Recently I have been playing single table NL tornts. almost exclusively. I have been enjoying the play, It has been a bit profitable, and I think It's great practice in several facets of tornt play in a relatively short period of time. (The 5-10% entry fee hurts though!) Anyway, this particular play has been really bugging me and similar situations seem to arise for me often. Please give me your opinion on the proper play here. 4 players left (Final 3 in $), blinds 500/1000
Seat 2(BB)- $3205
Seat 5 - $1490
Seat 6(ME)-$3120
Seat 8(SB)- $2185
I was dealt JJ-
Seat 5- who was playing marginal hands aggresively all tornt went all in ($1490)
I called, BB & SB folded.
My JJ were up against a A7 off
Flop: 2d, Qs, 7s
turn: 10d
River: 7h!
This left me with $1630
The next 3 hands I was dealt J-rag and each time seat 5 bet aggresively and I was forced to fold (losing blinds)
With $880 left and the blinds coming my way I was dealt an As 5S - as usual seat 5 bet 2700 and this time i called (went all in)
seat 5 had a-q-- flop QQA-
Im toast, Im history, 1 hr spent to finish as Bubble Boy. Very frusterating.
My question is what do you think of the call with the JJ's. I try and play conservative as possible and avoid big confrontations untill I am in the $. Obviously it was a lucky draw for seat 5, but should I have waited for a better opportunity? I think I played OK, but yesterday contained 3 4th place finishes and Im trying to examine things.
Thnaks for your feedback
Oh-one other thing
Has anyone come accross any sort of EV for playing these types of tornts. on a regular basis. I am having trouble coming up with a reasonable goal to shoot for. I have been playing $50 +5, $100+9 & $200 + 15. Do you think it is possible to be profitable long term? WithEach tornt taking 1 hr, Playing these hard for 4 months I find my profits constantly flucuating from being + $1,000 to +$200, and I have dropped to neg a few times.
The JJ call was fine. No problem at all.
I also think the Ax suited was a good call. You were low in blinds and had to make a desperate call hoping to get lucky. It was raised before you though, Axs would be no problem if you were in the position and were first to bet out. That hand might have been best to let go of.
As far as the EV on tourney play you'll have to ask one of the guys, I haven't put much thought into it.
This is a very tough situation. At this point, the blinds are so high that the tournament really has turned into a crapshoot. Unfortunately, the small stack is in a pretty favorable position as I see it. There are three outcomes he is facing, and two of them double him up. If no one calls his raise, he wins 1500 chips from the blinds and he doubles up. If you call and he wins, he's now the chip leader becuse not only does he double up, but he still gets the blinds, and what's worse is you will now be in last place, and unless lady luck hits you hard, you will be blinded out in a couple of hands.
From your post, I'm guessing he's UTG and you are on the button. It's a very close decision, but I'm leaning toward folding JJ. My reason for this is that unless he makes a hand, he will be blined out or busted before you get blinded out. Let him take the blinds, or let one of the blinds try and take him out.
Say you folded, he has 2990 after winning the blinds, the very next hand he's in the BB and back down to 1990. If he doesn't win that hand, he's in the SB and back to 1490 (where he started), and you will be in the big blind and down to 2120. You still have him outchipped, and unless he wins another pot, he will be through the blinds again before you are, and hopefully he will be blinded out.
I just finished a stint (2months) of playing all $30 tournaments, as a change of pace from the limit grind, and i won pretty regularly ($8/tourn avg return). you should know that JJ vs. A7 was a good call/bad beat. You shouldn't need reassurance. Second, you seemn to be break even player at these levels combined...4 months is a long time to stay around even. Just stick to $50 for a while and see if a trend developes. Dont shoot for an average win goal...try to figure out what yours is, and then try to improve it. If you dont see any trending, drop down to $30 tables.
i dont two all-in hands says too much about your play, most people would have done the same there.
