??Please explain criticism??

[Britter2]

Hi everyone, pretty new to the forms and I had a question. Its a $3 dollar pokerstars 45 player tournament. I have an above average stack, but not much, its the beginning of the tournament, blinds are small 2nd round. I don't like to mess around in the beginning of a tournament..soo

I have AQ late/middle position. I just call with one other limper behind me. One more caller then the big blind raises. He had less chips then me. I want to take the pot, then and there. The pot now because of the callers previously and the raises is decent enough to take down (by the way the other caller folded and I wasn't worried about the late postion caller). Like I said, I dont want to mix it up in a flop and I like to keep pots small, this was getting out of hand. So to take it down I re-raised, I suspected late position, AJ, A10, K10...(from his past play and betting habits) no way he'd call. He did..(by the way if he went all in I would have folded...probably, bc of past betting habits again) so anyways we are all in, he had AJ, I take down the pot..

Now I understand all-in preflop, stupid move I'll give ya that, but his comments were that I was an idiot for limping early in a tournament with AQ...(hes out by the way, and if I'm an idiot for raising with AQ, why did he call with AJ?) ..if I raised, everyone folds, I win what?? 50 chips?

Please let me know what you think. Honesty is the best policy.

 

[dj11]

Ignore stuff like that. It was a sour grapes comment made in the heat of battle. His method suggests a quick up or get out strategy. Not one I favor.
I am not sure, because I don't have a bankroll to speak of, but I would guess the guy has too much money on his hands and little time and thinks anything less than an big early lead is a waste of time.

We all know those type seldom last long in any tourney.

I am also a fan of the limp strike.

 

[rob5775]

Hard to give super great advice without bet/raise sizes, but here goes nothing.

Early levels I don't mind a limp with AQ when there are several limpers already (whoa, limpede!), but with only one EP limper I like to raise to hopefully isolate the limper or win the pot right there. The BB noticed the limpede and probably decided to steal (AJ is not a great hand contrary to many peoples notion) and scoop up the chips.

This is where it gets tricky without bet sizes. I'm assuming the blinds are around 20/40. If BB makes a huge raise to around 400, then 3 betting or any significant re-raise pot commits you. Then you have to decide if you are willing to risk your tourney life on AQ (figuring in how likely BB will make the call and his range). Now if he makes a minimum raise to 80 a 3-bet re-raise from you is nowhere near as pot committing and if he shoves you can still get away from the hand without losing a huge amount of chips.

You never said if you re-raised him all-in, but I suspect you did since you said you would have folded if he shoved first.

I prefer raising the AQ initially. Limping along lets someone else snag the initiative and aggression, putting pressure on you instead of vice versa. If BB had been constantly raising limpers, then I like the limp reraise... but if you don't have that read on players to act behind, just raise it up.

 

[lemuring]

The other advantage to the pre-flop raise is the information. Early in tournamets with loose cannons this is less true, ad you will have to play from your gut a little bit more, but the later you get the more informatio it gives you.
The limp protects some chips and keeps pots smaller, but it leaves you blind and its hard to read a player youve ever seen before knowing that he limped. He could have any two cards, but you need to know which two, or at least how strong.
You can limp and there are pros to doing it early but in middle/middle-late position its a lame duck move.

 

[Chris_TC]

I don't like the limp with AQ. You should raise it like 95% of the time. It's not nearly strong enough for a limp/raise.

 

[jaketrevvor]

I don't like the limp with AQ. You should raise it like 95% of the time. It's not nearly strong enough for a limp/raise.

I think it depends on how the table is playing - if it's loose enough that someone will pop it a lot of the time vs limpers with AJ then it might be justifiable and similarly if they're tight enough to fold AK/JJ to a limp/rr then I can also see an argument for this move, though in general it's borderline.

I like the call with AJ a lot less though

 

[Kenzie 96]

What dj said.

 

[paulie]

Surprised it won stars AQ usually sucks on stars

 

[Britter2]

thanks for the input guys, much appreciated

 

[JRaD]

Yeah don't listen to those nincompoops and I agree with paulie AQ never holds up for me lol but KQ is another story... anyways... yeah don't let them get you down, you play your game and make the right reads, feel the table and don't get affected by the bad mannered players