Fighting off a big-stack

bbMike

Hi all, this is my first attempt at posting a hand history so I hope it comes out ok.

This is a hand from a satellite, I can't quite remember what stage we were at but as you'll see plenty of play left, I have nearly 40BBs - I think I was marginally up on the average with about half the field to leave before the seats. Big-stack guy joins the table and is very stubborn, and uses the intimidating stack (over 110BBs!) very well to apply pressure for a few rounds before this hand.

My question is more general than the analysis of this particular hand, I have been in tournaments recently where I've been stuck between two huge stacks and they're never folding to me. I've found it very difficult to find a spot as the lower end of the range rarely flops big enough unless I'm willing to risk my tournament life.  Maybe it's easier when my stack is smaller? If I sit around too long waiting for a hand I'm paying a fair few blinds then it's too obvious when I come out fighting. Normally I'd look to find position against a smaller or similar stack, but here the big-stacks were so large they were in almost every single hand - certainly calling off any pre-flop raise.

So... how do you play those situations (bear in mind for this hand we're talking satellite pay-out rather than going for the win) and what do you make of my attempt to get value here? I think the last bet is just throwing away chips, but thought if I checked he's betting, with a bet he might call?  I didn't like the flop at all (perhaps too negative), turn horrendous, river worse!  Was hoping I'd house up at some point.

Anyway, enough rambling, be interested in your views on the hand and the problem in general.

Thanks.

Player	Action	Cards	Amount	Pot	Balance
bbMike	Small blind		40.00	40.00	2960.00
x	Big blind		80.00	120.00	8955.00
	Your hole cards	A A
Rubymaison	Fold
qegs	Fold
wendyh	Fold
bbMike	Raise		120.00	240.00	2840.00
x	Call		80.00	320.00	8875.00
Flop
		A Q 10
bbMike	Bet		240.00	560.00	2600.00
x	Call		240.00	800.00	8635.00
Turn
		J
bbMike	Bet		400.00	1200.00	2200.00
x	Call		400.00	1600.00	8235.00
River
		2
bbMike	Bet		480.00	2080.00	1720.00
x	Raise		1111.00	3191.00	7124.00
bbMike	Fold
x	Muck
x	Win		2560.00		9684.00
x	Return		631.00	0.00	10315.00

BorinLoner

Not liking this flop is a bad way of looking at things. You've got the second nuts on a board with lots of two-pair/one-pair with a draw possibilities and there's every chance of getting paid. A bad board when we have AA is something like A26 rainbow because we know we can't get paid unless we've coolered our opponent with AK/AQ or an underset. This AQT board is a dream for us.

Anyway, I like your bet sizing pre-flop and the flop bet is alright. I'd prefer to bet a tad smaller because our opponent doesn't necessarily need a strong range to call your pre-flop raise blind v bllind and we want him to call a flop bet with as many of his Qx or Tx type hands as possible. It's also pretty likely that we'll need to c-bet with nothing against him later, so we don't want those c-bets to be too expensive. 3/4 pot isn't wrong, it's just not my preference.

On the turn I think you bet too small. Betting 3/4 pot on the flop, then following it with 1/2 pot on the turn looks like you were happy with your hand on the flop, but this turn card has scared you - Since that's exactly the situation, it's exactly how we don't want it to look.

Bet the turn as though you are happy with your hand and don't fold. He might have a King for the straight but it's more likely that he'll have some sort of one-pair, two-pair or flush draw type hand so we're still well ahead of his range. If we assume that he hasn't called our flop bet with just a gut-shot and hopefully he hasn't slow-played the KJ on the flop, then the only Kings in his range are Kx of clubs and something with a pair on the board, like AK, KQ or KT. Blind v Blind, AK and KQ would normally be 3-bet pre-flop, so those Kings become less likely. Even if we get it in on the turn and he has the straight, we have perhaps ten outs to house-up anyway.
 
It's most likely that he calls with worse hands than ours or folds hands that wouldn't put more chips in whatever we do.

I actually like the small bet on the river unless we know that our opponent is capable of interpreting this as a blocker bet. You can get value from lots of two-pair combinations. If he is smart enough to see this as a blocker bet, then he can make this small raise as a bluff because he's recognised that you're not happy with your hand. That, however, is probably not as likely as him just having a flush or King so folding to the raise is likely good.

On the whole I think you played the hand alright, but the message you sent on the turn and river was that you didn't like your hand. Most players wouldn't take advantage and bluff you, so this line usually isn't punished. If the opponent is a very good player, he could possibly take advantage of you. As I say, you were probably just beat, though.

BorinLoner

Try to include more specific reads on your opponent in future: What your impression of their ability is, what you've seen them do, what they've seen you do. That sort of thing.

bbMike

BorinLoner - This is fantastic analysis, thanks very much. I agree with you entirely, I made it look like I was ready to fold with my bet sizing on the turn. I think though that I take a stronger line against an opponent with fewer chips and that is my real problem in this spot. Having said that, I do find that I can be too pessismistic with the satellite structure and I am too intent on holding the seat than getting value (which then leads ultimately to lots of bubbling or just scraping through). Instead of seeing this as the dream flop, I saw how many ways it could get scary and I know now that's the wrong mindset. I should bet as is and re-evaluate if necessary.

All I had on my opponent here was that he'd called almost all pre-flop raises to him when he was in position, and used the strength of his stack to push people off - I'd say before this he'd been at the table for about 10 hands 5-6 of which he taken down a pre-flop aggressor without showing a hand. All he'd seen me do was a lot of folding!

He was a good player to all intents and purposes, and played his stack well. On the river he could afford a raise to keep the pressure on. I never felt comfortable in the hand!

I found this hand hard to play being out of position, having only a third of the chips of the aggressor at the table, and not making the mistake that would cost my seat.

Is the advice not to worry about the fact he might stack me in? I suppose this is where the negative thoughts are coming from.