04-28-06, LearnTexasHoldem:

Laying Down A Set In A Tourney

Question: Hi,

Thanks a lot for answering my comment in the last post. Sorry for asking too many questions but I faced a really tough decision in the last week Pokerstars' Sunday tournament ( 1 million gauranteed prize pool) and even after a long discussion with a group of friends, still can not figure out what the right play was.

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The scenario is as follows: blinds 50/100 ( relatively early in the tournament) I have about 4k in chips. Middle position who also had around 4k and joined my table raises 4xBB and I just call with 77 in small blind and big bling folds so there is only me and him in the pot. Flop comes 2d 3d 7c. I bet very small (about 1/4 of the pot) to suck more money into the pot. He just calls the bet. The turn brings Kc. I bet about the size of the pot he calls. The river brings 10c ( now there are 3 clubs on the board) I bet about 3/4 the pot and he goes all in with around 3k on a pot of around 1.8k which was almost the size of my stack so if I called and lost I was out of the tournament.

That was a very tough decision. Finally after using all my time bank I folded putting him on something like Ac 3c. But after having a long discussion with friends, some people thought that I should have called since my hand was so hidden that he might not put me on a set and thought his two pair or something is good enough to go all in with. I remember once I read in Dan Harrington's book that you should not fold your set to a possible flush on the board but I did not have any read on my opponent and just could not do it. I am still puzzled so I was wondering how you would play in this situation.

Thanks a lot again,

Reza

Answer:

That's a really tough question. I think it is fifty/fifty. On one hand, you did play the set deceptively. By playing it that way, I don't think there is any way the guy could have guessed you had it, hence it could be the case that he had a hand like KQ or AK or something and actually thought it was good. On the other hand, do you think he would go all-in with one of those hands? I don't know. It is early in the tournament, which usually means players play tighter, but then again who knows. This guy could have anything.

Call:

- win - 8k in chips

- lose - be out of the tourney

Fold:

- lose 1/4th of your chips

If this were a half of your stack, then I would say call. One fourth of your chips isn't catastrophic. But then again, generally, if I have to give players credit online or not give them credit, I would not give them credit. You have no idea how this guy plays yet, so I would tend to not give him the benefit of the doubt.

There are situations in poker where there is no clear right or wrong decision. In cases like that, it doesn't matter which you choose. I guess this really comes down to what type of player you are. Would you prefer to gamble here or play it safe and wait for better spot? I would probably call because I having 8k in chips that early on is worth more to me than the inverse of busting out. Folding is fine though too.

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