quiz question #5

[njtitans16 0]

Hmmm. This is a real tough one, but I'll have to go with the minimum raise. Here is why (first by deduction)....For one, folding doesn't seem reasonable considering you have a semi-decent hand at great position. Calling doesnt really achieve anything and you'll either get pushed or have to hit a lucky flop and you wanna steal this one if possible. Now for all-in and min raise....Here's what an all-in achieves...You definitely have the potential to steal, but theres always a chance the BB hits a good hand and youre screwed, same with SB. SB will call with a gamut of hands and against your A7 you can be anywhere from favorite, to coinflip, to small dog (unless of course he holds a monster).For min raise...A minimum raise first of all has the potential to steal of course which is always good. This bet is 400 of the SB's 650 stack so essentially this is putting him all in so in this sense, its pretty much the same as going all in. If the BB has a good hand, he's most likely to put you all-in right there in which case you would fold because you still have 700 in chips which is enough to fight back with. Plus, youre on the button so you'll have 6 more chances to hit good hands for free. People tend to see the shortstack as a hopeless situation where you just get your chips in when you can but its not so all the time. If, the BB calls and you hit the flop, then you can put all of your chips in or whatever play seems to make sense. If you don't hit the flop then you can just check through or make the right read fi you think you can. Basically, you will either lose 400 here, or gain 300 in the blinds. But at this stage of the tournament the investment is worth it.EDIT:I'm kind of thinking now that fold is just as good or maybe even a better decision because folding puts the SB in a decision to push considering 1/4 of his stack is alreayd in the SB, or was it 1/8? Can't remember. This means you have a good chance of bringing it down to 4 players if your goal is to be ITM. However, a double up for the SB could cripple you so thats the one thing you cant be sure of since youre relying on the BB's decision. Even if SB wins just teh blinds its a considerable amt and he's that much closer to you. overall id say fold or min raise but its a tough choice. dan we need your help.

[21gambit 0]

It depends on the type of players you are up against. Are you up against good thinking players? If you do raise the minimum, are they going to interpret that play as a real sign of strength? even so, I think people like to gamble on busting out the short stacks so they may just put you all in after that with KQ. Are they this type of player? Has the small blind been playing tightly and folding to raises or even plays that look like obvious steals? Is he desperate, and will call anyways? Normally Id go all in, but there are many variables that could swing this play any which way

[jogsxyz 0]

It depends on the type of players you are up against. Are you up against good thinking players?

This is a SnG. The point is you dont know the players. You have seen them play for about 30 minutes. You dont know if they are strong or weak players. No conditional strategies. What's the optimal strategy against unknown opponents?

[NYSPOKER 0]

I say, fold. Any hand better than yours is going to call. You still have a little time to catch a stronger hand. Of course, there is not nearly enough info to make a great decision, here. The other stack sizes are relavent. With $8,000 in play, we know where ~$3500 lies, how is the other $5500 split. Is their an obvious chip leader? If so, that would imply that their are others in as bad or worse shape than we are.

[rastling1 0]

There are a few situations. Unlike Daniel there are sometiems do to bankroll and bad few weeks i am playing not to win but just to make the money. Especially when i am playin 4 sit and gos at once the goal is to make the money in 66% so if i win this tourney or make money it is meaningless to me based on the number of sit and gos i will play that day. In the case that i am just tryin to make the money and 1 or 2 of the other players have only small amounts larger then me i will fold and live to outplay them later. in the case i am looking to win the tourney i will 100% go all in. THe 100% incorrect play unlike in a live tourney is just to raise the min. That is no good. Because online when u do that u get re raised instnatly especially short handed and espeicially by a big stack big blind or a short stack small blind.

[rastling1 0]

There are a few situations. Unlike Daniel there are sometiems do to bankroll and bad few weeks i am playing not to win but just to make the money. Especially when i am playin 4 sit and gos at once the goal is to make the money in 66% so if i win this tourney or make money it is meaningless to me based on the number of sit and gos i will play that day. In the case that i am just tryin to make the money and 1 or 2 of the other players have only small amounts larger then me i will fold and live to outplay them later. in the case i am looking to win the tourney i will 100% go all in. THe 100% incorrect play unlike in a live tourney is just to raise the min. That is no good. Because online when u do that u get re raised instnatly especially short handed and espeicially by a big stack big blind or a short stack small blind.

[rastling1 0]

There are a few situations. Unlike Daniel there are sometiems do to bankroll and bad few weeks i am playing not to win but just to make the money. Especially when i am playin 4 sit and gos at once the goal is to make the money in 66% so if i win this tourney or make money it is meaningless to me based on the number of sit and gos i will play that day. In the case that i am just tryin to make the money and 1 or 2 of the other players have only small amounts larger then me i will fold and live to outplay them later. in the case i am looking to win the tourney i will 100% go all in. THe 100% incorrect play unlike in a live tourney is just to raise the min. That is no good. Because online when u do that u get re raised instnatly especially short handed and espeicially by a big stack big blind or a short stack small blind.

[rastling1 0]

There are a few situations. Unlike Daniel there are sometiems do to bankroll and bad few weeks i am playing not to win but just to make the money. Especially when i am playin 4 sit and gos at once the goal is to make the money in 66% so if i win this tourney or make money it is meaningless to me based on the number of sit and gos i will play that day. In the case that i am just tryin to make the money and 1 or 2 of the other players have only small amounts larger then me i will fold and live to outplay them later. in the case i am looking to win the tourney i will 100% go all in. THe 100% incorrect play unlike in a live tourney is just to raise the min. That is no good. Because online when u do that u get re raised instnatly especially short handed and espeicially by a big stack big blind or a short stack small blind.

[Solodell 0]

When is Daniel gonna post his answer/explanation? I think we all wanna know what he's got to say.

[SBriand 4]

I'm folding. It was a tough decision between that and going all-in. I will take my chances to see the next 3 hands and hope that in those three hands I move up a position or 2. I figure the SB will go all in at this point.I don't know, it's a damn hard question. I can give good reasons to push and good reasons to fold and I can give bad reasons to push and bad reasons to fold, but I will stick to fold. Won't be the first time I made a bad decision at the table.

[MisterOctober 0]

Well, here goes my first post...and thanks DN for the fun quizes.Personally, i would hate going all-in in this situation. Folding is probably the worst option here, which leaves me with raising minimum, or smooth calling. Raising seems to feel right here...It gives chances for best results imho. They could both fold, bb smooth calls and you use position for bluff, you hit the nuts, the sb could go all-in forcing the bb out and then call the shortest stack with better pot odds. Even if you have to fold after the minimun raise, you still have 700 in chips and are a double up away from being in the thick of things.

[Abbaddabba 0]

Calling is just begging the other two players to push. You probably WANT the shorter stack to push you, but he probably knows that you want him to push - why else would you call, when the short stack will push with anything decent? You clearly know that a raise would get you some fold equity, and just a call would instigate a push on their part. Calling in this situation to me would suggest a monster. If you just call, you're telling them that you want them to push and would rather have action on the cards than buy the blinds. You dont have GREAT cards though, so if the bigger stack raises in this situation and you know that he SHOULD know you have great preflop cards, you'll be in a tough spot.I mean, when someone just calls in that situation, the first thing that comes to my mind is high pockets or something along the lines of ace iwth a higher kicker than the one in this example (10 and up) - where they're hoping someone will see an ace and push to try and take the pot, so that they can call and have them dominated. A very likely situation, and a lot better than pushing with a/j (for example) and potentially scaring away ace/rags.A call in that situation shows much more strength (to me) than a raise. The problem is, when you represent that kind of strength, you've wasted the value of a strong preflop hand and instead you get to play it versus two players, where your ace rags is suddenly not so valuable. Either that, or someone reads weakness on your part and pushes you all in. Is that really where you want to be?

[tjohnsonnpu 0]

All in is not the best move. Most people assume that you will move in with any Ace. So if someone were to call you could assume that you are beat. You can survive several orbits before you get completely blinded off, and hopefully make a better hand. A flat call would possibly show weakness and someone may put you all in, something you shouldn't call. The fold is the best option becuase you are not invested in the pot. One double up will put you back in the running, so wait and find capitalize on a stronger hand.

[Fissle 0]

EXCEPT, if you call and you get put all in, then thats going to be 200 down the drain, and you don't want to give the oppertunity to the big blind to raise you all in. You know that the small blind will go in with ANY ace reguardless of the kicker. The big blind is assumily the chip leader, so he won't want to take a gamble if you go all in. He will let two shorter stacks then him battle it out. All in.. The small blind is getting desprite for a hand and will want to push with anything.. If you call, the chances are the small blind will raise all in, and you don't want to give the chance to the big blind for him to put you all in, because that would leave you down to 900, and your getting decent pot odds, so my voteALL IN

[21gambit 0]

11o0 with 8K in play and 5 players left, you are not that unhealthy, now is not the time to take a stand with such rags, if the blinds were 200-400 I would lean more towards the all in, but here, what is a blind steal going to do for you? give you a total of 1400, you are not that much better off.No rush, you can handle the blinds for quite a few more hands, drop it.risk vs reward doesnt equate

[TJ_Eckleburg 0]

I'm apparently in the minority, but I think this is a pretty easy fold. What everyone seems to be forgetting is if the small blind goes in anyway, which he has a good chance of doing with A-anything, any pocket pair, or any two face cards (or worse, since we ARE online), and wins, your tournament is basically over. The only way you're signicantly better than a 60% favorite is if he has Ax where x is less than 7. Anything else is a 60-40 shot in your favor at best, and at worst you're way behind. Maybe this is just my style and maybe I'm wrong, but I think that with your stack and the blinds, you're not THAT desperate when it's a free fold.

[the_stein 0]

...alright post the answer daniel you're killing me

[pockets 0]

I voted all in, and to me it's pretty simple.Your goal is to win. One first is better than two thirds. So the all in bet, to me, is betting that neither of those players has a better ace or some great pocket pair. If that's true, then more than half of the time you'll have enough chips to really make a run at winning, whereas if you throw away a hand like A7, you're just trying to fold your way into the money.

[SabaAba 0]

Some people don't think that you are in bad shape?Are you kidding? We don't know when blinds are going up next, but in 4 hands you are about to lose 600 chips to blinds. 600 is more than half your stack. Now if you are playing to win, you must push all in. You are going to have to do it eventually, you are not guaranteed to get something better in the next 4 hands.

[Uppie_ 0]

ok i push in because you are a fav against two random hands, and you only have a little more then three rounds left and that at best is 15 handsand you might not get another good situation like this. if you get called your proabaly a dog but a three to one dog, you not getting those odds but i think you have to gamble here. folding seems like your desperately trying to hang on hoping the other short stacks don't hit a hand and bust out so you can get third. I think moving in is the only play that is playing to win i think the others are playing not to lose.

[JETMECMAN 0]

Daniel- Ive been listening to you ever since I started playing.You've said on several occasions the equation is this-A-7 offsuit is a iffy hand but everyone else folds to me, I'm short stackedfacing three way action= ALL INya got five cards to catch an ace 8) :bubbleduh: flop comes- :clubs7: :spades3: :heartsa: turn- : :hearts6: the river makes it the hand of the year with- :spadesa: then I woke up

[Big-Ern777 0]

It's a real sketchy situation considering the scenario. Why not lay it down, see two more free hands and a hand in the SB and BB to make a move. Most likely the short stack is going to push in on any decent hand and A7off isn't going to exactly have him seriously dominated most of the time (I mean even J8 suited has you at around a coin toss). If just the short stack calls and wins now you're severly crippled and are praying for a catch or run of good cards down the road. If the BB calls (who like the SB will play fairly loose) the all-in, you are again not necessarily a heavy favorite if a favorite at all and putting your life on the line with all your chips. It just isn't worth it in that case. (Minimum bet or calling is like delaying the all-in or throwing away 200 in chips if you opt to fold a reraise from the SB or BB considering one of them is going to look for action regardless of their cards in that situation)If this were just winner take all, then the correct play would have to be to push in preflop and run the race if necessary, but I assume otherwise.

[J-Dub 0]

I'd defintely push it in. If you do get called you have a decent chance of being in the lead against something like KQ. More likely than not though, both blinds will fold since they probably have junk anyway. Seems like a no-brainer, but what do I know in the end anyway?

[JETMECMAN 0]

It's a real sketchy situation considering the scenario.  Why not lay it down, see two more free hands and a hand in the SB and BB to make a move.  Most likely the short stack is going to push in on any decent hand and A7off isn't going to exactly have him seriously dominated most of the time (I mean even J8 suited has you at around a coin toss).  If just the short stack calls and wins now you're severly crippled and are praying for a catch or run of good cards down the road.  If the BB calls (who like the SB will play fairly loose) the all-in, you are again not necessarily a heavy favorite if a favorite at all and putting your life on the line with all your chips.  It just isn't worth it in that case.  (Minimum bet or calling is like delaying the all-in or throwing away 200 in chips  if you opt to fold a reraise from the SB or BB considering one of them is going to look for action regardless of their cards in that situation)If this were just winner take all, then the correct play would have to be to push in preflop and run the race if necessary, but I assume otherwise.

Are you kidding me this is not a board game its poker.i want to make them pay to see the flop and your getting all most 8-1 on your money.let them call and then take even more of the money

[LooseCannon 0]

A7 off is not a completely horrible hand, but it's not great here.My plan is to make a minimum raise. Chances are that the small blind is going to shove in. If the big blind just calls, that tells me his hand is weak and I reraise all in feeling that the big blind could have a hand like KT, QJ, or A5 or a great many hands that I can beat. (If it were just between myself and the short stack, I'd be willing to either push all in or call an all in, depending on who is acting first in the blinds.)If, however, the big blind raises all in after the big blind goes all in, that tells me that I don't have the best hand. I might fold and wait for a better spot.