Very Loose Tournaments - How to play?

[spivee69]

Playing in an online tournament, I was faced with this situation...

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Early in an online tournament of 2000.

Full table of 10. I have a stack of about 1800 chips (that's about average at this point). I am in the big blind. The button is the big stack (4k+) and has been very loose and agressive. Coming over the top a lot and forcing the smaller stacks out.

The button calls. Everyone else folds. I have pocket Kings. I raise 3xBB, Button calls.

Flop comes 7T2, rainbow. I check (trying to trap) he checks. Turn comes 5. I check, he goes all-in (Trumpets start going off in my head at this point). I call.

Queen comes on the River. He wins. He played with Q7 offsuit and caught 2 pair.
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I know that this sort of thing happens, but this was about the third time recently that I've been busted off really loose play early in a tournament.

Maybe I should have bet more after the flop, maybe pushed him out or kept him from the all-in on the river, but I WANTED him all-in on the river. I was fairly sure with his track record and with my show of weakness he's go all-in at me. I thought I had this well in hand.

I know my play was probably EV+ in the long run, but it sure stings, especially when it's happened several times in two days. Getting busted out early in a tourney with AA against an idiot playing 93o is driving me nuts.

My question is this, if you're playing in a tourney that's very loose and agressive early, is it best to play more tentatively early on? Try to get a few chips out of them, but not put your tournament life on the line too often. The problem with this is that the blinds raise so quicky, you have to catch some good cards and double up or you'll get eaten alive by the blinds later on.

Is this just a "that's the way things go" type of situation or is there some way I could have played it differently?

[biondino]

You were way in front till the river. He had 5 outs. You got him to go all in. You got sucked out. 8 times in 9, you'd have won this hand. Don't fret.

[Miffed22001]

i'd be gutted too
But the play was sound.
Keep doing it.
Obviously the alternative scenario to this hand was to bet the flop hard and play if from there but i get the feeling this lagg would have called you down anyway putting you on overcards. But im not suggesting in any way that here your play was wrong, situationally it was bang on, you just got screwed.

As for tourney play, id suggest being tight as a rock's only daughter at the beginning of an mtt. Play only cards that have two face cards (careful of QJ and other dominated hands though) and dont get involved in too many raised pots without either a premium hand (AK, AA etc) or pps. Eventually a flop is going to hit you in a big way and thats when you hit hard. Hopefully you'll take some second best hand junkie with you, all the better. If people have you as a rock then when you get a stack or the blinds raise you'll get respected when you start putting chips in the middle.

[mgobluefb]

With KK in this type of tournament, you can't afford to let players see free cards. I would bet the flop hard. In ANY tournament I would bet the flop hard with KK. In fact, I might have raised more preflop, too. Slowplaying KK can be very dangerous.

[suryodaya]

I have never yet cashed in a MTT, I think I simply must not have the full range of skills required yet. WHat usually happens me is that I negotiate the early stages pretty well through playing tight. Sometimes I will double up when I catch a really good hand but mostly I make it to the middle places with an average amount of chips. Inevitably the blinds catch up with me and I'm forced to start making moves - I steal a few blinds, I win a showdown, and then finally my luck runs out and my all-in on AJ is called by a pocket pair that holds up. Meanwhile the people that go further than me are the ones that slammed all their chips in early on and got called by another couple of maniacs and took down a huge coinflip pot.

In your situation I think I'd have played KK the same way. You had the whole thing read right and just got rivered. Not that I think the other guy played wrong either. He is playing to steal chips and eliminate people and probably doesn't mind calling an all-in even when he may have the worst of it, because he can absorb the hit and make other people even more scared of pushing their chips at him. So, just an unfortunate result for you...