We are getting close to combine to final table of 9. Top seven paid. There are some very short stacks. Blinds are 4k/2k/4k (bba). I have 150k in bb, villain has 138k and button has 250k. Average stack at this point is around 60k.

Action folds to button. Button raises, villain shovesi tank.

Never played with Villain before but played with him entire tournament where he was all in once on turn. My read was he was kinda goofy. Button, regular, known to others but not me, who was bounced of table with a bad beat, but must have been kicking ass after he rebought.

What is your calling range?

AQ+ 99+

I expect this shove to be AK mostly, maybe 88-TT. Probably calling JJ+ and AK

I call with nothing, but do reraise all in with AA.

I tank folded QQ. My logic was that we needed to lose 3 players until we combined to a final table where anything can happen. The other stacks at our table were 20k, 7k and 40k. Interestingly, because I was in the 1 seat and villain was in the 9 with headphones, he did not realize I hadn’t acted yet and was **** talking the button for not making a decision quickly and saying he must have him crushed. I didn’t get any read in the button but he imploded, he doubled up all our small stacks and gave villain a ton of chips. By the time we combined to a final table (6k/3k/6k), he shoved blind all in utg the first hand with only 5.5k . Villain did show.

I dont understand this importance you put for the final 9 when only 7 get paid, this isn’t the wsop main event lol

I think its a pretty egregious mistake to fold QQ here tbh

Just terrible folding QQ. You shouldn't be playing for the mincash anyway. This is BTN vs SB, and he shoved 34xBB over a raise. This is almost never AA/KK. You either ahead against AK/AQ or some weaker hand or dominating against a lower pp.

Final table significance is only that we do a button and seat redraw but my main issue is that the three of us have over 50% of the chips in play. In this case the combining to one table probably hurts me because I had position on the two big stacks and shorties pay more blinds but I can also get a better view of villain. I never said or implied I was playing for a min cash. It was a 34x shove from a guy who I had very little history with, hadn’t seen him do anything crazy but I did think he was a little goofy. And I still had CL in the hand, behind me to act.

Button 2xish raise, sb shoves 34x, I have 36-37x in bb. It’s not button vs sb.

even if he showed AA This is still to tight. We still need chips to win the tournament.

I just think QQ is way too strong unless he literally shows you two cards and each one is an ace or a king. I can even get behind not wanting to flip as a top-3 stack in this spot, but you lose so much equity by folding the times he has 88-JJ, and it's probably not likely he just flat-out rips AA/KK. (I won't say never; I've seen enough strange **** happen live. This is live, right? And probably not high stakes.)

Live, $200, villain showed kk.

absolute madness to fold qq 34ishbb off BTN v SB v BB if you dudnt have any kind of absolute super mega read.
you have villains shoving range dominated which will be mid pocket pairs to AJ+.
you've been registered here since 2009 so i suppose a 400 buck minces isn life or death for you so yeah I would call JJ+ AQs+.

Thanks for the responses, it is always interesting to hear other’s thought processes.

Two other nuggets:

1. Villain and button apparently do not like each other and typically go to war with crazy **** when at the same table. In this case, they were sitting next to each other when 3rd table broke.
2. Villian took me out three handed, all in preflop with AK beating my QQ with an A on river. He remarked that he should have sent me walking in the Kk v qq hand, which made me post.

I like your fold of QQ here though I likely just jam at least a majority of the time.

I started folding QQ to two or more all ins in Senior tournaments where the second all in has me covered (or close). I would say that a majority of time it is the right decision. When I should have called it is basically always AK and rarely JJ/TT I would be against.

Here it is just one all in but the stack sizes are difficult. We are covered almost 2:1 by the BTN and will basically get knocked out by the SB if we lose. Now I do think that the SB has AK a majority of the time. He can have 99-JJ but it is a strange sizing for those hands (I would just either 3-bet or call). Having KK/AA is possible and it is these hands that worry me. KK Villain jams with so he doesn't have to play OOP in a huge pot especially if an A comes. And AA is unusual but a decent sized 3-bet is close to 30% stack size so I would get why he would just jam (especially because nobody thinks anyone would).

Anyway, congrats on your 3rd place finish! Fitting that you got it in good with QQ.

I’m never folding QQ here. 55+ A-10o+, qko+. Might tighten range up
If villain appears nitty.

Idk folks spazz with 22-55 here a lot from sb. I think folding QQ is a huge leak. If you run into kk or aa, just say it wasn’t meant to be. If you are folding qq, idk you are just getting hella exploited. Are you folding AK, AQ, etc here? I would snap 99 or 10-10 here. If you lose, just bad luck and onto next tourny.

Btw not a fan of villain open ripping 34 bb. I would limp/raise or just open raise to like 3..2-4x out of position bc it’s very easy to play these hands bvb post. Sometimes you will get unlucky and bb will call with a suited connector and hit 2 pair/etc and stack you but it’s just long run- gotta not let them just fold their bottom range hands that might be a call in position. Stuff like 67hh, never calling an open rip but will see a flop in position to a standard sb raise. I even like limping stronger hands against certain loose player types that will raise. Me- sometimes from bb I’ll raise with total bottom of raise to a limp that has almost no hope of winning post flop. Let them limp raise me if it needs to be but gotta find a way to win bb with trashy hands when certain players will over fold when limping sb

SB didn't open rip. He ripped over a BTN raise. Calling range in BB should be JJ+/AK or looser. Presumably, if SB had 3! normally, BB would have shoved QQ. SB's shove is pretty bad with KK, and BB's fold of QQ is worse. Results don't make it a good fold. SB probably shoved because he was also afraid of busting out near the bubble.

Some people are really weird with this. In one of my tournaments, I open shoved AQo from the SB for 21xBB, which was about the average stack, on the bubble and the BB, who slightly covered me open folded QQ. I probably should have limp/shoved such a strong hand, which probably would not have gotten a fold from QQ.

I don’t know why you think everyone is just trying to mincash. And yes, He ripped 34x over a 2-2-5x standard open from the chip leader. It was a strange shove from a goofy player that hadn’t done been all in preflop all day as I recall. Since calling him with the fourth best starting hand would have completely crippled me if I lost and the table’s biggest stack was also yet to act, I thought conserving my 2.5x average stack was ultimately a better decision. Building my stack against the same players all day, I was pretty confident that I could outplay the remaining field given the chip distribution and slow structure. But obviously it was also an abnormal laydown, thus, I posted about it.

Thanks.

The other spot that I have folded QQ is similar. I don’t think I have ever folded it pre flop unless both players are already all in and in front of me.

100% all of this. People saying on to the next tournament if V has KK or spikes an ace. Well on to the next HAND with a big stack if V is happy arseholing around with 55 or JT. No point arguing further about shoving over a 3bet with QQ; people watch too much TV imo.

Nice score OP, tough luck at the end.

When SB ships 34xBB over a big stack button raise near the bubble, it looks like he is afraid of playing postflop OOP against the big stack and afraid of losing if the big stack shoves. This looks like a mid pp or big ace, not like AA/KK. He could be shoving with worse than that against probably a very loose range. Sure sometimes amateur players shove when they have a big hand. However, I can't see how you can have that strong a read with this action to fold QQ. I would snap call with JJ.

He had tabled many poker pairs where he didn’t ship his stack preflop. I don’t know how you have a strong enough read to tell me what he would normally be shipping from the small blind from the information provided. Which was my problem, I didn’t feel I had a solid read on him from playing with him to determine the strength of his hand in this spot. It as out of character for how he had been playing all day. Perhaps it was because his nemesis raised the button after getting moved to our table, I don’t know. He had twice the tournament average so I don’t know what he would have been scared of. He also hadn’t **** talked during any hands with action pending but again, he did not know I was the hold up, not his nemesis.

Ah ok I thought this was a sb vs bb spot. Hmm QQ us too good. Still never folding here. Small pps can easily be shoved sb vs button profitably. Idk how you fold. When Gillian has 77-JJ, you are just firing money away. I also think a lot of the time, folks 3! Kk or AA in this spot as to not fire away a chance at gaining chips when a button opener folds to the 3! Jam

How do you think villain would have played this hands:

• AA
  JJ
  TT
  99
  AK
  AQs

Did you guys remember Tomayos knee jerk folding QQ esrly on at this year's ME final table to just an rfi? He claimed it was a mistake.

Yeah, shoving over a raise from the big stack on the button, SB could have all sorts of hands, definitely worse than 99+/AQ+. He should 3! normally with AA/KK to induce. Can't fold QQ despite he had KK.

Tomayo folded QQ with a reshove stack to a single big stack raise on the final table bubble. But amazing what real time GTO charts will do.