H0H2 - Part 10

*Last edited by Eric on Mon, 23 Oct 2006, 1:34pm; edited 1 time in total*

1. Harrington notes that some players make adjustments because of their relative stack sizes and some do not. Do you think reads become more important late in the tournament when a large percentage of players have low M ratios?

2. On page 223 we have an M of 10 and a Q of 1.2 on an 8 player table. We're utg with 88. What do you think is the right play? Explain.
A. Raise 4xbb
B. Raise 3xbb
C. Raise 2.5xbb
D. Call
E. Fold
F. Other

3. Same situation as question 2 except for our cards. On page 226 Harrington says that he'd raise 4xbb with tens or higher and throw the hand away if the hand were a pair of sixes or lower. Do you agree? Disagree? Explain.

4. In problem 10-4 we have the following:
our hand: T3 os
our stack: 19,000
our position: BB (in for 600)
pot: 1250 total(300/600 blinds plus 50 antes)
situation: Player D who goes all-in for 1750. Everyone else folds to us.
What is our play?

1. Yes, I think reads can be more important late in the tournament when players have low M ratios. Once we reach the final table we don't need to worry about being moved to a different table(against players we don't know) so our reads are more important than ever. All good players make adjustments but they don't necessarily agree on how low the stack needs to be for all-in preflop moves. For example, Harrington can push even in the high stages of the Orange Zone but players like Lindgren don't like to push until low stages of the Orange Zone. In Making The Final Table Erick Lindgren talks about pushing:

2. I can't fold here. I don't think I would move all in either. Choices A through D are all possible...it depends.

3. I agree with Harrington. For what it is worth here is how I would play all pairs in this spot:
A. Raise 4xbb
B. Raise 3xbb
C. Raise 2.5xbb
D. Call
E. Fold
F. Other

22 E
33 E
44 E
55 D/E
66 D/E
77 A-D
88 A-D
99 A-D
TT A/B
JJ A/B
QQ A/B
KK A/B
AA A/B

4. Our hand sucks but we call because of the pot odds.

1. Definitely. You need to know who's aware of low-M strategy and who's not. That's crucial information for deciding who to push all-in against and whose pushes to call.

2. I raise 3xBB. I think this is enough to isolate against the short stacks and not so much that it pot commits me if a big stack re-raises. And I'm happy calling with these cards if a shorty re-raises AI.

3. Hmm... I'm not sure about increasing the raise size with a better hand. For me it depends on whether 3 or 4xBB has been the standard raise size and has been getting the job done. I don't want to blow everyone out of the water pre-flop if I have QQ+. As for 22-66, I think fold>raise>limp. If the table is playing tight, I might raise here, but generally I'm folding.

4. 1150 to call, getting almost 3:1 for only ~1/18 of our stack, I think it's a no-brainer with any two. Against a shorty's range here, I think you're at worst a 2.5:1 dog.

A couple of hands I thought were interesting:

Hand 10-7: You're the big stack with an M of 24 and sit UTG with AhJh. Table has eight players and you raise to 3xBB and get a call from the button who has the second largest stack. Flop comes 9h7s3s and Harrington recommends not c-betting, because you don't want to get into it with a stack that can do significant damage to yours. I'm not sure I agree 100%, but it's something I don't consider often enough.

Hand 10-15: Harrington points out that in small-stakes online tournaments, you often end up in situations where you aren't quite in the money, or are barely in the money, and even the tourney chip leaders have very low Ms. In this hand you have the second largest stack of the remaining 54 players, but your M is 4! Harrington makes the great point that you should not tighten up and play conservatively here, your play should be governed by your M, not your Q.

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H0H2 - Part 10

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Tools Of Poker

H0H2 - Part 10