$5 NLHE STT: KK - Early Stages

[JEP712]

$5 NL HE STT: KK - Early Stages

pokerstars No-Limit Hold'em, 5.5 Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (UTG) (t1500)
UTG+1 (t1540)
MP1 (t1245)
MP2 (t1420)
MP3 (t3030)
CO (t1525)
Button (t700)
SB (t1480)
BB (t1060)

Hero's M: 50.00

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K

, K

Hero bets t80, 1 fold, MP1 calls t80, MP2 calls t80, 5 folds

Flop: (t270) 7

, 8

, 7

(3 players)
Hero bets t200, 1 fold, MP2 raises to t600, Hero raises to t1420 (All-In), MP2 calls t740 (All-In)

Turn: (t2950) 7

(2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t2950) 2

(2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t2950

After analyzing, HIGHLIGHT below to see result:
Results:
Hero had K

, K

(full house, sevens over Kings).
MP2 had Q

, Q

(full house, sevens over Queens).
Outcome: Hero won t2950

My thought process:

When I raised 4xBB Preflop from UTG and MP1/MP2 call I put them on a range of 88-JJ or AQs+. If they had QQ+ there would of most likely been a 3bet. Since the blinds were so low 77- could be possible here but because both players were out of position any decent player would of dumped that range.

So the flop comes 787 rainbow and I'm sure I have both other players dominated. I bet out about 75% of the pot to make it look like a standard cBet, hoping to stack any over-card - lower than kings of course!

After the flop cBet, MP1 folds and MP2 3bets. Now I'm positive I have this hand won. The only hand that has me crushed are AA/88/77 or for a split, KK. At this point I take AA/KK out of the picture because villain would of 3bet preflop. If villain had 88 or even 77 he would of most likely flatted. The reason why villain would flat with 88/77 is to let me fire on the turn and river with over pairs or to extract more if I was holding a missed hand like AK/AQ. So after villain 3bets, I take out 88/77 although it's still slightly possible and if has it I'm just going to let him stack me. Nothing I can really do about it.

I shoved because villain is pretty much committed and I really didn't want to let another card peel without putting maximum pressure.

I felt I played the hand well but was concerned about my shove. I'm concerned because what if the villain folds in this spot? Would I extracted more if I just flat called his 3bet?

Thanks for taking the time to analyze this hand and let me know if I'm approaching this situation from the right mindset and with proper reasoning.

 

[new2poker]

I think you were right to shove.

I think your pre-flop reasoning would be fine against good players. I don't play at poker stars. I don't know if the standard of players is different at different sites.

If I was playing at that stake in the early stages of a $5 tournament, I wouldn't read too deeply into player's possible starting hands based on calling a preflop raise. Where I play in the early stages of a $5 tournament, there are players who would call your preflop raise with any ace, including A7.

Nevertheless, I think you were right to shove.

If he has any pocket pair above a 7, I think all the chips would end up in the pot anyway. If he has a 7, I think all the chips would end up in the pot as well.

If he is pot-committed as you say, he may call with hands like AK, AQ and possibly even worse hands, thinking that he wins if he hits any of the 2 cards. So, he would be getting the worst possible odds to draw for an Ace when you shove.

Let's say you flat call his 3 bet and he is drawing. He may fold on the turn if he misses his draw because of the reduced probablity of him hitting his card. He may bluff at the pot on the turn, but you can't guarantee it.

The other reason, I like the shove is because, you don't have any difficult decisions after that. If you don't shove and the turn or river card is an ace, you might have a difficult decision.

He might represent the ace even if he doesn't have one which would lead to a difficult decision for you. You might represent the ace and he might fold if he doesn't have one. This would lose you chips compared to shoving earlier.

Alternatively, if an ace hits on the turn and neither of you have one, it might slow both of you down. If he has a lower pocket pair such as 99, TT or QQ, you would extract less money relative to shoving.

 

[Poker Orifice]

If he folds in this spot he is just terrible (after committing this much of his stack).
Also, in the $5 STT/SNG on Stars I really think you're giving villains wayyyy too tight of range here (yes, that is typically what we'd expect although we'd have to include 22+ as well.. cuz for sure they're set-mining in any position in most cases... never contemplating that a player in later position might 3-bet them off their hand.. or where it wouldn't be +EV to set mine any longer... although my guess is they'd still flat there too.. even in CC games you see ALOT of players who'll call off 1/3 of their stack hoping to flop a set... although lots of them are poor sng players no doubt).

The thinking/thought process through the hand is fine (imo)... just that I think you really need to assign villain's ALOT looser range here (unless you have history with them or know they're a reg.....(or have checked their stats, lol).

 

[Poker Orifice]

Yah.. STT/SNG.. never flat here. If an A comes on the turn you're going to lose value (it might shut him down... & also puts you in a tougher spot... so avoid that & just shove)

 

[OzExorcist]

100% standard shove.

I think you might be giving your opponents a bit too much credit with your reasoning here though. Absent any solid reads on the villain this can be a lot wider than 88-JJ / AQ+. In my experience this can be any pair, probably any ace (often sooted), two broadway and sometimes other random crap besides. The fact they didn't three-bet preflop suggests it's probably not QQ+, but that range isn't out of the question either because stupid people flat that range all the time preflop for all sorts of stupid reasons. That's how I'd interpret that action from an average opponent at this level.

Be happy to get your money in on any flop that doesn't contain an ace, there's loads of worse stuff that will pay you off (any overpair, 8x, sometimes draws, big aces or two overs) and it'll more than make up for the times you run into AA/88/7x.

 

[cjatud2012]

3-bet shoving is way better than flatting, good move imo. The guy would only become more suspicious if you flatted his raise on the flop. You're really not losing value by shoving anyway, he calls all pairs 99+, maybe even 22-66 if he's really loose or you have a bad image.

 

[Poker Orifice]

or you have a bad image.

He's got his starting stack, blinds are 10/20... how could he? (just sayin')

 

[cjatud2012]

He's got his starting stack, blinds are 10/20... how could he? (just sayin')

that's definitely true, but maybe he's played with the person before. It's just something else to consider.