bad play?

[pmc 0]

was in a live tourney yesterday. 550 buy in. 23,000 for first place. paid up to 18 spots. its the tenth level and blinds r 800/400 with 150 ante. i have about 11,000 and i'm in the cutoff and everyone folds to me. the big blind was the biggest stack to my left with what appeared to be about 7,000. i moved all in. the button and small blind folds and big blind calls all in for his tournament life with pocket 4's. i had 9 5 of spades. i lost the hand and instead of the big blind having 7,000, he had 9,200......ouch! i could have just raised to 3,000 and he probaly would have moved all in on me and i could lay it down and still have 8,000. but then of course, moving all in forces the players to my left to have a strong hand to call and chances r, i steal the 2500 out on the table. i prefer to make strong moves but a 3,000 raise didnt seem like a bad idea either. what do u guys think? personally, i think the big blinds call was terrible but thats beside the point.

[Pudge714 0]

It's a very bad play you have 13 bbs a bad hand and there are three people to act behind you. You can definetly wait for a better shot. I agree that the BB's call was bad because he wasn't beating anythin. That said it's a very bad push by way you and you should definetly wait for a better spot.

[dead money 1]

That was a pretty bad play. Dont over commit yourself in tournies, unless you are the worst player at the table. Why raise all in? Why put so many chips at risk? It doesnt seem like a smart move to me. If you are a decent player, you should strive to play on the flop. This is where good players have their biggest advantage.

[Davin 0]

was in a live tourney yesterday. 550 buy in. 23,000 for first place. paid up to 18 spots. its the tenth level and blinds r 800/400 with 150 ante. i have about 11,000 and i'm in the cutoff and everyone folds to me. the big blind was the biggest stack to my left with what appeared to be about 7,000. i moved all in. the button and small blind folds and big blind calls all in for his tournament life with pocket 4's. i had 9 5 of spades. i lost the hand and instead of the big blind having 7,000, he had 9,200......ouch! i could have just raised to 3,000 and he probaly would have moved all in on me and i could lay it down and still have 8,000. but then of course, moving all in forces the players to my left to have a strong hand to call and chances r, i steal the 2500 out on the table. i prefer to make strong moves but a 3,000 raise didnt seem like a bad idea either. what do u guys think? personally, i think the big blinds call was terrible but thats beside the point.

i feel a raise would have been as effective in stealing as an all-in bet. it also forces the blinds to have a big hand (since they'd assume you'd call bc you'd be getting almost 3-1 odds on your money). if you had a legitimate hand, all in would be the best choice. but as a steal, a raise would have been better

[zimmer4141 0]

Yeah, this is definitely a bad move. With only 13BBs left, I doubt I would even steal here, and wait for a spot to get in with a big hand. Read my last couple blogs for a good overview of tournament strategy with different stacks.

[pmc 0]

yeah, i cant blame anyone for saying its a bad move but the blinds were going up to 500/1000 with a 200 ante and i just dont like to fall being under ten times the big blind but thats just me. i like to stay ahead of the curve. also, the next hand was going to be the chip leaders big blind and i certainly wasnt going to try and make a move against him. with that said, i saw an oppuritunity to make a move. also, these guys know i'm a solid player who hadnt played a hand for the past 50 minutes. with all that in the equation, i was happy with the outcome even though i could have waited but like i said, its not my style to sit and wait and let the value of my cards dictate my actions. i try to look deeper and take advantage of situations. heck, the real strength in poker is not so much what u hold but what "they" think u hold. if i let that situation go by, from my experience, i would feel thats a mistake. u know, there is soooo much luck in these tourneys. its awful hard to just skill yur way to first place. if u feel i'm still wrong, let me have it then. thanks for the blog zimmer.

[SCYUKON 0]

I am a newbie, but I often watch the end of the Sunday tourney on PSTARS. More often than not, when the blinds get really big (like described in this scenario), people just push all in rather than 3 x BB and then get played with. You can usually watch from like 100 players down to the final table and never see a flop, unless there is like AK vs QQ.So this all-in strategy seems to be the way others are going at that stage of a tourney. The other advantage I see from this play is that with 95, a call with a fairly strong hands is less likely to be dominated. As opposed to say, pushing with A10 and someone wakes up with AK (GASP).Anyways, I don't think it was so bad a play based on what I see every weekend in the big Pstars tourny.SC

[Craftsy21 0]

i think all in was the right move, but you just had the wrong hand to do it with... you need to make a move because you only have an M of about 4.5 if i read this correctly, but you can wait for a better spot - maybe get at least one high card in your hand... ?

[shpaget 0]

BB's call isn't terrible - he can put you on anything that is not a pocket pair and be a coin flip (but leading)...if he's lucky you did this with A2, A3 and he's 2:1...either way he's pretty certain he's leading here and I might call too, though not always.Your play is terrible. Even if the blinds are about to go up, they're past you and you've got several hands to make a move...yeah, I don't like being under 10x the BB either, but it's better to wait until even 8x the BB for a better hand than to make a move here with that garbage...do it with a blackjack 20 hand, or any ace, or any pair, but not 95.Here's something to keep in mind (not necessarily live by it, but be congnizant of it)...if everyone has folded in front of you, meaning they have crap, it might increase the possibility that someone behind you has a hand.But yes, if you're set on stealing here, a raise to 2500-3000 will get the job done...if he raises you fold...if he calls you're in good shape, because I'm willing to bet the flop would have been very scary for 44....if he checks, check or put him all in...if he checks the turn, definitely put him all in then.But, by far, your best play is to fold.

[LPY2005 0]

I don't mind the play that much. If your table image is extremely tight there is no way I'm calling your bet in the BB with pocket 4's. Sure, with pocket 4's you may be a coinflip to overcards, but you may be a 4:1 dog to an overpair. I'm not risking my tournament on that to a guy that hasn't played a hand in almost an hour. Unless you play a lot of hands or are known to steal the blinds I give you credit for a much bigger hand. His call was extremely loose. I do however reserve this play for short-handed play, when it is more important to steal the blinds. Short handed you have to steal every now and then regardless of what you are holding. The blinds are too big and come around too often to wait for pemium cards to steal with. Besides with the antes in there it can add up quite fast. At a full table you still had lots of time to pick a better hand.While not a terrible play, IMO, I would have mucked these cards and waited for a better spot. Even though the call was loose, you were still risking the button or blinds waking up with a monster when you didn't need to. He could have just as easily had 10's instead of 4's and had you completely dominated.

[KVOM 0]

You didn't mention how many players were left and your then current position. It's hard to be definitive w/o that info.