quiz question #5

[CardKillah 0]

I would probably fold in that situation. Granted short-handed any Ace is a good Ace, but:* It's it's still 5-handed. If that were the situation say, three handed, I'd probably push all-in. If you raise, and are called at all, you're at best even money, or a possible slight, slight favorite. If any of the blinds have an Ace, you could be in a bit of kicker trouble. With the blinds at 100-200, still, you have time, but, not a huge amount. On average you'll be dealt an Ace once every Six hands, so you could see a pocket pair, or another shot with an Ace if things don't look up in the next round of hands. If you raise to say, 500, you're putting the SB all in, virtually, and at the point, the only callers you'll get are players with better hands. Especially the big blind. You don't want to give him any ODDs to call, and possibly triple up if it turns out you're going against two other hands, rather then a just a shot heads up. Also, they're not suited. Granted, it's a slight percentage favorite when they are, every bit helps.

[Karis13 0]

If the answer were there to chose I would bet exactly 650 (the amount that the SB has left). The reason being, and it might seem a little odd to most, but by betting that amount you are telling the BB that you have a hand with enough potential to isolate the SB and possibly knock him out of the tournament. Also by betting 650, It shows the BB that you are pot committed to call if he wanted to put you allin. A7x is a good starting hand in a short-handed game regardless and worth a coinflip if the SB wanted to make a move with lets say KJ,KQ,Ax.

[Awful 0]

Alright, 16 combinations of AK-A8, so that's 96 combinations of better aces. Add in the 13 separate pocket pairs at 12 combos apiece, and that's 156 combinations.  252 combos that are ahead of you. 60 of which are coinflips. Every other possible combination of cards  Each opponent has a 252/1404 chance of holding a hand that is ahead preflop. 17.9%A 192/1404 chance of holding a hand that is a 2-1 favorite over you. 13.6%.  Compound that by 2 opponents:  67% chance your hand is a 2-1 or greater favorite over each of the hands remaining.74% chance you're not dominated by either hand behind you.You're in 4th in chips in  a tournament that pays 3, and doesn't really pay #3 all that well. If A7o isn't good enough with 5.5x BB, something's wrong with you, and with the relative stacks, it's all-in time.

Awful must be your ability in statistics. Where did you get the 1404 number? There are 1326 ways to be dealt two hole cards. Since your opp cannot be dealt your ace or seven, there remains only 1225 ways. AK-A8 does dominate you. Again he cannot have your ace. Only 72 ways. KK-88. 6 ways for each of these pairs. 36 ways. AA and 77 each have only 3 ways. 6 ways. 72+36+6=11466-22 does not dominate you. They are minor coinflip favorites.114/1225. 9.3% of the hands dominate you. Two opps. 17.75% chance a dominating hand exists in the blinds.I'm pot committed only against the SB. If the SB raises all in and the BB calls, I'm folding. If the SB folds and the BB raises me all in, I may or may not call. Probably use some randomizing method to decide.If only one blind calls, I have positional advantage after the flop. On a ABC(three different cards) type flop, opp will remain unpair about 65% of the time. In all likelihood the ace high is best. Opp would have raised all in with a better ace. Check by opp. Bet all in. This is not a bluff. This is protecting the best hand.

You're right, I double-counted some categories when summing up the possibilities and screwed up the count of possibilities, plus didn't discount the A and the 7 in your hand... 3-tabling and doing math on scratch paper next to me was obviously not a good idea. Bad assumptions, bad mathematical output. The spirit of the outcome was right, however.However, your corrections make your reasoning even more wrong. You're sacrificing the 82% chance you're currently in a good position to see a flop where you'll push on the 65% chance he hasn't paired? I'm obviously a failure with numbers, but your logical reasoning is really weird here. You're supposed to give up small edges to obtain bigger ones sometimes, NEVER the other way around.

[The Student 0]

Unless i misread it, i would take a page out of Brunson's book and go all in to steal.

[smitty 0]

i am a fairly tight player, and on most online tables this would be an easy fold for meif the table was very tight, i might venture an all -in raisethis is an all -in or fold situation i think, an easy fold for a conservative player

[outburst04 0]

In this situation I would call. What I really want is to go heads up with the sb who is going to push his stack in with any two cards. He can't afford to call and try to hit his hand, with that stack he is going to make a move. Now his raise isn't too much only 450 but the bb might be hesitant to call, and he should be. He can't be certain that if he calls this small raise (450) that I won't re-raise him all my chips. So then I get what I want, go heads up with he sb and the bb's money left in a pot where I most likely have the best of it. Now if the bb just calls the sb's raise I am suspect, if he raises I am confident he has some sort of paint and I could call.I think moving all-in is wrong because your getting called by the small blind, and risk running a three handed race if the big blind thinks you were on a steal. And raising 900 just screams ACE.Maybe I am over-thinking it, the blinds are coming around quick, maybe you push all-in hope your a favorite and try and crawl to third place.

[troutsmart 0]

Your stack dictakes you either go all-in or fold, and hope to pick a hand up in the next couple of hands. Waiting doesn't make much sense to me. This hand is a favorite against the blinds. I go all-in.

[KramitDaToad 0]

I would probably fold in that situation. Granted short-handed any Ace is a good Ace, but:* It's it's still 5-handed. If that were the situation say, three handed, I'd probably push all-in.

It is 3 handed - the first 2 players have folded.

[digitalmonkey 929]

Because I probably have the best hand I'd push all in hoping to get a call or two because they think I'm trying to steal. Of course, the big blind who calls me with K4s will probably complete his flush on the river.

[DwayneWayne 0]

Call.Bottom Line, your behind much more then 75% of the time you are called. A call with position if it is checked by the BB will show you that you are ahead and allow you to play the flop accordingly.

[koa 0]

raise all in or fold. A raise may get a call with a weaker hand that hits leaving me with nothing. If I'm playing this I'm putting the most pressure possible preflop.

[Maverickdmb 0]

Knowing the chip stacks of everyone else at the table would be important as well as if it pays out top 3 or winner take all, but in this situation I believe the right play would be:To make a stand, but not go all-in right away. Raise the pot up about 3x the BB with every intention of putting your stack on the line. If either the SB or BB goes all in, you have an easy call cause you are already committed to the pot. If everyone folds you pick up the blinds and antes. If you do get a call from the BB once the flop hits be prepared to push all-in no matter what hits. Granted you will only have about 550 left in chips, but that should be enough to drive out a player if nothing hits since his stack isn't too huge either... This way you will maximize the chances you have of gaining more chips and eventually cashing...-JB

[rog 0]

The small blind is going all-in with almost any 2 cards. He has to pretty much, so any call or minimum raise is going to come back to you for at least 650 to go. BB is probably going to try to isolate the SB by putting you all-in, so I dont think you're going to get to see a flop for less than all your chips. Why would you want to anyway? You cant fold post flop if you call or min-raise. It's all-in or fold. I'm kind of 50-50 on this one. Hmmm....no I'm not. You have to go all-in. Good chance the SB is going out this hand, so you likely only get to see 2 more hands for free if you're waiting for better than Ax. You'll get a call from the SB, but if you didn't, a steal would be pretty good too.Rog

[Big_J234 0]

I'm probably wrong here, but I would minimum raise. The s/b is either all- in or fold and the b/b should know I'm either all-in or fold on the flop. If either comes over the top I'm all-in any way why not give them a little extra to think about. if they call and the flop sucks ie. K,K,10 or three to a suit you dont have with no pair you still have 700 worst case.

[rog 0]

With the blinds at 100-200, still, you have time, but, not a huge amount. On average you'll be dealt an Ace once every Six hands, so you could see a pocket pair, or another shot with an Ace if things don't look up in the next round of hands

Yeah, but you only get a BETTER ace about 1/12 since you're holding average Ace right now. You only get 3 hands before you hit the BB again assuming the SB doesn't bust out this hand (in which case 2 free hands). If you pay the blinds one more time without winning a pot, even doubling up isn't going to do much for you. I think it's optimistic to say the least to think you can wait for a better hand. If you're the 3rd stack, maybe you could fold this, but as 4th stack, you NEED to make something happen, and I dont think you get a better chance than this.Rog

[koa 0]

Push it all in or fold. A raise really just allows you bb to call with many hand. All in makes it a tough decision even if it looks like a steal. At this point in the tourney with such a great position with every one folding I think it is time to go all in. It is ideal spot to be. If

[koa 0]

Actually I would push with any hand in this spot

[Munky 0]

I wouldn't just raise the minimum, as it would only leave me with 600 in chips, short-handed on the button, I'm not going to fold A7 off with such a small stack. My move here would be to move all in.I'm back.

[stevenaz 0]

Raise all in. If i had a deep stack and had the same cards in the same position I would make a standard pot size raise to $700, but since that is over half of my chips, i'm committed to the hand and should just put them all in.

[JimmyWellington 1]

You still have another round before you're in definite "double up or get up" mode. I think this isn't the hand to make your stand with. AToff I would, if A7 was suited, I would. I'd rather have any pocket pair or suited connector around 89 or higher. A7off has one high card, with limited straight or flush possibilities. That's my thoughts, although I'm not as good a player as some on here. I can see pushing here as well, if I would play it, I would push. I can see the "play the situation, not the cards" play here. I just think that I could get a better hand to play here and if you get called here, you're probably in trouble. Looking forward to seeing the answer

[sloshr 0]

I never limp first in from button, so that is out. Any A 5-handed looks like gold, so I'm not folding. From my short stack, I am happy to win the blinds, so do I raise all in? Wait a second. That is the obvious and standard play, and will probably work, but I really don't want to show down this hand. I raise the minimum, planning on going all-in, no matter what the flop is. If either player reraises, I call obviously. If they both fold (which they may be more inclined to do with my small raise, thinking I am trapping them), great. If the BB calls, I give him another chance to fold on the flop. I am committed, but he is not! I want him to fold, so why not give him 2 chances instead of 1? I raise the minimum.

[bigcoled 1]

I would raise the minimum here. You have an ace in your hand which puts you above an average hand, but if you think there's a good chance you will end up all in if you hit the flop you want to goad as much action into the flop as possible. You also raise the minimum to get a gauge on your opponents hand, while leaving yourself with enough chips to play some more hands and still be in it. If a player raises you allin, you fold, if a player raises you back the minimum you call for the flop hoping their playing two face cards, without an ace. I say play hand rather than fold because you're short handed, it's down to no more than three players to the flop, and ace is like gold to a short stacked man, though he still needs to be cautious if he wants to remain in the tournament if his hand doesn't hit. I say you don't go all-in, because just because some one is in the blind doesn't mean they're going to have a bad hand and fold, and you're in no chip stack position to be pushing anyone around, even though being in the dealer spot playing in a hand with a stack larger that yours could be a disadvantage if you end up against the big blind, because no matter what the flop, he's probably gonna put you on all our chips, especially if the flop has no ace.

[711Buddha 0]

I like raising the minimum, and here's why.Potential outcomes, 1. You steal the blinds (which is good.)2. The SB calls and BB folds. Now you are heads up with the short stack, and although you're behind overall, you're ahead of this guy and in position. So you can batter him with your (relatively) big stack. (which is good.) 3. The SB folds and the BB calls.Well...this isn't the best outcome, but you still have position and with a speculative hand, that's where you want to be. If something comes you can fire again. (this isn't bad.)4. SB and BB call.Same as #3 but you may have to slow down, and it could limit your ability to bluff or semi-bluff vs heads up. (this isn't bad)5. The SB reraises / moves all in and the BB foldsShort stack desperation play? Well, you're in position to find out. Depending...depending....depending, this is where I want to be, a good chance to pick up a big chunk of chips without the risk of going out. And you have position to get one more read. (This is the real hope here. - you get a shot at all of SB's chips)5. The SB reraises / moves all in and the BB callsEasy fold. (Unless you can put BB on a real bluff, and SB on desperation.) Presuming you can't, you took a shot and are still in the game. (Which is not great, but not bad.)6. The SB reraises / moves all in and the BB reraises you all in. Same as above, you get to decide if you want to play, rather than trying to get him to. (Which is not great, but not bad.)Essentially, its the old raise to get information, witht he bonus of a shot at stealing the blinds. It can keep you in the game if you're dominated, and allow you to maybe make a score if you're not. Going all in does the same thing except you could get caught speeding by the BB.

[elkang 0]

You know one side effect of the quiz is I get a chance to see the thinking behind players I "see" online.

[looshle 6]

This just happenned in a SnG.  Blinds were 75/150.  8 players left.  BB had about 650.  4 other stacks were about 1200-1600.  I had one of the larger stacks.  The other two large stacks folded, so I opened for 400 with my A9o.  The BB thought about it then went all in for 650.  I think by my opening of only 400 the short stack is more likely to play.  Also he will raise all in when he plays.  Back to the quiz question.  I open for 400.  The SB raises all in for 655.  Now the BB will only play if he has a real hand.  The type of hand he would have played if I had opened all in.  The SB will play weaker hands against a 400 opening than an all in opening.  At some point we need to win chips.  Stealing the blinds would only delay the blinding out process.  We need to win chips in order to win this SnG.

You can't really make an argument for raising the minimum. The short stack isnt usually going to play without a decent hand since he is on the button next. If he plays back it usually means an Ax (1/2 are ahead of you) or a PP. Say we raise it the minimum, SB folds, and the BB calls. The flop comes down KQ6 and the BB sets us all in. You saying that's an easy call? I want fold equity on the part of my opponents not on me.Also, taking the blinds doesnt delay the blinding out process @ all. It gives us chips w/o a fight. I'll take chips without a fight every chance I can get. It seems you think its impossible for us to get another playable hand. Maybe we'll pick up aces next hand, who knows? Once SNGs have reached the 5th - 6th level it becomes about the blinds. There so little play on the flop because the blinds become so valuable just by themselves and people who play aggressively preflop are usually rewarded. The only move here is to push and I can't see any logical argument against it.