All-in pre-flop with big hands when blinds are still small..

[vrecksler]

I have been playing a few SNG's at Party Poker, the $5 tables so far, and have noticed a few odd things; there are many people who bet way too much with solid hands.

Just a few days ago it was down to 5 people where the top 3 make it in the money; I have noticed that play seems to tighten up when down to 5 and it stays tight until down to 3. The blinds were at 50/100, which was not bad considering there was 8000 chips in play amoung 5 players.

I am on the SB with pocket 9's and when the action is folded around to me I call and the BB moves all-in. I interpret this as a steal and call, expecting the worst case to be I am against overcards. The player shows pocket A's and doubles up through me.

It seemed odd to me that someone would put in over 2000 in chips to take 100 chips from me, and that no one would risk scaring anyone away by pushing with a solid hand. A more reasonable play would be to get action with a smaller raise or something, maybe even risk a check.

This has happened a few times since and wondered if it was a trend or what. My brother has had pocket A's cracked before when trying to get action, as we all have, and we talked about playing them like a weak hand against strong players. We reasoned if we are playing against a thinking opponent and are in a stealing position with a strong hand, if we act like we are weak and are making a move, we can entice a call with a weaker than normal hand.

Is moving all-in with A's a known phenomenon or am I just hitting tables with some creative players?

[jldecarlo]

In my experience (which is pretty limited in online poker) at a low buy-in SNG people will go all in with pretty much anything.

You are right that all-in with AA is a pretty foolish move. However, calling an all-in with 99 isn't that great a move either. If you know enough to realize that his all-in is a bad move, you should know that you are unlikely to be much better than even odds to win the pot (and your orig post shows that you do know this).

Calling a bet with all of your chips when you are no better than 50-50 to win is only a good idea when you are in serious danger of being blinded out or out-played. Against Phil Ivey, I'd take it every time -- against the average guy on a $5 SnG, I'd fold and look for greener pastures.


Just my 2 cents.

L

[SpaceMonkey]

No, this happens quite a bit. I think there were discussions on 2+2 also. Basically, the ratio of good players to Donkeys is very high in the $5 and $10 SnG's. As such, people are terrible, and don't know what to call with, etc. You will often get called when you make huge overbets.

Haven't you played in SnG's where 2-3 players go all in on the first hand, sometimes with the best hand only being JJ or lower?

So yeah, some decent players will way over bet with AA, KK hoping to get a caller. Some people overbet because they don't know what they're doing, but it is also a strategy that some people use.

I've used it to good effect once or twice myself.

[shadesofgrey]

Originally Posted by vrecksler

This has happened a few times...

Keep playing & it will happen more than a few times. I play 5/10 quite a bit and boy people overbet all the time. All-in preflop AKo & they get busted by 3's hitting on the river... Its pretty funny to watch some people at work.

If you move up the number of numbskulls decreases. 10/20 probably has half the number of boneheads... well, maybe not half.

[SpeakEasy]

Originally Posted by vrecksler

I have noticed that play seems to tighten up when down to 5 and it stays tight until down to 3.

This is when you should shift into 4th gear and keep pounding them with raises until someone plays back at you. If you have a weak hand, fold, then keep pounding them with more raises. Build the stack.

[coyote]

I've made that move with aces in the weekly live tourney I play in. We all know each other pretty well, and it is a good way to change speeds.

For instance, I did it last week. I was probably UTG+1 or so and had about 10-12 times the big blind. I had already pushed a pair of threes earlier, everyone folded and I showed. I'm generally seen as a tight conservative player, so I needed to show that I was willing to play some smaller hands, so I could get some action on my other ones.

Sure enough when I got the aces I knew a limp was going to look real funny, (sinced I'd pushed several times) and a 2 or 3x BB raise would also look suspicious, so it was push and hope someone picked up a pair or 2 broadways. I got one caller with KJo and I doubled through.

[w16227]

Originally Posted by vrecksler

I have been playing a few SNG's at Party Poker, the $5 tables so far, and have noticed a few odd things; there are many people who bet way too much with solid hands.

Your 1st line said it all - $5 SnG.

Whle the play will be better than fake money tables - there will be little in the way or real poker being played. People will go all in with nothing. The same player will push all in with AA or KK the next hand.

[yeltzen]

Looks like he made the right play to me. He's not "risking $2000 to win $100"... he's making a huge bet hoping you think it's a steal. He probably figures that you called with something like 88 or QJ or K10 and won't give any action after the flop anyways unless you hit it perfectly (in which case he'll probably lose all of his chips anyways), so this is his best chance to win all of your chips now. Seems like that was the case.

I know it seems like stupid poker to all of us poker wizards who have read all of the books, etc... but when I tried an experiment in $5 SnGs where I'd try to win with a really stupid hand early... I won a hand with 53s when I hit a flush... after that I was getting called on EVERYTHING. I would go all in with KK when the blinds were $10/20 and I'd get two callers who had KJ or something. The blinds were $15/30 and it was 3 handed. I had 6000 chips or something. It's probably not a smart strategy, but I can't argue with the results.