Full Tilt Poker $5 + $0.50 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Tournament - t100/t200 Blinds - 7 players
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Its late in the tourney near the bubble,13 runners left, i have just below average stack. been playing pretty tight, havent had much to work with. My image seems to be a rock b/c i havent got a single caller for my last 4 raises, all from mid-pos.

CO: t1976 9.88 BBs
Hero (BTN): t3417 17.09 BBs
SB: t4249 21.25 BBs
BB: t7359 36.80 BBs
UTG: t7806 39.03 BBs
UTG+1: t2983 14.91 BBs
MP: t5475 27.38 BBs

Pre Flop: (t300) Hero is BTN with J 5 A T
4 folds, Hero raises to t440, 1 fold, BB calls t240

Flop: (t980) A 2 A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t980, BB raises to t3920, Hero calls t1997 all in

Turn: (t6934) 3 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t6934) K (2 players - 1 is all in)

Villain has A4QTds & scoops. So any suggestions on how i might have played it differently? Thanks

I bet less on flop and fold to RR. You are never good after villain raises the flop (though you had outs).

Read dependent on raise pre, depends on how SB and BB have been playing. If either one is never folding I prob just fold. If u feel confident in a steal then raise... size fine pre imo

Flop agreed to bet a lot less .. bout 450-520ish .. def fold to the check/raise

why r u potting the flop?...why are u calling the AI with that kicker and no low draw?

bet way less on flop and fold to reraise

also, u could just fold this trash pre too

+1 Half pot

How can you ever fold that hand on the button

I don't mind your raise size as a general rule, but shorthanded unopened on the button maybe max it to not invite every double-suited hand to have a look.

As the cards lie, I think you're destined to get screwed whatever you do.

But I think if you raise pre-flop, you should make calling sting. In other words, if you're going to raise pre-flop, raise to t700 so that BB has to put in an additional t500 rather than just an additional t240. And try to choose an SB and BB who will both possibly fold to your maximum pre-flop raise. (Maybe you did that).

As the cards lie, BB's going to call if you raise to t700. And then he'll still check/raise on the flop.

If you simply limp, you might end up playing this against both SB and BB. Then the pot size at the start of the second betting round will be t600, you'll bet the t600, and BB might still check/raise to t2400. At that point if you think BB is legit, you won't have favorable odds to call and thus can fold.

But if BB more skillfully simply directly bets the flop of merely check/raises to t1200, it'll be very tough for you to fold, and then BB can still push later and you'll be stuck. BB can still put you all-in later in the hand.

What I'm saying is it's tough for you to get away from this regardless of what you do against a skilled BB.

I don't play the hand the same way as you, but I don't think it makes much difference here and it's not worth haggling with someone about my default style. Assuming BB is skilled, I think I get stuck (pwned) here too. Sometimes Hero needs a bit of luck on the turn or river, and none was forthcoming here.

You're surely going to play this hand from the BTN after four folds, and you're surely going to be putting some money in the pot on the second betting round. And then it's tough to get away.

Sometimes you're simply destined to lose regardless of what you do. I think that's the way it is here. Tough luck.

Buzz

I'd check flop. If your opponent doesn't have an ace theres not much he can draw to on that flop, and if he does than you're more than likely in bad shape with J 10 5 kickers. Checking allows him to try bluff you as well especially since he has more chips than you and its late. Bet turn if he checks again if you want to raise out low, but make it smallish

a5 has to be the very bottom of ur pf range here, the TJ is good as is suited ace, i woul probably raise also but i don't think folding is a huge mistake, and go a little higher pre if u raise

do not like checking the flop and give a free low draw

I also open this pre OTB, do agree with others to maybe raise bigger pre. With your stack size I don't mind getting it in here. 1/2-2/3 pot bet/folding flop is kinda gross but I don't think it's too bad to stack off on the flop here. It'd be way different if you had more chips, but you are below avg. chuck it up to variance

Some of the opinions here are that OP should raise more pre and also that OP should bet fold flop.

Am I right in assuming that these opinions are mutually exclusive? If OP raises pot pre and then c-bets he surely has too much invested, will be left with too small a stack, and is getting too attractive pot odds to then fold?

I think this hand is good enough to raise first in on the button in position against two random hands. I also think raising more pre is the right way to go to discourage calls/build pot and this makes the blinds define their hands a little more than a small raise because of this.

I then don't like checking and giving low draws a free chance to get half the pot so I think you have to c-bet flop. After the c/r I'm then to far in too fold given how much I have invested and the odds I've constructed now to call, even though I expect to be behind.

Any holes in this thinking?

no i totally agree, if you bet more pre you have better odds to table the hand, get low draws committed...all of the above here is kinda screwing ur odds, betting too small pre, too big OTF...small pre and big OTF is poor poker imo, especially since there are so few worse hands calling, we price out all low draws OTF with this bet size, when he comes over the top we basically beat nothing but have committed ourselves so the sizing all around is bad

don't think folding pre is terrible here, I usually open with it deep but stack size is kinda meh, there should be better opportunites on the horizon..as u can see BB had a hand that was dominating for both low and high and that will happen fairly often with this hand when it's folded to the btn

No he won't.

Seriously if PLO8 players are open folding this from the button this really is the easiest form of poker out there.

Pre is fine/good imo. Don't like postflop though for reason other people said.

+1-Open folding this is really weak

IMO unrealzeal tends to post results-oriented responses a lot.

Don't mean that as a personal attack btw unreal, we are cool. But I feel you have to be posting that way if you're saying fold preflop. I mean if that's me on the button, I'm licking my lips with that hand, it's waaaay in the top of my range!

Anyway RE: the hand postflop: I think folding to the flop raise is quite bad once you come out and pot it. Pot is almost 3k after he calls the 900ish bet and you guys are saying fold for <2k more?

Maybe it's coz I don't play tournaments a lot but if a guy showed me A2 I would still call all in w/ those pot odds.

Re: bet sizing - I like the small opens preflop in tourneys and I usually bet small postflop too regardless of my hand. Maybe it's a style thing but I think that's the best way of doing it, so I am bound to say "You shoulda done that OP!" So if it's me playing the hand I coulda folded to the flop raise coz I woulda bet smallish and then I'm not priced in, also able to fold confident that villain is never bluffing. With the posted bet sizes you know villain isn't bluffing and yet you should call anyway.

Agreed, but if you're going to open-raise (as opposed to limping) then you have to make a bigger raise than Hero did. Much of the value of raising on the button is in fold equity.When you make a raise that lays BB 3.7:1 to call, you're making it right for BB to call with almost anything.

Winning the blinds is always a coup in this game, but especially so in a tournament when your M is as low as Hero's. He needed to make a bigger raise, preferably just pot it.

Also, if he makes a bigger raise, a reraise pre or lead bet post from an opponent is more defining, making the hand easier to abandon.