$11 NLHE MTT: Q9s in SB vs short-stack UTG all-in vs chip leader in BU

[RodrigoCL]

Villian Stats (VPIP/PFR/AF): 32/16/18

It is the middle phase of a regular online freezout tournament ($11 buy-in) top 13 get paid and there are around 20 players left out of a pool of almost 100 entrants. There are 3 tables left, each one short-handed. This particular table was 7-handed at the time of this hand. I am sitting with 23 big blinds and have been playing TAG in a table almost full of regs. UTG is all-in with 3bb. The button calls (he has a strong stack of almost 50bb and is currently chip leader in the tournament), and I decide to call with Q9s in the SB. BB calls too and it's a 4-way flop.

Below is the hand until the turn (the river card is irrelevant since there are no more bets possible, my bet on the turn is for the rest of my stack), then my thought process and finally my question for help.

888 Poker - $10+$1|300/600 Ante 70 NL - Holdem - 7 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: 3.32 BB (VPIP: 18.64, PFR: 8.93, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 59)
UTG+1: 17.42 BB (VPIP: 30.00, PFR: 12.24, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 53)
MP: 21.56 BB (VPIP: 10.00, PFR: 10.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 20)
CO: 5.77 BB (VPIP: 40.00, PFR: 22.22, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 20)
BTN: 50.06 BB (VPIP: 31.82, PFR: 15.91, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 44)
Hero (SB): 23.32 BB
BB: 15.23 BB (VPIP: 38.00, PFR: 10.20, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 52)

7 players post ante of 0.12 BB, Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.32 BB) Hero has 9♣ Q♣

UTG raises to 3.2 BB, fold, fold, fold, BTN calls 3.2 BB, Hero calls 2.7 BB, BB calls 2.2 BB

Flop: (13.63 BB, 4 players) Q♥ J♠ J♦
Hero bets 6.82 BB, fold, BTN calls 6.82 BB

Turn: (27.26 BB, 3 players) 9♥
Hero bets 13.18 BB, BTN calls 13.18 BB

I hit the flop with TP and decided to bet 1/2 the pot. BB folds and button calls. The turn is a 9 that does not improve my hand but instead opens some draws for my opponents. I am committed to the pot with just 13bb behind and I pushed because:

a) I am not concerned by the holding of the initial shover, since he went all in with such a small stack.
b) The big stack had been playing recklessly in previous hands and got lucky a couple times (for ex: he 4bet all-in preflop with A3o against a 3bet from the SB who had pocket kings and covered him in chips. The turn gave him an ace and that's when he became chip leader). So I am not giving him credit with a strong holding. I'm not putting him on any top pair (QQ+), not even on an Ace with a good kicker. He floated all my bets, so either he had a small-mid pair or Ax/Kx, where X is anything but a good card.

- Do you see any different lines I should have taken?
- Is my holding a hand you would just fold preflop in middle phase?
- Once you hit the flop, what would be a better play?

Thank you all, your input is so welcome.

 

[Ambur]

Fold preflop is standard! imo. I would not get involved with your stack size+OOP+BTN is postflop happy LAG+BB is just happy calling station probably!

Second possibilty is just go AI preflop! Never will call in your position!

Summary: fold preflop, do not get involved!

 

[PBG789]

Agree with Ambur - Fold pre-flop is definitely the play for me. Getting involved with a marginal hand OOP with your chip stack is asking for trouble. Jamming is an option but not one I would seriously consider and a 3-bet is unlikely to go uncalled with this villain.

As played once you hit on the flop you get into exactly the kind of awkward situation that could have easily been avoided. You have no idea what the villain could be holding and there are certainly plenty of hands with a J in his range and plenty of draws like K10. On this board I am leaning toward a check and hoping for a check back and trying to get to showdown without committing any more chips but pretty much folding to any bet. I know this is really passive (and unlikely with this villain) but, as you rightly say, the minute you put in the bet you are more or less pot committed.

On the turn once the villain has called your flop bet I'm not sure where you get your read on the villain from. Sure he could have Ax or Kx but he could just as easily have KJ J10 - you really don't have anything to base this on. Putting yourself in the villains shoes for a second hero has flatted pre then led out on the flop. Would hero do that with a J against him in this situation? Probably not... If villain does have a J or a draw a flat call, which will look like a float, is exactly what you would expect as villain will be fully aware that hero is likely to be pot committed.

As played not sure what else you could do on the turn but I would like it even less at that point as the 9 brings home K10 and 108 and opens up flush possibilities on the river. The villain call is almost inevitable.

I'll be interested to see the result in due course (regardless this will not change my thinking) but with 7 to go to the bubble against a LAG OOP with 23BB this should have been a straightforward pre flop fold.

 

[Jacki Burkhart]

folding preflop is the preferred line to avoid exactly what happened.

Once you arrive at the flop, this is pretty much a strong enough hand to go with vs. the style of the big stack...but I see no value in betting the flop...you're either way ahead or way behind. if he has been reckless then let him bet it for you. Then I would plan to check raise all in to his flop bet. You get extra value from his air and draws and if he has a jack you'll lose either way but at least you win some chips off the other parts of his range.

 

[bremensha]

seeing a cheap flop is ok for me. But falling in love with 2 jacks in sight is not necessary. A small pot is asked for.

 

[RodrigoCL]

Your answers make so much sense. I took the wrong decisions. Why? I saw this guy go from an average stack to chip leader with pure LUCK. I wanted a bit of that luck myself but THAT was my mistake.

Well, so just for you to know the outcome, the short stack had AJo, connecting trips on the flop. I was not concerned about him since he had only 3bb. The bigstack villain showed KT. On the flop he had an open-ended that completed with the 9 on the turn, taking 26 big blinds for his stack.

I must admit this hand really hurt. I was playing fine solid poker until then. I was almost sure I was making it ITM and FT. But one mistake can cost a tournament life as it happened here. And I guess these mistakes tend to occur when your mindset deviates from the optimum.

So I take two lessons: one the hand itself (hand, position, effective stack size, flop texture, etc) and -most important I guess- the MINDSET.

I once again appreciate all your inputs, they are really valuable to me. Feel free to keep on commenting or adding information about the hand itself or anything related to this game play.

Cheers 2 you all.