Here's the scenario: final 6 players of a 600+ tourney. I'm CL with just over 900k. Blinds are 60k/30k with a 10k ante.

I'm BB with 96h. 3 players limp in, and I check. Pot is 300k.

Flop is 9c8h7h. SB checks. I bet 150k. Player with about 500k raises all-in, others fold back to me.

Do you call or fold?

Call in a heart beat.

Yep, pretty standard call...top pair, OESFD

I'm with the pushers, too.

Lemme guess - AK of hearts and the flush came (not straight flush)

What kind of a player is he, what are the stacks, and what is the payout.


I would call this easily early in a tournament, but here, you can't count straight chip EV.

Although if you fold, you will have just over 10BBs, so you will be faily short stacked.

I probably would have just pushed on the flop and not had to worry about the decision.

Some of you had asked about the guy who pushed all in...

To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure. We'd played about 10 hands at the final table to this point, and pushed out the short stacks. I hadn't been at a table with this guy up to this point.

We started with 5k, so there are a little more than 3 million total on the table. I've got just over 900k, 2nd has around 650k, average is about 500k, short stack at this point has about 350k. With the blinds and antes costing 150k every six hands versus an average stack of 500k, things were going to be moving quickly...

I put him on overcards, or possibly a straight draw. I discounted an overpair figuring that he wouldn't limp in at this stage with TT or better. I was hoping be didn't have JT for a flopped straight. But with top pair, a open straight draw and a flush draw, I figured I has lots of outs if I was behind.

So I called. He turned over QQ (no heart). This surprised me...

I took this to a calculator after the fact. Given all my outs (10's, 5's, 9's, 6's, hearts), I was behind but a 3-2 favorite. Of course, I didn't hit any of my outs (would I be posting the question if I did?).

Thanks for the feedback. It's nice to know that your instincts agreed with mine.

So now I'm down to around 5 BB's. In the SB, I see 2 limpers and AKs. There's 270k in the pot - 300K if I call. So I push it all-in. Same guy calls, turns over A4o. Great! Until he flops the 4... CL to out in 2 hands.... ain't NL great!

Beav mentioned that at this point in a tourney there are considerations of payout structure that affect how to play.

However this is a clear push on your part as you have a made hand and numerous draws including the nuts.

Given the situation of the tourney I'd have pushed the flop and hoped to take the pot there, but not been disappointed with a call.

And there is no way you can put the guy on QQ there.