MSPT Main Event Report

Yesterday I played in the $1,100 MSPT Main Event and only lasted about 4 hours. The event was structured with $30K starting stacks and 40 minute levels throughout. I was on a mini roller coaster all day but was hanging tough – until it went bad that is. Let’s see what you think.

Hand #1 (Level 1)
Blinds (50/100) My Stack $30k

From the button I was dealt There was a HiJack-1 raise to $400 and a call from the cut-off seat. I 3-bet to $1,600. The initial raiser said out loud “Ace King; huh?” and called as did the cut-off.

Pot - $4,950
Flop –

Both of my opponents checked to me and I made a two-thirds pot C-bet of $3,200; I felt that I had the best hand there most of the time and I still had a good amount of equity against almost any range – I guess I could have checked and re-evaluated the turn, but I think a C-bet earns the pot there enough to be profitable. The initial raiser min-raised me to $6,400.

Now I didn’t know if he was just playing me, or if he actually had something. Bottom line, it was a pretty skillful play regardless and I was left in a tough spot – in the first level I found a fold and moved on.

Hand #2 (Level 4)
Blinds (25/100/200) My Stack $21.5K

All right, so I lost a third of my stack already – things were going well.
From the small blind I was dealt There was a middle position open raise to $650. Now this was kind of a big raise, that player had been raising to $550, in that level. The player of concern was pretty weak and I thought the extra big raise meant weakness, at least on some level. He was called by two other late position players, so regardless of what I thought of his range I was obviously going to set mine in that spot. I called and so did the Big Blind.

Pot - $3,500
Flop –

Good flop – I checked to the raiser not wanting to bet him out of the hand. He fired out $2,100 after the big blind checked too. I elected to flat call in that spot, as he was a pretty straight forward player, I wasn’t really worried about straight or flush draws and was already honing in on a pocket over-pair for his range; though I suppose he could have something like too.

Pot - $7,700
Turn –

Again, I checked to the aggressor. He bet $6K. The eight on the turn didn’t drive me nuts despite the fact that I didn’t think he was drawing – it still wasn’t a great card for me. Plus, I didn’t feel that with my stack size I would fold to anything on the river, so I just elected to get them in. He tanked for a while and called with

Pot - $45,200
River –

So that was nice, but then things started to go bad – and there didn’t seem to be anything I could do about it.

Hand #3 (Level 5)
Blinds (25/150/300) My Stack $42K

There was an early position open raise from an old man that had zero chance of winning, to $800. He was terrible and his bet sizing had not been conforming to any sort of standard all day. He seemed to just pick a random number in his head. That said, he did put more chips in with weaker holdings – it was a 100% accurate tell that I had already made note of.

Anyway, he got called by both the hijack and cut-off and I elected to flat as well set mining from the button with

Pot - $3,900
Flop –

The old man led out for $1500 and I elected to flat and let him donk off with AJ or something similar, the hijack seat called as well.

Pot - $7,400
Turn –

He checked to me and I decided to bet to get value, from even his two-pair combo’s and bet $6K – he moved all-in for ~14K.

K10 huh – wow! I didn’t do the math at the table – I guess I should have, but I just thought it to be an obvious tournament call situation. In hindsight though, I had 10 outs, or roughly 20% equity and I really needed 22% equity to continue ($8K/$35.4K) – it’s tight, but I probably should have folded there.

I called and he started whopping a hollering, apparently oblivious to the fact that I still had a decent amount of equity there.

Pot - $~35,400
River –

Shit!

Hand #4 (Level 5)
Blinds (25/150/300) My Stack $33K

I had been being pretty aggressive at the table. As always there was a lot of limping going on and I had been making 4.5X plus raises to punish the limpers all day. Additionally, as usual, if I opened the pot it was for a raise. So, I knew I needed to offset my range a bit. I did get away with two stone cold bluffs from early position throughout the day, one with and the other but I didn’t have to show either of those hands – and only played them at a time where the table had lost interest and was watching football games and stuff like that.

Anyway, there was an open-limp from middle position and I elected to limp with from the hijack as well. I was actually planning on giving those chips away, I was just trying to offset my range and figured I was getting a cheap price to do so; and if something good happens, the so be it. Then the dealer button followed my punishing the limpers lead and raised to $1400. Everyone called back around to me; 3 calls in all and I was looking at $1K/$6.1K. So I flat called as well.

Pot - $7,250
Flop –

Well – ok. It checked around to me and I elected to check – probably with the intent of check raising, but I wanted to be careful there. The original raiser on the button bet $6K. Both blinds folded and the middle position caller reluctantly called the $6K.

Ok, so I thought I was ahead there. I couldn’t put in a King in the buttons’ range, why would he bet, and if he did would he bet near pot? He could have AA maybe, or something like that, but I knew my King was ahead.

Additionally, the middle position player reluctantly called, as I said above, and it was clear he was a non-factor, he would fold. The pot was already around $20K and I only had around $30K behind – I figured they’re all going on one way or another and 3-bet shipped all-in.

The button tanked for two solid minutes and finally called with to take all but $3K of my stack.

Even seeing his hand, I don’t know how he made that call – even if I knew he had K10 I had to have a lot of fold equity in that spot. Seriously, I can’t believe he called and can’t believe even more he led out for near pot on the flop. I don’t get it – maybe I’m missing something here but, shit! I guess he played it right, because that basically ended the day for me.

Hand #5 (Level 5)
Blinds (25/150/300) My Stack $3K

The next hand I was dealt and open shipped all-in. The same player from the hand above called with and spiked an ace to end my day.

It feels like I didn’t do anything wrong - Anyone?

K8K board and you cant belive he called with K10?
this isn't the One drop 1M buy in no one is folding there in this tourney
and he even tanked before calling

RandomRoman said:

K8K board and you cant belive he called with K10?
this isn't the One drop 1M buy in no one is folding there in this tourney
and he even tanked before calling

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Would you call with K10?

That's what I thought.

#1 In level 1 you managed to get 48 out of your 300 BB into the pot with AK. You have a good hand but you should be trying to keep pots relatively small during this stage of the tournament.
#2 I don't mind the way you played this one, although one could argue to raise the flop since it's a bit draw heavy.
#3 well, now I see a trend in you checking a set on draw heavy boards. This is definitely not something you should be risking regularly(especially that AQ diamond flop!). That being said I think someone would stick around if you fired at that flop anyways, probably with a big Ace which I think is easily in one of your opponents ranges.
#4 This was bad. You think because he bet big on the flop that means he can't possibly have a King? You tend to slow play a lot of big hands and that can get you into trouble. He would bluff that flop with a C-bet 80% of the time so why not balance and still bet it when he hits?

Plus he could be scared of spades, and want to milk anyone who comes along trying to hit that flush.

You said it didn't feel like you did anything wrong, but I'd say there's room for some improvement. I think you slow play way too much. And also, there is no such thing as a 100% accurate tell.

SnappyJustin said:

#1 In level 1 you managed to get 48 out of your 300 BB into the pot with AK. You have a good hand but you should be trying to keep pots relatively small during this stage of the tournament.
#2 I don't mind the way you played this one, although one could argue to raise the flop since it's a bit draw heavy.
#3 well, now I see a trend in you checking a set on draw heavy boards. This is definitely not something you should be risking regularly(especially that AQ diamond flop!). That being said I think someone would stick around if you fired at that flop anyways, probably with a big Ace which I think is easily in one of your opponents ranges.
#4 This was bad. You think because he bet big on the flop that means he can't possibly have a King? You tend to slow play a lot of big hands and that can get you into trouble. He would bluff that flop with a C-bet 80% of the time so why not balance and still bet it when he hits?

Plus he could be scared of spades, and want to milk anyone who comes along trying to hit that flush.

You said it didn't feel like you did anything wrong, but I'd say there's room for some improvement. I think you slow play way too much. And also, there is no such thing as a 100% accurate tell.

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We’ll you’re right about the 100% accurate tell thing – but it was pretty damn close to 100% - and it was right there.

I agree that I checked or flat called both of these sets – but don’t mistake that for a leak. This is a pretty small sample size and I had a quality read on both of my opponents when I choose those lines. The set of 3’s example, I had it almost nuts on and I wanted value from AJ. Using Equilab, his range consists of 2/3 made hands that lose to a set of threes and still pay me off – that’s worthy of a passive line. The set of sevens was easy – clearly the line I chose yielded the most value.

#4 – It’s not that I thought he couldn’t have a King, it’s that I thought he didn’t. I didn’t think he would pot in position – he could still be afraid of spades and go half-pot or less nearly every time. But the all-in call is what I found amazing. I didn’t think he had a King, obviously, but even if had seen his hand – I would have done the same thing – my fold equity is through the roof there, and his call is either brilliant, or terrible – you decide; I think I’m +EV there though I realize it’s hard to put a number on fold equity. I know I couldn’t make that call – but I probably don’t pot in position for 1/4 of my stack either; specifically to avoid that spot.

There’s always room for improvement – that’s what we’re doing here; and it’s also pretty easy, in hindsight, to armchair criticize things.

ssbn743 said:

There’s always room for improvement – that’s what we’re doing here; and it’s also pretty easy, in hindsight, to armchair criticize things.

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Well, armchair criticism is what you're asking for.

"I couldn’t put in a King in the buttons’ range, why would he bet"
"It’s not that I thought he couldn’t have a King, it’s that I thought he didn’t."

The real question is why wouldn't he bet if he hits his King here? You're playing an $1,100 tournament, I would think that many players in that field would understand the importance of c-betting. A check would be fishy imo.

Also, you had a guy flat in between you "reluctantly". But you still opted to shove. It's a weird spot, really. Mostly because they are only folding worse hands and calling with better. The best case scenario for this shove is you scare away a flush draw.

And yes, I'd call you with K10. Am I supposed to think you limped in with a better King, or flopped a boat? You certainly wouldn't take these lines with either.

Ultimately I think you underestimated the skill of the field.

SnappyJustin said:

Well, armchair criticism is what you're asking for.

"I couldn’t put in a King in the buttons’ range, why would he bet"
"It’s not that I thought he couldn’t have a King, it’s that I thought he didn’t."

The real question is why wouldn't he bet if he hits his King here? You're playing an $1,100 tournament, I would think that many players in that field would understand the importance of c-betting. A check would be fishy imo.

Also, you had a guy flat in between you "reluctantly". But you still opted to shove. It's a weird spot, really. Mostly because they are only folding worse hands and calling with better. The best case scenario for this shove is you scare away a flush draw.

And yes, I'd call you with K10. Am I supposed to think you limped in with a better King, or flopped a boat? You certainly wouldn't take these lines with either.

Ultimately I think you underestimated the skill of the field.

Click to expand...

You don’t think I could have over-limped KJ, KQ from late position and done the same thing huh? Interesting – because I see that every day.

If skill means calling with K10 there – I guess I’m guilty of underestimating my opponent! But let’s be realistic, that’s not skill – at best he was 50/50 for his stack; I have K7, K8 or KJ, KQ there.

And it’s not a very weird spot at all – if the cards were face-up, you could certainly say that I only get called by better – but they were weren’t, so fold equity becomes a major factor – I should be able to get K10 to fold there; or get him to call with K6 or less. It’s not at all as polarized as you’re suggesting.

Skill…hmmm…please!

ssbn743 said:

You don’t think I could have over-limped KJ, KQ from late position and done the same thing huh? Interesting – because I see that every day.

If skill means calling with K10 there – I guess I’m guilty of underestimating my opponent! But let’s be realistic, that’s not skill – at best he was 50/50 for his stack; I have K7, K8 or KJ, KQ there.

And it’s not a very weird spot at all – if the cards were face-up, you could certainly say that I only get called by better – but they were weren’t, so fold equity becomes a major factor – I should be able to get K10 to fold there; or get him to call with K6 or less. It’s not at all as polarized as you’re suggesting.

Skill…hmmm…please!

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Why would you take that line with KJ or KQ? Why would you want your opponent to fold after betting into you? I think a more appropriate like with KJ/KQ would be check-call, What you're representing doesn't make much sense at all for a hand that would be beating K10.

It seems like you made this post for some type of validation confirming you didn't make any mistakes, rather than you wanting to better your game. And if that's the case, good luck to you. But you misplayed the hand.

ssbn743 said:

Skill…hmmm…please!

Click to expand...

Let's look at it from your opponents perspective.

You check jam after limping in on a K9K 2 spade-flop.

"Would he have AK?" - Definitely not, would've seen a raise pre, would also try to pull more value out of trips with the Ace.

"Could he have KQ KJ?" Yes, although less likely because he knows I could have AK, warranting more of a check-call situation. And if he doesn't put me on AK at all, then he should go for value with the best King. Plus he limped in so that takes some KQ/KJ combos out such as KQ suited.

"Could he have a boat?" Absolutely not. He would try to get value out of more streets.

"Could he have a weaker King or maybe a flush draw?" Yes, and this seems to be most likely, rather than KQ/KJ

I call.


If you want to get better then you're going to have to acknowledge mistakes and learn from them.

You asked for advice saying you didn't feel like you made any mistakes, but you are 3betting with AK in the 1st blind level, slow playing sets on wet boards, and getting it in- in kind of strange spots oop with a mediocre limped King thinking you should be able to get him to fold trips with a better kicker.

EDIT:
And you scoff at the possibility they played more skillful? ...well that certainly couldn't be the case! /s

SnappyJustin said:

Let's look at it from your opponents perspective.

You check jam after limping in on a K9K 2 spade-flop.

"Would he have AK?" - Definitely not, would've seen a raise pre, would also try to pull more value out of trips with the Ace.

"Could he have KQ KJ?" Yes, although less likely because he knows I could have AK, warranting more of a check-call situation. And if he doesn't put me on AK at all, then he should go for value with the best King. Plus he limped in so that takes some KQ/KJ combos out such as KQ suited.

"Could he have a boat?" Absolutely not. He would try to get value out of more streets.

"Could he have a weaker King or maybe a flush draw?" Yes, and this seems to be most likely, rather than KQ/KJ

I call.


If you want to get better then you're going to have to acknowledge mistakes and learn from them.

You asked for advice saying you didn't feel like you made any mistakes, but you are 3betting with AK in the 1st blind level, slow playing sets on wet boards, and getting it in- in kind of strange spots oop with a mediocre limped King thinking you should be able to get him to fold trips with a better kicker.

EDIT:
And you scoff at the possibility they played more skillful? ...well that certainly couldn't be the case! /s

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Look – I never said I didn’t want advice – but you can’t just say the opposite of what I do and call it gospel. It’s very easy, knowing the contents of each hand, to sit back and say “I call with K10…dumbass!”

The fact of the matter is that the pot was already almost the size of my stack – I play any reasonable King the same way, KQ, K7 – it doesn’t matter they’re all going in if I read that my opponent does not have a King – hell, even if I knew he had K10 – either way, I ship. I would even ship K9 there!

He made a hell of a good call, one that I could not have made for my stack – that’s why we do these kinds of things and take these kinds of lines – I’m trying to get a better hand to fold or a worse hand to call. Hence, the “It doesn’t feel like I did anything wrong” statement.

Now, maybe I did – but it was not without thought and I would appreciate a more constructive response if you’re going to criticize. This is not as black and white as you seem to think – a ship is certainly justifiable and a K10 call is most definitely questionable.

First hand: I would not have bet the flop with 2 other players in it. Also, you risked 16 percent of your stack on the first hand of the tourney. Way too early for that. I subscribe to small ball early unless you just have a monster.

Second hand: Well played, but I probably would have led out after the flop with two spades on the board and then shoved the turn as you did with the flush and straight draw potentials. Make the chasers pay.

Third hand: I would have folded that preflop with 3 other players in the hand but I can see why you played it. However, I would have bet that flop with at least a pot bet raise with those two spades on the board and 2 other players still active. Not sure it would have helped you there but at least you would have made the guy pay to chase that gut shot.

Fourth hand: You had 2 chances to fold this fairly weak hand preflop with multiple other players active and didn't. Once that flop hit you were doomed. No way the guy with the fourth king was folding, no matter what his kicker was.

Fifth hand: Just a standard short-stack shove.

Good luck next time. I've only played a handful of live tourneys, so take this with a grain of salt, but I think you might be giving your opponents too much credit. There's just no way a guy with the fourth King is folding that hand, and I would not assume that the other guys understand pot odds, fold equity, bet sizing, etc. in the same manner you do. Making assumptions about others based on your style of play and level of understanding is dangerous.

Good point – I may have given him a little too much credit but, that said, I don’t think he fell off the turnip truck yesterday. Before the event started, I was wading through the paparazzi with my friend Adrian Buckley (God, what a nightmare by the way) and he came up to Adrian and said “what’s up?” and Adrian actually responded like he knew him – you know, he was kind of blowing most everyone off. So, I kind of thought from the start that he was all right – and maybe he is, I still think that was one hell of a call.

For the K7 vs KT hand:

With no raisers preflop, the button with KT can reasonably assume anyone else with a K had a weaker one then he did. I would bet money that he wasn't even the slightest bit worried that you may have his King outkicked. The only reason he tanked was for the possibility that you may hit the flush.

Kekule said:

For the K7 vs KT hand:

With no raisers preflop, the button with KT can reasonably assume anyone else with a K had a weaker one then he did. I would bet money that he wasn't even the slightest bit worried that you may have his King outkicked. The only reason he tanked was for the possibility that you may hit the flush.

Click to expand...

Thank you for that absolutely wonderful expert analysis there – BTW, there was a raise pre-flop (maybe you should read the post huh?).

I’ll be sure and remember your analysis the next time my opponent tanks for 2+ minutes and assume that he is mostly likely uncomfortable with being 70%/30% or better.

ssbn743 said:

Thank you for that absolutely wonderful expert analysis there – BTW, there was a raise pre-flop (maybe you should read the post huh?).

I’ll be sure and remember your analysis the next time my opponent tanks for 2+ minutes and assume that he is mostly likely uncomfortable with being 70%/30% or better.

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I think his point was that there were no raisers pre other than him. Meaning you limped in, and for that reason it's completely reasonable to assume he has the best King with K10..kinda like I've been telling you.

You shouldn't argue with everyone, they're just trying to help you understand your perceived range, which is obviously a concept that is over your head.

SnappyJustin said:

I think his point was that there were no raisers pre other than him. Meaning you limped in, and for that reason it's completely reasonable to assume he has the best King with K10..kinda like I've been telling you.

You shouldn't argue with everyone, they're just trying to help you understand your perceived range, which is obviously a concept that is over your head.

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Exactly. Of course the button raised the limpers. No aggression was shown against the button. He had every right to reasonably assume that KT was ahead there.

@TC: If you had 3bet preflop then the button could have folded the KT. That would have given him reason to believe you might hold KQ, AK, or even 99.

You have to put yourself in the button's position. When you shoved he's trying to put you on a range. What information does he have to make this decision? You limped preflop, and then flatted a small raise. The lack of a 3bet gives him enough reason to eliminate KQ, AK, and 99 from your range. So that leaves you with Kx and spades for the flush draw. Your perceived range at that point is about 12 hands (Kx, x=2-J, QT, JT, and QJ). The only Kx hands that matter are K9 and KJ, and the flush draw is less of a concern unless you had QJs, JTs, or QTs.

So the 2 minutes of tanking are probably devoted to thinking about how many outs you have with QJs, QTs, or JTs; or how likely it is that that you had KJ or K9. In his mind, KT beats 9 of the 12 hands in your range by a good margin. That's a call.

At any rate your whole point of the K7 was to balance your ranges (which you did successfully by the way).

Kekule said:

If you had 3bet preflop then the button could have folded the KT. That would have given him reason to believe you might hold KQ, AK, or even 99.

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Well I don't think most people would limp 3 bet with KQ, the reason I think this hand isn't likely is because the HJ would usually elect to open this hand with just 1 limper. Especially if it's suited, effectively taking several KQ combos out of his range.

The reason this hand was played so poorly in my opinion is the following:

1. He thought his opponent didn't have a King because he C-bet large, even though it was on a flush board.
2. He thought that KJ, KQ, AK, or maybe boat combos should be in his perceived range even though he limp-called and is trying to push people out of the hand.
3. He legitimately thinks K10 should fold and would've done the same thing if he knew for a fact his opponent had K10.
4. He limped with K7h trying to "offset" his range. I guess he wants people to think he plays a wider range of hands making it more difficult to range him? But this tactic is useless because he planned on "giving chips away", meaning he knew it was unlikely he'd see showdown, so no one would see it anyways. Instead, he should be trying to balance his range ie: play weaker hands the same way he'd play stronger hands. Limp-calling a weak hand doesn't balance his range, it unbalances it, making him even more readable.

Ultimately it was a bad move trying to limp K7 in the first place, then he got himself in a position where he was getting 6:1 on a call pre, essentially forcing him to give away these chips unless a miracle comes.

As played, it is a hard hand to get away from, but his overall thought process on the hand needs work.

Most wouldn't limp 3bet KQo you are correct. There are many that would with KQs though, especially against what could look like a weak Button steal. KQs is a fine hand to 3bet the button in such a scenario.

But yes, I completely agree with your analysis. If the TC wanted his perceived range to be something that beats KT there, he would have had to be the initial raiser or 3bet the button.

So yea, balancing his ranges meant playing K7 like he had KQs or AK. Not limping in and then shoving like he had a weak Kx.

You shouldnt bet with AK when the board showed J98
with 33 you should be more aggressive on the flop when you floped a set.

SnappyJustin said:

Well I don't think most people would limp 3 bet with KQ, the reason I think this hand isn't likely is because the HJ would usually elect to open this hand with just 1 limper. Especially if it's suited, effectively taking several KQ combos out of his range.

The reason this hand was played so poorly in my opinion is the following:

1. He thought his opponent didn't have a King because he C-bet large, even though it was on a flush board.
2. He thought that KJ, KQ, AK, or maybe boat combos should be in his perceived range even though he limp-called and is trying to push people out of the hand.
3. He legitimately thinks K10 should fold and would've done the same thing if he knew for a fact his opponent had K10.
4. He limped with K7h trying to "offset" his range. I guess he wants people to think he plays a wider range of hands making it more difficult to range him? But this tactic is useless because he planned on "giving chips away", meaning he knew it was unlikely he'd see showdown, so no one would see it anyways. Instead, he should be trying to balance his range ie: play weaker hands the same way he'd play stronger hands. Limp-calling a weak hand doesn't balance his range, it unbalances it, making him even more readable.

Ultimately it was a bad move trying to limp K7 in the first place, then he got himself in a position where he was getting 6:1 on a call pre, essentially forcing him to give away these chips unless a miracle comes.

As played, it is a hard hand to get away from, but his overall thought process on the hand needs work.

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There we go – holy be-Jesus; we actually have some constructive criticism instead of, “You’re an idiot”.

That was the question and issue the entire time – my thought process was wrong. I found myself in that position trying to anti-NIT my game. But you’re right; how can I offset my range if I never get to showdown?

i.e. Bad decision for wrong reason(s) pre-flop leads to me losing my stack – there we have it.

I think you've had a lot of good advice on this thread, but you've chosen to ignore it and focus on a few negative comments. SnappyJustin has been basically saying the same thing throughout and you're just now getting around to accepting it.

Ask yourself, what were you trying to accomplish by "offsetting" your range? If you are trying to give out false intel to your tablemates, try to avoid multiway pots. You wound up getting into it four-handed. What if you had totally whiffed the flop? How did you intend to reveal those cards at the end so that you can offset your range? Or when you say you were trying to offset your range, do you mean you were just trying to play something you wouldn't normally play to see what would happen?

If you want to offset your range, play J-4o and then slam them down face up when you fold and say, 'I never hit a flop! Never!' That'll fool 'em.