jmbreslin

How small are the stakes? I'm not sure how often players in small stakes SnG's actively defend their blinds with raises like this, so I'm going to guess he re-raised PF with KK. His small flop bet most likely says, "I have a hand worth betting but I'm scared of that Ace; I'm going to throw out a small bet and see what he does." I'd use your position and put some pressure on him by reraising a decent amount - you'd probably take the pot right there.

Odds of flopping a flush are 0.8%. That's damn low.I think in this situation you have to proceed as though the flush doesn't exist and play accordingly. Throw out your standard flop bet and see how he responds.

I guess what I don't understand is that by checking the turn and letting him bet on the river you don't know whether he has the A, a J, or is throwing out a bluff bet. Wouldn't you only want to induce a river bet if you know you're ahead?

Could some of you explain to me the benefit of check-raising in this situation? It's probably the one aspect of the game of which I have the least solid understanding. Thanks.

Gives you more information, doesn't it? Now you're stuck wondering, does he have the Ace or did he miss his draw? Lots of players will incorrectly call bets on the flop when chasing a draw, but they're less likely to call an additional turn bet. If I am ahead in this situation, I'd much rather take down the pot on the turn than hope he misses his draw and throws out a bluff on the river.

That's true, I'm giving players at this level too much credit again...

He's a LAG player and his M is down to about 6, so he's pretty desperate. He could be pushing with pretty much anything to steal the blinds. Like offset said, you're ahead of most of the hands he could be pushing with, you have the opportunity to go heads-up with him since everyone else has folded, and you can do so without risking any more than the original call. Winning this hand will bump you up in the chip standings, while losing it will hurt but won't kill you. You'll still have more than 10BB to work with. I say stand up to him.

I think if he called with Ax, he probably would have bet out on the flop. Looks more likely that he was chasing the heart draw and then decided to throw out a bluff on the river when you showed weakness on the turn. Which leads to the question: why did you check through on the turn? Why not keep up the pressure? If he called your bet on the turn, he probably would have checked the river giving you the opportunity to go to showdown.

Limping in with 76 in scenario 1? How often are you going to hit a flop that you'll actually be able to do something with? That strikes me as being a pretty good way to put yourself in push/fold territory very quickly, no?

How often would players slowplay a set in EP's situation? Maybe he figures a raise makes it too obvious that he's hit his set so he's taking a chance that Hero will call and then he can get more aggressive on the turn if a non-diamond hits. How likely would this play be?

By "normally" you mean you would make standard raises rather than pushing?

Actually, I was looking for advice related to different blind/stack scenarios at the endgame. I'm familiar with the SAGE system when the small stack is less than 10BB, but what about when SAGE doesn't apply?For example, let's assume that at the start of heads-up play the blinds are 100/200 (no antes) and the following scenarios:1) Hero has about 3000 chips, Villian about 105002) Hero and Villan are both about 7000 chips3) Hero has about 10500, Villain 3000How do you adjust your strategy for each type of scenario?

I know aggression is the right strategy when playing heads-up, and I know that when you're the shortstack you're in push/fold mode, but I'm less clear about heads-up strategy when the stacks are more equal or when you're the larger stack. Should you still be in push/fold mode, or are there times when it is appropriate to call first-in or make smaller raises?Thanks.

Thank you, much appreciated.

Although I think some of the posts have been unnecessarily rude and sarcastic, some of you have made some good points in response to my post. The truth is that I just started playing recently but I've been reading a lot and scanning this and other forums. Sometimes I use the forums to test ideas by seeing how a community of more experienced players responds. Clearly the overwhelming consensus is that not pushing in this situation is wrong! It wasn't a pride thing but obviously I was letting my fear of losing all my chips on the first hand overshadow the statistics. I have to learn to trus

Actually, no, I would not push all in PF with AA on the first hand. In fact, I be more likely to push in the situation described in the original post than with AA PF.

How many opponents?

Fine, but that's very different than saying there is no risk in pushing in this situation. Yes, the odds are strongly in his favor, but there is still a 20% chance he'll lose. I'm not prepared to take that chance on the first hand of the game.

I'm waiting for the fish to die off, waiting until I have some information on my opponents, waiting until doubling up puts me in a better position. I personally have no interest in the possibility of getting knocked out on the first hand of a SnG.

I never said anything about making small bets. There is a huge middle ground between small bets and pushing all in on the first hand. Pushing in this situation is a huge overbet, in my opinion. He could have given his opponent the wrong odds to call without pushing.

I'm going to go against the grain here and disagree with the push on the turn. I just don't see the point in putting all your money in the pot so early in a SnG because you simply don't need to take that kind of risk. Players do all kinds of stupid things in low level SnG's so his play isn't all that shocking. There are a lot of players who are willing to put all their chips in the pot in the first few hands in the hopes of completing a draw, and you got bit by one. The middle stage is the time in the SnG to take these kinds of risks to double up, not the first hand.

I agree. Your table image is aggressive and you've raised on the button, so his call could simply be a blind defense against your steal, hoping he'll hit something on the flop. He could have flopped bottom pair, or perhaps completed the flush on the turn (though I agree that he probably would have thrown out a big bet on the flop with the flush draw). The fact that he bet on the river after you called his turn bet tells me that he must have hit something.

If you're willing to raise to 1200 in this situation, then might as well push. That reraise amounts to about 25% of your stack, and leaves you with less than 10BB. If you're willing to make that large a raise bhere /c you think your hand is good, I say go all the way.

I don't like the all-in check-raise. You've identified BB as a tight aggressive player, which means he could easily be holding a pocket pair higher than 77 - making Hero's 2 pair a significant dog. Even if he just has two high overcards, he still has a decent number of outs to hit a higher 2 pair. I don't think Hero's hand is strong enough with that flop for such a move.

I still think the small raise rules out the lower end of that range. He was looking for action.