Hey all,

I guess this goes here, sorry if it doesn't.

Last night I was at a tournament, blinds 1000/2000 and I'm sat with like 96k. UTG min raises (villain in this case, who I'd noticed had been fairly tight all night) to 4k and also has about 80k chips. Folds to me in CO and I'm sat with T9s (diamonds), I figured he probably isn't that strong here as he's min raised and I'd noticed he tended to play any premium hand really aggressively pre flop, so I 3 bet to 10k in a half attempt to steal the pot/blinds while realizing I could make good on the flop if he calls, folds back to him and after about 20 seconds he does call.

Now, flop comes 547 rainbow, he insta-checks to me. My first thought was he's probably got like maybe a low/mid pair to trap me here, as I could easily have an overpair with the 3 bet pre. But he could also be on AT/AJ/KQ/KJ/QJ and maybe those suited etc.

Here's where I need help, he checked and I thought as I PFR and have position, I should probably raise as I could easily play this as an over pair, but then I bottled it in anticipation of him check-raising so I just checked. Even though I needed runner runner, I was probably still strong enough to lead out with even a small bet?

Anyway, King comes on the turn and he insta shoves. I fold as I have nothing , but have I made a mistake here by letting him get to the turn? He agreed to show me his cards and he had KTo.

What do you think? I'm still new to the game so I'm trying to learn more about why certain actions are better. I just didn't feel like I should raise him with what was a pretty weak hand anyway post flop.

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Scenario 2

I'm down to like 56k now later in the tournament, blinds 2000/4000 and again UTG (different guy though) min raises, folds to me on button and I 3 bet to 3x his raise with QQ. Folds to him and he instantly bets 37k which was like 3/4 of his stack.

I didn't even know what to think here, at first I thought he must be weak as why would he min raise with AA/KK/AK in the first place? And like it just seemed like such a donk bet like why would he raise to that if he wasn't going to shove? But as it was for like 3/4 of my stack too I bottled it, do you think he was strong there or do you think I just got bullied and should have shoved?


Thanks

Probably doesn't belong here but a Mod may move it for you.

I can tell you are fairly new since you jump around in your thoughts even as you make this post. I am just noting some contradictions in your post, no offense is intended.

1) A min-raise from a tight player UTG is usually a monster and they are daring you to 3-bet. Although in today's tournament world it's not that uncommon for the 'standard' opening raise to be 'only' 2-2.5x in the latter levels. 1-2K is probably a bit early for 2x, but we don't know the table flow.
2) Raising a tight UTG player, whether they limp or open is generally not a good idea with a hand that you must fold with if you get 3-bet.

3) You assign this player an extremely loose range for UTG and yet call him tight. Those don't go together ... but you perhaps did correctly asses a change in his betting pattern, which means you had good table sense.
4) Once the Flop comes out and you miss, you then assign him a different tighter range of hands .. one that you are losing to .. and are afraid of being c/r out of the hand. This is called 'monsters under the bed'.

Although you must evaluate each street during the hand as it occurs, nothing happened here except you missed the Flop!! You thought he was weak so you raised him. He tank called which could mean weakness as well. Now all of a sudden since you missed the Flop he is 'now' strong and will c/r you? Why? He doesn't know what you have.

What was your plan if a T or 9 came on the Turn? And he shoved? Or he insta-checked again?

I see what you did here as a typical hand for an inexperienced player. When you are in a hand you need to stick to your plan until the action dictates you change your plan. I think you unnecessarily went back and forth with your plan and it 'may' have cost you .. good players can 'see' this when observing an opponent. Here is your flow ..
A) A tight player opened for smaller than normal so I am going to try for a steal since I think he's weak. I have a decent hand that I can play in position.
B) This player tanks calls so I still think he's weak.
C) I miss the Flop and get an insta-check. What now? I didn't have a plan for the Flop if I got called, yikes ...
D) I now think I'm behind and don't want to get c/r out of the hand so I'm going to act weak now.
E) An over-card hits and opponent insta-shoves ... I must fold.

I don't think it's bad that you checked the Flop. But I do think you need to bet the Flop quite often here. You were deep enough to bet/fold. You raised PF and your opponent insta-checked a weak Flop ... why wouldn't you keep betting a lot of the time? What was your image to the V? Did he think you were tight?

Your opponent's shove on the Turn is not a good play either .. He is only getting called when he's crushed. His attempt at a 'bluff shove' when that deep means he doesn't think much of you as a player or is a very bad attempt to get chips out of you when you 'obviously' missed the Flop. Does he really think you are snapping this off with TT here after you checked the Flop?

Hand 2

Not sure what you mean by 3x raise, a min raise is to 8000 and 3x 8000 is 24K. The next legal raise is to 40K so I'm not sure how he raised to 37K ... issue #1.

You had 14bb (56K) ... and effectively 7bb once your opponent min-raised to 8K. So this is a shove 90% (or more) of the time, not a time for raising. There is nothing wrong with raising here as long as you intend to call/shove facing further action. You had QQ!! The 3rd best starting hand in poker ... get it in there if you can!!

Now based on what you have described and the fact that I told you that UTG min-raises usually mean strong hands you actually may have made a 'correct' fold here. I'm not going to say you made a 'good' fold .. but 'maybe' a correct fold. Most tournament players wouldn't have just raised you, they simply would've put you all in. So this could just be a player clicking the raise button on the screen or a player with a very strong hand trying to make sure you put in more chips.

It's very common for 'young' players to question what to do when they miss the Flop or get played back at during a hand. You need to remember that most of your opponents miss the Flop just as much as you do and you need to 'act' like you have a hand a lot of the time (as in Hand #1). This is player poker!! ... OR you simply need to live with the results when you're down to a short stack and get a premium hand (like QQ) and see how things go on the board. That is playing good tournament 'cards'.

None of us wants to put our money in bad, but we do need to have a plan for the next street when we make an action. Confidence and aggression will gain you lots of chips because the cards aren't always going to be there for you!! GL

Hey man,

Thanks for your advice I really appreciate it. I take no offense don't worry, I'm here to learn! Reading what you said I definitely should have bet out on the flop after he'd checked. I guess showing any kind of weakness can cost you and every decision can be vital.

Also that's helpful info about min raises, I usually figured they wouldn't be premium hands as they'd be wanting to build a big pot preflop. And I should have a plan every time i invest chips into the pot, I just need to figure out what the plans are lol. I feel like I struggle working out what the best course of action is, because by the time it's your action you get like 20 seconds and sometimes I make rash panic decisions. I guess that will get better with experience.

Also on example 2 I meant blinds were 1000/2000, sorry.

Thanks for the advice again.