No Limit

[peterbirks]

Here's an interesting hand from yesterday. Having accumulated vast numbers of Ultimate Bet points, I've found that I can buy into $5 tourneys for 1250 points. This is a good way to relax after the more serious cash play. Into level 3 (1500 chips to start, 12 minute levels, going 5-10, 10-20, 15-30, 25-50, 75-150, 100-200) this happened. It's a two-parter, and this is the brief first-parter. I'll do the 2nd question this evening and give the result at this time tomorrow:

SB: 3830 (posts 15)
BB: 1410 (posts 30)
UTG: 6800
UTG+1: 1300
MP1: 1450
Hero: 1560
MP3: 1200
CO1: 440
CO2: 1200
Button: 1530

You are dealt Kc Kd: because this is a relaxing tournament (for you, the others may be taking it very seriously), you haven't been paying a lot of attention, but the attention that you have been paying has shown that the big stack is prepared to gamble, the small blind is solid, and none of the others look particularly exciting.

Betting goes: UTG limps, UTG+1 limps, MP1 limps.

What do you do here?

Comments

[jellymillion.livejournal.com]

Raise pot. Or thereabouts. 180-200 ought to do it. If SB calls you're probably winning against any flop without an A, and big stack is your double-through opportunity.

Unless I'm at one or the other extreme in stack size I won't slow-play top pairs.

Raise

[danmonkey.livejournal.com]

I'd probably limp and re-raise if several callers to one raiser, or I'd limp and see a flop if there was just the raiser left.
This is your best bet of making a big score in this situation. Worst case scenario is that you get a multiway unraised pot but at least you get away cheaply if an ace flops. If a king flops you can have a ball as someone will have a piece of the flop and no doubt pay you off.
If you make a standard raise, the chances are you will still face multiple callers in a $5 tournament. If you make an overraise you may get a call but more often you'll just take the pot down, which is not what you want with this hand at this stage.
I'd stick with disguising the strength of your hand unless the value of the pot makes a chunky raise your best play.

Re: Raise

[danmonkey.livejournal.com]

The title should have read 'Raise?'. Perhaps 'Limp' would have been more appropriate.

[787style.livejournal.com]

If you raise here, you to need to raise with a lot more hands than AA or KK. I pot it, but be well prepared to do it with other hands later. The side bonus here is you'll likely win the button.

[jellymillion.livejournal.com]

If you raise here, you to need to raise with a lot more hands than AA or KK

For sure. There are plenty of hands I'd raise from MP into an unraised pot. Well, "plenty" is probably pushing it a bit, but my range is a lot greater than AA-KK. There's stuff written about table image and the like that might cause this strategy to vary, but at a $5 table it's not worth bothering about - get the raise in and be surprised (and annoyed) if no-one calls. I'd expect to get one or two callers and to be whacking in a continuation bet on just about any flop without an A.

[787style.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't remove flops with an Ace from my continuation bet range. If i raised before the flop, everyone expects me to bet out on the flop. I wouldn't want to let them down.