late game play

Ok ive been in this spot a few times now and been beaten every time..lol

I was just in a tourney blinds 100/200 i get 44, my stack is like 1300...im in late position and move all in.. get those blinds

now im under gun w/1800 chips blinds 1/200 get 44 again..what is my correct move here? i moved all in again, prolly the wrong play.. either way i get 2 callers 1 guy w/AK other w/AQ... an A comes...neway what could i have done dif...just call?

Fold.

44 UTG, too many risks. You'll find a better spot to put all you're money in. Patience....

-'rilla

Yeah I wouldn't have pushed there either. Limp it if possible and hope to hit a set, and if you do then push. Low pairs are too specific of hands for my liking. If you get one caller it's a coinflip, more than one you're almost certainly beat.

Mixed feelings. Was the table shorthanded? Blinds are too big for this to be a good implied odds hand, so I'd fold it at a full table UTG, but might push/raise with it shorthanded.

At 100/200 blinds it is almost guranteed that someone is going to raise to $600 with any kind of hand that already beats you - or potentially beats you. Either raise it to $600 yourself (1/3 of your stack with 4-4 UTG is a bad idea) or simply fold and wait for a better spot. With $1800 you had at least 5 orbits left in you - I think you would be better off waiting for better cards or position.
Having said all that, I feel like a hypocrite. Just last night I tried a blind steal with 9-9 from the button...all those $600 limps looked juicy for the taking. I could have sat on my $9000 chip and coasted into the low money - but didn't. I ran into Q-Q and bubbled out of a 900 person tournament. Now if I could just follow my own advice.

Interesting, I faced something similar yesterday in a $30 SNG. 6 Players left, I'm short stacked at $360. One before the button, I'm dealt 99. Blinds are 50/100. One limper before me. Of course I push all in. Folded back to the limper, he calls with A 10. My nines hold up and my stack grows to 870. Don't you know I'm dealt 99 on the very next hand - this time on the button. One limper in front of me. What now?

After using about half on my time, I decide to push all in again. SB folds, BB calls and the original limper calls.

Limper had AJos, BB had KQ suited. Flop comes A K x. No nine falls - I'm history.

I'm still not sure if I made a good or bad play. I'd love comments.

With 360 chips left - it's the correct move, with 870 left you've got time to pick a better spot. I may have raised here, but not all in. You're risking your tourney when you have an OK stack.

Originally Posted by xbones

With 360 chips left - it's the correct move, with 870 left you've got time to pick a better spot. I may have raised here, but not all in. You're risking your tourney when you have an OK stack.

I agree. While 870 isn't great money, it's enough that you can afford to fold that hand and wait for a better one, or even try to limp it if you want to look for that set. Although at those blinds - and of course retroactively knowing what the BB had - the limp probably wouldn't have gone, and you would have been raised. Pushing in that situation is a tough decision but I probably would have folded it or maybe tried to limp, depending on how aggressive the players in the blinds were known to be. Some other factors to consider:

- Since you had just pushed and most had folded, you were IMO more likely to get called the second time, even if everyone at the table was somehow dealt the exact same hands. People don't like to be bullied out of multiple pots in a row if they hold decent cards. I could hold pocket aces three times in a row and I don't know that I'd push all three times, because of the risk of inviting more callers the second and third time. And the more players that call, the more vulnerable your hand becomes. One of those guys will catch top pair or a draw to something good, and break you.

- Since you were on the button the second time, you've got a few free hands coming your way (depending how many are left). You can always fold a mediocre hand in this situation and hang on for something better, although you're short-stacked. Only if you're down to 3-4X the big blind does it become desperate enough that a pair of nines is a life preserver.

Good point about the 2nd consecutive push in. That was what I was worried about, and what I was thinking about for 15 seconds or so before making my decision. I think you are right about people not liking to be bullied.

I should have trusted my gut and limped in (don't think I could have folded it with only one limper in front of me and the just the blinds behind). If raised I could have easily tossed it and waited with my 770 chips for a better spot.

Thanks for the comments.

Looks like I've got a different opinion than most on the 99 hand...

I'd have pushed the 2nd time as well in that situation almost every time. You are down to less that 10x BB stack, right? It's not like you have a huge stack, although you aren't super short-stacked either. I don't like limping here since implied odds for the set aren't there and you are giving the blinds a chance to catch up if they have crap. 99 is a vulnerable hand that you want to play heads up with if you aren't playing no set/no bet with it. Since any decent size raise is over a third of your stack, it's a push or fold situation in my opinion. There's only one limper in front of you. There's a very good chance that you have the best hand pre-flop (and you did have the best hand pre-flop). Push! It's unfortunate that the KQ guy made a loose call and you had to dodge 4 overcards with your 99, but if you only get one caller there (which will be the norm) then usually it's a coinflip. Even though you just pushed recently on another hand your folding equity pre-flop here is still probably decent....decent enough IMO to push again with 99.

Just my opinion, but I don't mind your push here at all. You hope they fold, and if they don't you hope you are up against overcards. I think it's still a +EV play even though you just pushed the hand before.

Originally Posted by AJ

Don't you know I'm dealt 99 on the very next hand - this time on the button. One limper in front of me. What now?

I'm still not sure if I made a good or bad play. I'd love comments.

I have mixed feelings on this. You have 1-limper so I would put the opp on a 50/50 (or worse) coin flip if they call my all-in. I assume you shortstacked a bit and have 5-orbits or so, 6-hands per orbit, or 30 hands. Getting TT+ or AQ+ is about 5-6% or 1 in 20 hands so there is a so-so chance of getting a better preflop.

What are better siuations to wait around for:
- No limpers vs the 1-limper you had and having 99
- Getting TT+ preflop... as we said maybe 5% chance
- Getting a free flop and hitting as BB
- limping as SB and hitting on the flop.

I think its close to push in on the button with 1 limper and 99 preflop.

For me it's all about the psychology of pushing twice in a row. It just invites more calls. I would almost rather wait and push later with a garbage hand (i.e. trying to get folds instead of a call), than do it twice in a row with pocket 9s. To me, if I'm going to go all-in twice in a row, my second hand had better be bulletproof, queens or better. Otherwise I just expect to get called by at least one or two people with some overs, and probably get screwed. Maybe it's just the group I play with, but if they think you're challenging their manhood by stealing, they will absolutely start calling you just to find out.

Originally Posted by AJ

Interesting, I faced something similar yesterday in a $30 SNG. 6 Players left, I'm short stacked at $360. One before the button, I'm dealt 99. Blinds are 50/100. One limper before me. Of course I push all in. Folded back to the limper, he calls with A 10. My nines hold up and my stack grows to 870. Don't you know I'm dealt 99 on the very next hand - this time on the button. One limper in front of me. What now?

How about this line...

Raise to ~275, that should knock out the blinds and isolate the limper while leaving you enough chips to either protect your hand on the flop or make another move if you need to bail. Then play poker on the flop. An AKx board is probably a check/fold. Take a free turn card if offered.

Originally Posted by Fnord

Originally Posted by AJ

Interesting, I faced something similar yesterday in a $30 SNG. 6 Players left, I'm short stacked at $360. One before the button, I'm dealt 99. Blinds are 50/100. One limper before me. Of course I push all in. Folded back to the limper, he calls with A 10. My nines hold up and my stack grows to 870. Don't you know I'm dealt 99 on the very next hand - this time on the button. One limper in front of me. What now?

How about this line...

Raise to ~275, that should knock out the blinds and isolate the limper while leaving you enough chips to either protect your hand on the flop or make another move if you need to bail. Then play poker on the flop. An AKx board is probably a check/fold. Take a free turn card if offered.

I like it. If the stack size was any smaller even 275 would be too much to invest without pushing, but I think 275 is fine here. Good suggestion.

First of all, thanks to everyone who offered suggestions. A lot of good thoughts.

Second, it was interesting to see that there was no real consensus of what was the "right" play. Makes me feel a little better that I was unsure. Since I really do understand that gambling involves risk at all times, I also understand that there may not have been "right" play.

Finally, I'd prefer to not face this exact situation again - but I'm sure I will.

Thanks to everyone.