Saturday, August 19, 2006

Tournament Play: Jacks: One example of what NOT to do

In a recent single table tournament, in the first round of play, three players got all the chips in pre-flop.
With blinds 20/40, an early position player raised to 250. A player in middle position re-raised all of his chips, to 1900. A third player -- chip leader before the hand began -- raised all of his chips, to 2400.
The early position player called all-in.
The hands were turned over: early position player showed AA; middle position player showed KK; late position player turned over JJ.
My thoughts:
I like raising with AA (though I mix it up a little and sometimes just call, and might have raised a smaller amount here; 250 was 6x the big blind...). With KK in middle position, I think you can raise or just call and see the flop; I prefer to raise, but definitely wouldn't raise my entire stack, given the opener's raise to 250. I would have probably raised to 750 -- enough to show you're serious, but also an amount that leaves your options open.
With JJ -- in the first round of the tournament and a player re-raising all-in against an early position raise -- this is a clear fold. At a full table of players in the first round of the tournament, there is no reason to gamble with JJ here, especially considering this hand is likely to play three-handed, not heads-up.
With potential three-way action, even if the jacks are the best hand pre-flop, your two opponents are likely to hold overcards.
A pocket pair versus two overcards will win about 55% of the time in heads-up action.
Pocket jacks look good but, at a full table and playing against a raise and a re-raise, there's no reason to risk your tournament -- especially not in the first round, and especially when you start the hand as the chip leader!!

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