paid..keep it up,good luck