UTG/Early Pos play

Venom246 · Nov 17, 2010

What do you do with the following hands AJ,A10,KQ,KJ,JQ UTG or in Early position? Do you play them at all?

Lets say you are playing a 180 man Sng, your stack is 3k and the blinds are 25/50. You get dealt one of the hands above.

Do you fold,limp or raise?

Im pretty sure that folding AJ even utg is the right play, but i dont really do it very often.

I want your opinions please, and do you play low pairs from early pos, what is your open range?

10058765 · Nov 17, 2010

Hi,
I've been thinking about it and most of the time I just fold all those hands in EP.
Same for the low pairs.
If people are raising light preflop I just fold them right away cause I don't want to pay to much for set mining.
If I've seen very little raises preflop in previous hands I might limp to try to setmine.
If I don't hit the flop it'll be cf.

Venom246 · Nov 17, 2010

A long time ago, i never even pushed preflop with AK ..At anytime..I played so tight,and i did win a lot..I had patience..Thats history now..I tend to get bored when im not playing at very high high stakes.

I probably shouldnt be playing at all with that attitude, but i just cant stop it!

Im addicted to the rush of winning thousands of dollars!

I really feel like pokerstars is punishing me at the time, but it might just be me who plays really bad at the moment.

Venom246 · Nov 18, 2010

*Bump* If thats allowed.

I really would like others opinion on this aswell.

Venom246 · Nov 23, 2010

Im sure there is anyone here who can give me some input on this issue?

Much appreciated if you could give me a minute of your time to help me with this.

Shady Vision · Nov 23, 2010

Venom246 said:
What do you do with the following hands AJ,A10,KQ,KJ,JQ UTG or in Early position? Do you play them at all?

Lets say you are playing a 180 man Sng, your stack is 3k and the blinds are 25/50. You get dealt one of the hands above.

Do you fold,limp or raise?

Im pretty sure that folding AJ even utg is the right play, but i dont really do it very often.

I want your opinions please, and do you play low pairs from early pos, what is your open range?

First off my statements exclude the AT mentioned unless suited.

At those early stages of a tourney that you described I'm definitely limping in to see a flop and hoping for some action. The more people in the pot, the more potential chips that can head your way.

Mid tourney I'm probably raising with those hands to at least 2x the BB as I don't feel that limping when the blind levels get too high is really worth it unless you have a big stack.

Late in a tourney those are hands worth shoving with if the pot hasn't been heavily bet into.

10058765 · Nov 23, 2010

Shady Vision said:
First off my statements exclude the AT mentioned unless suited.

At those early stages of a tourney that you described I'm definitely limping in to see a flop and hoping for some action. The more people in the pot, the more potential chips that can head your way.

There are no people in the pot yet and many to act so you'll not be sure you'll see the flop cheap. On the flop you're almost first or even first to act with hardly any info on the other players.

Mid tourney I'm probably raising with those hands to at least 2x the BB as I don't feel that limping when the blind levels get too high is really worth it unless you have a big stack.

Late in a tourney those are hands worth shoving with if the pot hasn't been heavily bet into.

I'm sure the pot has not been heavily bet into if I'm UTG

TheKAAHK · Nov 23, 2010

With the hands you listed in the OP, I would fold without any hesitation unless one of two criteria are met: The table is so weak/passive that I feel I can raise/c-bet and take down the pot at least %90 of the time. OR, there is one or two short stacks behind me whi I feel will shove over a limp, but not into a raise. Otherwise I see no point in playing them.

For example, last night I won a $2 rebuy on FT. One thing I did religiously was to fold hands like A10-AQos, K10-KQ, and any pair lower than 77. Anything bigger I would open raise (UTG) and play accordingly. I found myself in alot less marginal situations than ever before and was able to avoid those easy pitfalls of being out-kicked and firing c-bets, or any bets into a better hand. I found that nitting up a bit in early position allowed me to have more chips when I woke up with those marginal hands in later position and thus was able to be more aggressive with them.

Suited Frenzy · Nov 23, 2010

Being you are asking about a MTT situation, w/ these hands, I never limp, hardly raise & almost always fold.

Bwammo · Nov 23, 2010

Yeah I would avoid those hands from EP, especially from UTG. To be honest you can lump AQ into that category as well. Position is everything.

Charade You Are · Nov 23, 2010

The easy answer is fold. Same with low pps. Unless you have a really good feel for the table and players, normally not worth bleeding chips with these.

Venom246 · Nov 23, 2010

TheKAAHK said:
With the hands you listed in the OP, I would fold without any hesitation unless one of two criteria are met: The table is so weak/passive that I feel I can raise/c-bet and take down the pot at least %90 of the time. OR, there is one or two short stacks behind me whi I feel will shove over a limp, but not into a raise. Otherwise I see no point in playing them.

For example, last night I won a $2 rebuy on FT. One thing I did religiously was to fold hands like A10-AQos, K10-KQ, and any pair lower than 77. Anything bigger I would open raise (UTG) and play accordingly. I found myself in alot less marginal situations than ever before and was able to avoid those easy pitfalls of being out-kicked and firing c-bets, or any bets into a better hand. I found that nitting up a bit in early position allowed me to have more chips when I woke up with those marginal hands in later position and thus was able to be more aggressive with them.

Thx a lot for your outfilling answer, do you coach? i would love to hear some more.

Venom246 · Nov 23, 2010

Thx to everyone, i can see that there are mixed feelings about how to play the hands,and thats great cause it gets my head grinding! Keep em coming guys!

TheKAAHK · Nov 23, 2010

Venom246 said:
Thx a lot for your outfilling answer, do you coach? i would love to hear some more.

You are welcome. But no, I don't generally coach. I do coach my father and a few friends on situational mindsets for micro tourneys. And have helped them have some minor success.

I don't consider myself at the level needed to be a coach, especially on this forum. But I have been doing considerable review of my own game as well as general theory in certain areas where I feel my game has leaks (and consequently leaks I see my opponents making). If you want you can PM me with other questions of situations you might have and I can do my best to walk you through them, but I am sure there are others far more qualified than myself.

Shady Vision · Nov 24, 2010

10058765 said:
I'm sure the pot has not been heavily bet into if I'm UTG

D'oh! Late night tired posting got the better of me....

cjatud2012 · Nov 24, 2010

Venom246 said:
Thx a lot for your outfilling answer, do you coach? i would love to hear some more.

Bwammo said:
Yeah I would avoid those hands from EP, especially from UTG. To be honest you can lump AQ into that category as well. Position is everything.

^^ he does! https://www.cardschat.com/forum/learning-poker-57/coaches-check-here-if-you-need-187232/

(you're welcome for the plug

)

To answer the OP, at a full table your best bet is to just fold them.

Bwammo · Nov 25, 2010

lol thanks for the plug

Venom246 · Nov 28, 2010

cjatud2012 said:
^^ he does! https://www.cardschat.com/forum/learning-poker-57/coaches-check-here-if-you-need-187232/

(you're welcome for the plug )

To answer the OP, at a full table your best bet is to just fold them.

Hehe, im a member there. Great site,but i would like a more personal coach

I really appreciate all the answers to my question, i realize that i actually knew it all myself before i asked it. I need to tighten up my game a bit, and play less hands. Those hands i never called or raised with before, the reason i do it now is because of my (hidden) tilt! If people are wondering how long a person can go on tilt for, PM me, and you will be amazed!!

kmixer · Nov 28, 2010

Except for AJ (suited) these hands are all in the muck in my opinion at this blink level and from UTG. Depending on the table I am likely folding even AJs.

Venom246 said:
What do you do with the following hands AJ,A10,KQ,KJ,JQ UTG or in Early position? Do you play them at all?

Lets say you are playing a 180 man Sng, your stack is 3k and the blinds are 25/50. You get dealt one of the hands above.

Do you fold,limp or raise?

Im pretty sure that folding AJ even utg is the right play, but i dont really do it very often.

I want your opinions please, and do you play low pairs from early pos, what is your open range?

Venom246 · Nov 28, 2010

Thats what i assumed also, im sure thats the right play. Thx for the input guys!

UTG/Early Pos play

Venom246

Rock Star

10058765

Legend

Venom246

Rock Star

Venom246

Rock Star

Venom246

Rock Star

Shady Vision

Rock Star

10058765

Legend

TheKAAHK

CardsChat Elite

Suited Frenzy

CardsChat Elite

Bwammo

DragTheBar Coach

Charade You Are

you can call me Frost

Venom246

Rock Star

Venom246

Rock Star

TheKAAHK

CardsChat Elite

Shady Vision

Rock Star

cjatud2012

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Bwammo

DragTheBar Coach

Venom246

Rock Star

kmixer

Legend

Venom246

Rock Star

About CardsChat

Our Community

Our Site