03-12-10, LearnTexasHoldem:

Is 5-5 a good hand to go all in?

Hi,

Have been playing for a couple of years now and would say that I am an intermediate player. I play 3-6 and 5-10 limit hold em mostly, but I also play the big Sunday tournaments on Pokerstars.

Last week I played the 215 USD NH Sunday warm-up at Pokerstars and the following hand occurred. It was in the first 20 minutes of the tournament, so I didn't have a lot of information on any of the players.

Top 3 Beginner Rooms

I play a tight aggressive game (especially in the beginning of these tournaments) and didn't play any hands yet. Stacks are all around 3000 and the blinds are at 15-30. I find pocket 55 in the cut off pos. Two players before me limp for 30 and I decide to limp too to see a cheap flop. The small blind calls, and the big blind raises to 120. I was ready to fold but saw the two players before me call, so I called too. The small blind folded. Flop comes A-8-5 rainbow. Great flop !

The big blind leads out for 300 and both players before me fold. I decide to smooth call. Turn 7. No flush draw possible as all suits are represented now. The BB leads out for 700 and I start to think. I had put him on AK before the hand and still think this is his most likely holding. I'm starting to worry that he might have AA but am not convinced.

I decide to raise his bet to 1600 (holding about a 1000 behind). He reraises me all in and I decide to call. River a 4. He shows me AA and takes the pot.

Was I supposed to bust on this hand ? Where did I go wrong ? Set over set happens...but I feel that a better player than myself could have escaped elimination. One note (to defend my play :o) In the beginning of these tournaments you see players making all sorts of crazy plays with top pair. Guess this wasnt one of them...

My own reflection...perhaps a bad call at the beginning of the hand. I should have not reraised on the turn but call for pot control. On the other hand... I had a set !

Anyway...would love to hear your response. Love the website and please don't stop educating me...

Best regards from Istanbul,

DG

 

Hi DG,

Don't worry, these kind of bad beats happen even to the best players!

I don't think that you did something completely wrong. Just some things that might help you avoid these kind of things in the future:

1. In the beginning of the tournament where there are a lot of players at the table, people changing positions and you don't have a solid read of the opponents, you might consider playing more tight game. I wouldn't call 5-5 a really strong hand to play with, especially in the beginning.

2. There is nothing wrong to look at the cheap flop with 5-5, you might get lucky and hit a set (like it happened this time). But when BB raises 4x, it is the first red flag that there is something fishy. He might have a pair too (and the odds are, this is bigger than your 5-5). And again, there is nothing wrong of calling it and looking the flop considering the size of the call and your stack. But this was first red flag.

3. When after flop BB calls 1/2 pot, it's nothing special just indicator that he has something and he wants to know the strength of the other hands. But considering the first raise he made, it is a second red flag.

4. After turn BB bets 700. Now you might think of the hands that can beat yours (AA, 88, 77, 69, 64). There are some, but not very many. Depending of the willingness of taking risks, I would say that the correct thing here to do would be to go all in straight away or fold. There is a change that he can beat you with several hands. Also, when 4 or 6 comes in river, then he might have a straight also if he has 4 or 6 in hand. I wouldn't reraise here, only all in or fold, because when you make a big bet he has to consider the options that you have straight that may beat his set of A.

So in conclusion, I don't think you made any really big mistakes. Maybe just the last raise. You took the risk to play with 5-5 and got a bad beat, it happens.

I hope that helps.

Marcus

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