Hi. Live tourney, £50+£25 add on.

Early in tourney, blinds 75/150 no ante. All players have approx 20000 chips which is starting stack. Villain is a massive fish. Played with him a lot, never gets deep in any tournament, mainly a calling station, but makes weird moves depending on his mood. In this tourney he is experimenting with huge pushes. In this tournament so far he has made 3 all in 3 bets for 20000 ish chips (once during 50/100 level and twice on 75/150 level, so 133/200 bb deep). 2 of these pushes were against me, both times showing his hand after hero folds villain shows 77 and AQo.
I am holding JJ, raise form mp to 400 and villain pushes all in for approx 20000.
Call or fold?

I fold. stacks are deep and the goal is winning the tournament, not entertaining the fish.

Snappity snap don't look back

Call call call call

Call

The guy just told you his range is at worst 77+, AQo+ with his shoves?

Snap call.

This is trickier than it looks.

If Villain is going all in with top 11% -- which is what his two earlier shoves have told you, you're ahead of his range by about 58/42. If he's shoving even looser, then you've got an even bigger edge.

That's a nice edge.

If blinds were going up fast, it's an easy call. In such a situation, you can't wait 30 hands for something better, and you'll need a big stack to put pressure on people. Snap-call and hope he doesn't suck out.

But it looks as if this format is very deep-stacked and gives you a ton of time. If you feel that the overall field is soft ... and will give you lots of favorable opportunities to accumulate chips over the next 10 orbits without risking your whole stack ... then there's every reason to think twice about making a cash/+EV play that leaves you with a 42% chance of going bust against an idiot.

The nitty side of me always wonders, too, if the guy who's shoving repeatedly waits on the third shove until he actually has a killer hand. It's unlikely, but if it's live poker, you should have a sense of whether his general tone is the same as before, or if he's radiating the stifled joy/forced bashfulness of a punter who's picked up KK+.

Our cousins over in the "Poker Tells" forum have been debating whether "I'm all in" is a hallmark of weakness, while "All in" is a sign of strength. Who knows? But it's an interesting live tell to watch for. There's enough money at stake here that anything you can do to make a read is worth the effort.

Call. Aside from his shows, this clown has pushed repeatedly. He can't have QQ+ every time.

I would call, given what he had already played. W JJ, in a 50 buy in, there is no value in folding. If JJ doesn't win, Re enter or play the next tourney.

I totaly agree with that!

Thanks for replies.
In the game, l folded, thinking I didn't want to bust out on a flip in a tourney where i have a big edge against most of the field. This is probably a bit nitty, especially as structure was quite fast (20 min levels).

What would your calling range be here? I'm thinking JJ+, AQ+. Too tight?

Perhaps TT+, AK more like. 99 and AQ are prolly winning calls too, but maybe wait for a better spot.

Easy call after what he showed first 2 times.

I think a part of a big edge against the field comes from identifying this as a super profitable call.

Yo.
Clear call with TT+ Ako vs this guy.

There is some variance for sure but man...only 3 hands are better than your's preflop

dont even reg a live tourney w/ 50% rake ROFL

i think one thing is quite interesting... you stated that of his 'wild early shoves', TWO were against you... perhaps he knows you are more likely to fold than others?

these wild players are always interesting... i play mostly tourneys with buyins ranging from 50 - 250. at the lowest levels, you always have idiots who love to gamble and have no clue as to what EV or fold equity is... in fact, in one 50 buyin i frequent there is this old old dude that everyone calls 'all-in Fred' (i think Fred is his real name but that is still undetermined..) in any case, he only knows 'limp' or 'shove' when not folding, no matter the blind level we are at.. and he is a 'reg idiot' if that is actually a classification.. always plays these low money tourneys at the same card room..

he's become something of a 'folk-hero' of sorts... players now keep a running tally of his shoves in each tournament.. his record is 41 (yes, 41).. thats the only time he reportedly has made a final table... his average seems to be somewhere around 10-15.. i have found it 'useful' info to track the players that actually call his all-ins versus those that NEVER call his all-ins..

one psychological aura that i find fascinating is, just how many players really dislike (or are uncomfortable) playing with this guy! in fact, i recall one old lady (yes, 65+) say to him after he knocked her out with a dog**** hand shove.. "i cant take it anymore playing with someone that makes such a farce out of the game".. then she got up and stormed off... i love that he 'tilts' people so easily...


bottom line for your case: i like your fold there. with these kinds of idiots playing, wait them out... no need to bust in first hour, cuz you KNOW they'll give you plenty of super juicy spots later on.......

How is this not a super juicy spot and how do you exploit their terribleness if someone else calls one of their jams and busts them.