PokerStars : 99 - 18BB - This is a Turbo with antes. UTG+1 min raises and has me covered (23bb).

I struggle with these spots all the time and I’m very bluffable should a flop have an overcard, especially since UTG+1 will be leading pretty much any flop.

I’m through the bubble with 25 players left and I feel like I’ll need one more double up to make the final table, all the money is there, the payout structure is relatively flat till the last 10 but I’m playing these for late mtt practice more than the money. I shove. Good, meh or awful? I was considering flatting and hoping for a favourable flop to push or fold.

99 is a very easy shove imo.
I'd shove 77+ maybe.
And fold the rest, you don't want to flat pocket pairs 18BB deep

Depends a bit. Who are on the blinds? If they have tiny stacks or are very aggressive preflop, I'd just shove preflop. You won't mind if everyone folds but the tiny stacks might gamble with a hand that are you're well ahead of and you dont want to get squeezed by aggressive players when you flat pre. You're deep enough to make UTG+1 think twice about calling with some two overcard hands (which you won't mind calling but would prefer to win the minraise + the blinds and antes). If he calls with eg. AK or AQ you're in a decent spot and since you need to get lucky anyway to reach the final table, 99 is a good hand for that.

I might flat pre IF the blinds are fairly big stacks and not super aggressive. Just expect to fold postflop a lot then. You aren't strictly speaking just setmining, but flops with one or two overcards will be problematic and it's not fun to get double barreled even on safe-ish boards either.

To win tournaments you gotta be able to shove certain situations quite light and you have a decent hand now, so a shove pre is preferred.

Thank you both for replying. The blinds were around 10bb. Lots to think about. UTG+1 had AJo btw and won the flip. The result doesn’t bother me, just that I played correctly.

I think folding 66- in this spot loses a lot of value with 18 bb in a turbo my range would look something like this
All-In

66-TT, JJ(about half the time) AJs+, A5s, AQ+

reraise ~7bb

JJ+, ATs, KQs

(I feel that both KQs and ATs will play well enough with position post flop but i would probably fold them to a 4bet.)

Flat

22-55, A2s+, T9s+,J9s+,JT+

You have position so don't underestimate the value of pushing the flop when checked to.

If you have a specific hand in mind we can take a look at it.

Good luck

Don't mind your ranges but I would 3-bet smaller off an 18BB stack. Might also not 3-bet/fold hands as good as ATs/KQs.

Not entirely convinced with this range and explanation and would like to o further into your reasoning.

So specifically your flatting range and the comment made just after was

"you have position so don't underestimate the value of shove when checked to"

Firstly out of an 18 BB stack VS a UTG1 min raiser there is a bunch more facts we need before making an assumption about strategy going forward, OP has said we are now in the money so I'm assuming you have been playing against villain for a while and should have somewhat of an idea as to how they have been playing.

How does 99 look against there overal range?
How would you construct your button range in this spot against an UTG1 min open?
Do you have fold equity?
What is your image on the table?
Is this a bounty event?
How long until next blind level how many BB will you have in the next blind level?

Overall in a turbo I wouldn't have a flatting range here maybe in a regular structure, unless I know SB or BB are quiet splashy and will get out of line. I may flat QQ+ AQs+ some portion of the time but in general this is a push/fold spot and specifically woth 99 I think we should be shoving

Would you still have fold equity with a smaller 3bet? if so then ya 6x or 6.5x is better.... maybe. As for the AT and KQ folds you may be right. i put a couple of ffold ranges for balance reasons.

How does 99 look against there overal range?

Very strong i would assume. it beats 44+, beats overs only loses to TT-AA not to bad.

How would you construct your button range in this spot against an UTG1 min open?
Didnt i show this?

Do you have fold equity?
Yes, if we didnt, i agree shoving 11x into a 15x pot is bad.

What is your image on the table?
Not important IMO. Play a balanced range and you will be ahead.

Is this a bounty event?
Very true i assumed it wasnt. If it was I may only have an all in or fold range. (assuming progressive bounty)

How long until next blind level how many BB will you have in the next blind level?
Not as important in this spot with 18bb. If we had 10 then it would matter more.

Let me know if you think im missing something.

Good luyck

I agree with alot of this however I would just go with a flatting and all in strategy. However if you do want to have a non all in strategy you should be sizing your 3bet down alot and definately shouldn't be using hands like ATs KQs as 3bets. It's a disaster to 3b/fold a hand that is this strong and should instead be super polarized and use weaker hands with good blockers that don't mind folding to a jam.

Sent from my NE2213 using Tapatalk

As a general rule, we won't have non all-in 3-bets on the BTN vs EP at this stack depth. We will sometimes have them when we're in the SB or maybe HJ/LJ. Plus in spots where we're a middle stack and ICM is a thing, we tend to want to lean towards jams anyway.

OK thanks proosty2 now that i look back at it ya you are right i should move the flat range to the all in portion. thank you.

Good luck

This is not rly a difficult spot in a turbo. It's an easy shove imo
I think prob what you are "struggling" with is the lack of control. Turbos are high variance. Maybe you don't like the fact that deep in the tourney you are reduced to shoving allin and perhaps being dominated or having to flip but that's turbos for you. There's not a lot of room to outplay your opponents. Particularly if you have a tendency to overfold postflop or are unsure how to play it then that makes it an easier decision for you to shove

This is a shove 99% of the time. 1% fold if his range has got you beat