Poker QUIZ

[Fishhead]

Here is the situation:

Blinds: 20,000- 40,000
Antes: 5000
Stack: 6,000,000
Total chips in play: 11,280,000
Players Left: 7

So it's seven handed at the WPT championship at Bellagio and you have a monster chip lead with over half the chips in play. Your opponents are all at around one million in chips and playing rather cautiously hoping someone else goes broke.

You are raising an average of 2.5 hands per round and picking up the blinds without a fight. Now from early position you raise with K

7

to 150,000.

All fold to the small blind who goes all in for a total of 650,000 and it's back to you.

What do you do?

 

[primetime21+]

There is about 250,000 in the pot already and you will have to put in another 500,000 to call. That is a pretty easy decision even though its not a fun one since you are probably behind.

First, this other player is probably frustrated by your constent raises and will be likely to make this type of move with almost any 2 decent cards like a-5 or low pocket pair. So you arent going to be too far behind.

Second, even if you are up against a-q you are only a 60-40 dog. The only hands you really fear in this spot are k with a higher better kicker or AA. OTher than that you arent a HUGE dog.

third, considering you only have to call 500,000 into a pot that is already at 250,000, you are pretty much committed having such a huge stack.

Finally, you will enahnce your table image. When players see you call an all in with an apparently weak k-7 hand, the other players will be less likely to come over the top on you in the future.

 

[cadillacman]

hmmm

with 20,000-40,000 blinds and 5000 antes w/ 7 players

60,000 +35,000=95,000 to start the hand. 150,000 raise=245,000

re-raise then 650,000=895,000..risking another 500,000k to win this size pot..

your getting a little more then even money..with your chip lead...call

but then again. I could be totally, totally wrong. Just a guess on my part.

 

[perry519]

Call and bust the s.o.b.

:blowup1:

 

[BoZZi]

easy call

 

[bigplay]

A must call

 

[Fishhead]

Years ago Jack Strauss was in a tournament with 10 players remaining at two tables, with the tournament only paying five spots. Jack was one of the shorter stacks, but the players at his table were playing SOOO tight trying to squeak into the money that after moving all in repeatedly he took a huge chip lead at his table with no confrontations!

Finally the SB went all in and Jack called him with KK and eliminated the player. Jack went on to win the tournament, but in a post game interview had this to say, "I think I played pretty well but I think I made one mistake. I shouldn't have called with those KK because I could have gone to the final table with even more chips than I did had I folded."

Now this is an EXTREME example, but let's think about it for a moment and how it applies to the quizz question.

There is no question really that with the K-7 of spades you are going to likely be more than a 2-1 underdog. In this case the pot would be laying you less than 2-1. Sure you can afford it, but can you afford the potential outcomes?

A) You call and lose the pot unneccessarly doubling up your opponent and making him a threat

B) Call and win, and you eliminate the player but also eliminate a great opportunity to strengthen your chip lead.

From a stand point of risk versus reward,even if you WERE being laid over 2-1 in this situation it may still have been correct to fold if your opponents are playing tight desperately hoping to make the final table.

When you are in the driver's seat in a tournament, there is little reason for you to take any risks. You simply take what's yours and let the other's have the little raise you put out there. Losing that pot by folding saw my stack go from 6 million to 5.85 million. By folding I also ensured that all of my opponents remained short stacks and had to jockey for position.

Now I'm not so sure I'd go as far as Jack Strauss did and fold KK, but I think you have a better idea now why in a situation like this it's best to prolong the situation, while PROTECTING your massive chip lead.

I hope this taught you all something, as it's a VERY valuable lesson in my opinion.

God Bless,
Daniel Negreanu

 

[ProPokerPlayer]

I'm a big believer in sitting back and letting the small stacks fight it out among themselves..i watched i think it was Josh whats his name blow a HUGE chip lead at the WPT event by calling and raising every hand only to finish like 5th and end up making an ass out of himself by throwing a fit to boot...not to mention if you read my own post from last night where i took a big stack and blew it in 2 hands by calling all ins from short stacks with both pckt K'S and A's. i could have folded both and be playing for half a mill tomorrow but nooooooooooooo......i couldnt lose with k' and a's.......no way!!!!! by the way if anyones looking for me tomorrow i think i got a 100.00 freeroll about 2 and then 1000.00 freeroll about 6...im so looking forward to it!!! yea right:sad3:

 

[Fliction]

I disagree, I believe this is an easy fold. With your 150,000 plus the antes and blinds in the pot, there is only 245,000 in the pot. Adding the 650,000 from the SB you are getting less than 2 to 1 on the call. You stated the player stole many sets of blinds. Look at all the hands the player could have re-raised with and you will see that K7 is a big dog. There are only 5 pocket pairs below a 7 in order to give you a coin flip. All other hands the player could have re-raised you with, you will need much more than 2 to 1 to call. Since the player stole many chips, it is worth letting this hand go. Stealing blinds is very important at the end of a tourney because everyone is trying to climb the ladder. However, if you dont get your hand stuck in the cookie jar every once in while you will not be successfull. EASY FOLD!!