Hi guys,

the following hand is a preflop spot I faced a few hours ago. The play is short-handed, and I'm not 100% sure of the right line. I didn't take a copy of the prize structure, but it wasn't particularly flat or top-heavy - overall quite standard.

Villain in question hasn't shown much aggression throughout the FT (I think this was mostly due to his awkward stack size - FT started with 7 players with a few super short stacks). Has opened a few hands before though. Hero is in SB.

Will post results after some discussion if you guys want them.

On to the hand:


Winamax Poker - Tournament "MAGNUM" buyIn: 45€ + 5€ Holdem no limit
BB 34.6bb
HJ 55bb
CO 29.7bb
BTN 18bb
Hero 45.7bb

Dealt to Hero
7 7

PRE-FLOP
fold
CO raises to 2.22 bb
fold
Action on Hero

I don't think folding is reasonable, it's 5 handed and we have sevens against an open. Flatting seems bad, as it would allow the BB to squeeze and playing our hand OOP isn't too fun anyway.

Due to this thinking process I thought 3 betting is the best option. But how about our sizing? If we go too small, the CO gets to flat a ton and now we're in a crappy spot with sevens. However, going bigger around 4x would leave us with an SPR close to one resulting into more awkward spots if flatted or 4 bet shoved on. I didn't want to face this spot, so I decided to rip it in for close to 30 bb effective. Is this super standard? Or absolute insanity?

Any reads on BTN...can be relevant and should affect CO's opening range here.

Shovings fine so is calling

I think jam is best. Flatting is ok too. 3bet/fold probably the worst option.

Shoving obvsly has to be the higher variance play here. Even if the payjumps arent that big, there s still a pretty decent amount of ICM involved.
As a past Winamax low-(sometimes mid) stakes reg (SwissOdds - living in Switzerland, had my account blocked in january) I can tell that most players (even in the 50euros Magnum) arent well experienced on that platform. Therefore, adopting a lower variance approach, furthermore when ICM is relevent, at a FT will make you more money vs that type of player pool.
That is why, imho, shoving in that precise spot can not be a mistake but i think that here, flatting is better.
77's 5 handed vs rfi is obvsly a strong hand, but not the coco at all. No need to go almost broke with it for 30ish biggs eff.
Imho flat>3b shove> ...
Might be a bit too weak and exploitable by stronger oppos but at the same time, in that kind of field, you ll find better spots later on where you can balance some more "passive" play made earlier.

By the way, how +45bb av stack at FT can make it a "short at FT" title.
Knowing the structure of the Magnum, seems like a pretty decent depth to me

I meant to type "Shorthanded", definitely not short as in shortstacked. My bad.

I've made the same observations about the player pool - it's significantly weaker than on major networks. You made a good point about this favoring a flat, I hadn't thought of it. Thanks. Having that in mind, I think call and 3-bet are equally good.

Button had been tight throughout the FT, a weak recreational player. He was playing on his phone (for some reason Winamax shows if someone's doing it).

Cheers and good luck in the fishtank

Swiss players getting blocked from Winamax was a very depressing news for me enjoy being allowed to play on that site

I think I'd just fold although if BB isn't likely to squeeze then calling probably loses < folding.

At FTs when there are options I like the tighter choices in general.