How should i play this hand in an MTT?

OK , let me give you all the details

$5.50 buy in , $500gtd on bovada ,

128 total entries , NO RE BUYS ,

78 players left

18 spots paid - $640 total in pot

blinds 50/100

im in 7th with 9685 in chips

MY TABLE -
SEAT 1 - 3150
2 - 2397
3 - 6842
4 - 4948
5 - 3280
6 - 9685 (ME)
7 - 1405
8 - 4040

im seat 6 ., I am UTG


I get dealt pocket queens

Here is another hand a little while later


58 players left , 1st has 22680 2nd - 22340 3rd - 18675 I am in 4th with 18485

Blinds are 100/200

My Table -

SEAT
1 - 12590
2 - 4279
3 - 2375
4 - 10570 - dealer
5 - 18675 - LB
ME 6 - 18465 - BB
7 - 3590 - UTG
8 - 9641 - UTG+1

I get dealt 7 - jack off in the big blind

everyone folds around to the little blind ( 3rd in chips in the tournament )

He limps in ,

I raise the blind from 200 to 800 total

he calls

flop 4h - 3d - 7c

he checks

what do I do here ????

QQ - you obviously raise.

J7o; I'd just check behind pre flop. When he checks though; bet for value.

Yea QQ i would raise
And the j7 i would check and on the turn if checked to i would bet for value

Also how did you do in the tourney?

QQ- of course, raise
j7o- I would play third or half pot on flop(u bet preflop so he probably fold u could check here but it does not always pay)

ramdeebam said:

QQ - you obviously raise.

J7o; I'd just check behind pre flop. When he checks though; bet for value.

Click to expand...

^This^

On hand 1, it would take highly unusual circumstances for me to do anything other than open-raise normally.

On hand 2, raising wasn't the worst play ever made by any means, but what were the considerations pro and con that you felt made it clearly better than simply checking to take a flop with J7o?

ramdeebam said:

QQ - you obviously raise.

J7o; I'd just check behind pre flop. When he checks though; bet for value.

Click to expand...

QQ , I know I obviously raise , how much , based on position and chip stacks ?

the outcome of that hand wasn't a big deal , that's just a scenario I had earlier that id like some people to tell me what they think the right mov

hand 1 - I think raising raise to 250 is a pretty good opening size. Player next to you has 14 bbs and so you can give him some fold equity but raising smallish (although we know we are committed to his stack). See what other players do, but I would think you are going to take it down a lot with a raise as it looks strong to open utg with some many shorter stacks around the table.

hand 2 - I would've just checked behind and seen a flop. No need to get crazy here with J7o and play a big pot oop. Once you see the flop and he checks behind, i like a cbet of about 950. You are going to take it down a lot here when he holds some Ax, Kx rag hands. But be prepared to fold to a raise as his limp/call preflop can be indicative of a strong hand some of the time.

here is the outcome to the hands , I wanted tom gather what ppl would do before I said what I did , that way your info was biased at all


qq - I raised 4x the bb , short stack directly to my left goes all in for 1450 , (14.5 bb) , everyone folds , I call obviously , he has ace king off , flop comes a-k--7 .....done deal , no biggie , just curious how u play that with the tourney position being more of the dictating factor rather than table position , but also the fact that im sitting well in the tourney and UTG with QQ , that's an interesting postion to be in





j7 off - everyone folds to the little blind , he limps , I (the big blind) , raise 4xbb , he calls , flop 4-3-7 rainbow , HE CHECKS , I bet 825(50%of pot) , he raises to 2000 , I call , , turn is a 6 , two clubs on board now , he snaps all in for 15k or so , he was in 3rd at the time , I was in 4th , so I was pushed to call for my tourney life , I folded , but **** , I think I had him ,

hpb846 said:

just curious how u play that with the tourney position being more of the dictating factor rather than table position

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Not sure that I understand what you mean by this?

Anyways, here are my two cents:

QQ - I don't think that hand plays out any different unless you can see folding and I know that I am insta-calling that scenario with his push in that position

J7o - I am not sure that a preflop raise there is in order, I don't think I want to be messing with a bigger stack in this situation, it will be hard to put them on a range post flop so I check behind and see the flop. When he checks then reraises me to 2k I am folding. It is too early to be leaking chips in a hand that I have no preflop range for him. At best I have to be hoping to hit a J or a 7 to even feel safe if he leads out on the turn so I'm out

QQ - raise 4xBB
J7o - check behind pre flop. If you mix it up with raise pre flop you definitely play with opponents head. He could put you on a Category 1 or 2 hand which gives you an advantage now that you hit top pair on the flop. This could go several ways.

- Raise 3x-4x in the top hand preflop. nothing else to be done there. your calling all small stacks off.

- You must have had some history here with your opponent to raise J7 os. Its ok to raise pre-fop in postition, but with a weak hand there should be reason. Ideally, you want a fold here so I would bet stronger. Maybe 5x. If you get a call, then proceed with caution. its only sb bb, and a little hand, can turn in to a big mistake.

hpb846 said:

QQ , I know I obviously raise , how much , based on position and chip stacks ?

the outcome of that hand wasn't a big deal , that's just a scenario I had earlier that id like some people to tell me what they think the right mov

Click to expand...

If there are no antes in play, just 3x pre.

pistolpetewags11 said:

- Raise 3x-4x in the top hand preflop. nothing else to be done there. your calling all small stacks off.

- You must have had some history here with your opponent to raise J7 os. Its ok to raise pre-fop in postition, but with a weak hand there should be reason. Ideally, you want a fold here so I would bet stronger. Maybe 5x. If you get a call, then proceed with caution. its only sb bb, and a little hand, can turn in to a big mistake.

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I guess u could say I like to mix it up to play with ppls heads , and also to cash in when the weird play hits , and that hand , was just different on a another level , I really think I got bamboozled

In first hand, i think you should have made a handsome 4x bet...
In second hand i think you should have made a good bet of 2400...That would have cleared a lot doubts about the villian hand depending on his next action...well if he calls u better get ready to fold his rasies...
Nice run there btw...

Raise QQ without a doubt.
bet J7 if its re-raised then fold

As said:
First hand: obvious raise (~4 to 5BB)
Second hand: CBet on the flop about half the pot for some information about his range

hpb846 said:

QQ , I know I obviously raise , how much , based on position and chip stacks ?

the outcome of that hand wasn't a big deal , that's just a scenario I had earlier that id like some people to tell me what they think the right mov

Click to expand...

Hand 1: you should raise your standard raise, it should not deviate based on your hand strength. I'd say raise to 250, that would be my standard raise.

Hand 2: Because the only other big stack at the table limped in to my BB, I'd be inclined to play it cautiously with a very marginal hand, and I'd just check my option and see a flop. Raising isn't terrible, but I tend to tread very lightly in big stack vs. big stack confrontations.

Either way, once you flop top pair and he checks to you, you must bet it since there is almost no turn card you'll like besides a 7 or a J. I'd bet my standard C-bet amount, which for me is usually 2/3 the pot