PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (9 handed) converter

Rog (t5146)
BB (t4260)
UTG (t10873)
UTG+1 (t8845)
MP1 (t3280)
MP2 (t27216)
MP3 (t12319)
CO (t9381)
Button (t2068)

Preflop: Rog is SB with , .
UTG calls t200, 1 fold, MP1 calls t200, 3 folds, Button calls t200, Rog completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t1100) , , (5 players)
Rog bets t4921 (All-In), BB folds, UTG folds, MP1 calls t3055 (All-In), Button folds.

Turn: (t9076) (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t9076) (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: t9076

Results in white below:
Rog has Qh Jc (straight, king high).
MP1 has Qd Ad (one pair, tens).
Outcome: Rog wins t9076.

This was a horrible play now that i look at it. Only 24% to win the hand on the flop. I made this play in pokerstars freeroll.

i dont think it's completely horrible, as you do have a draw, you are shortstacked and need to pick up a pot or two, but i think if you want to go allin here, you should try to checkraise. this will get more money in the pot, so if you can get him to fold, you get a few extra chips for your efforts.

this play is called a semi-bluff, since you're "bluffing" in the way that you want to take the pot down right here, but if you get called you have outs.

i think you could probably search either the forum or google for semi-bluffing, it can be a very useful tool.

(not sure how well it works at micro limits/freerolls, but it's good to have the concept down)

In free rolls you can wait to hit your draw before going all in

KJ

Originally Posted by KINGJACK

In free rolls you can wait to hit your draw before going all in

KJ

'tis a good point

Actually the play you made was not too bad looking in general, you had two overcards and an open straight draw on the flop, giving you 14 outs if we assume the guy has top pair top kicker.

The bad play was the oversized bet and all in.

Originally Posted by bonchkid

Betting 5k into a 1k pot isn't horrible? Come on guys. Fire 800 here. Checkraise if you make your draw.

He is putting them to "the test" - putting them in a "tough spot" and having them make the "tough decision"

This is a good play, just don't overuse it.

Remember, this isn't pot limit or limit, it's NO LIMIT hold'em. Which means you have to put your opponents to the test, as Beav said.

Most of the time, I probably check/call here or bet half the pot or so on the come.

It's easy to see these plays as "meltdowns" when you lose, or "lucky" plays when you get called and win. The reality is that they are somewhere in between good plays and great plays.

Besides, you've gotta figure you've got about 14 outs (actually you had 11, but there's no way to know that) so you're better than 50% to win the hand in a showdown.

Here's the math on the play:

Assuming we will ever only get 1 caller, how often does that 1 caller have to fold for this play to break even? There are 3 situations here:

A) We go all in, and they fold some X% of the time.
B) We go all in, They call some (100% - X%) of the time and we win 45% of the time (if we figure 11 outs).
C) We go all in, they call some (100% - X%) of the time and we lose 55% of the time (if we figure 11 outs).

So our EV for each play is:

A) X (folding %) * 1100 (in the pot now) = EV A
1100X = EV A

B) (1-X) (the % he calls) * (0.45 percent to win) * 6021 (what we win) = EV B
(1-X) * 0.45 * 6021 = EV B
(1-X) * 2709 = EV B
2709 - 2709X = EV B

C) (1-X) (the % he calls) * (0.55 percent we lose) * (-4921 what we lose) = EV C
(1-X) * 0.55 * (-4921) = EV C
(1-X) * (-2706) = EV C
2706X - 2706 = EV C

Total EV = EV A + EV B + EV C

So break even is Total EV = 0, or

0 = EV A + EV B + EV C

0 = (1100X) + (2709-2709X) + (2706X-2706)

0 = 1100X + 3 - 3X
0 = 1097X + 3
-3 = 1097X
X = -3/1097
X = -0.003

So since we have a negative folding % to break even, this is a + EV play even if the guy never folds.