MTT : AJ on SB against passive limper

[deanp27]

Poker is a dangerous game but he who dares wins

[Jabreck]

I understand that a raise to 3BB is enough to isolate but isn't it give him too good odds to call with any two cards? Then it is more difficult to "read" his hand, isn't it?

If he has worse than AJ, and he is out of position to you, why would you ever want him to fold?..... in this instance, when we have the best hand and more importantly, position, we want him to make the bad call.  The ideal scenario is that the blinds fold, and the limper makes a bad call - and with the stack sizes as they are, 3xbb seems like an appropriate raise size to achieve this.

I completely agree with you but would it be a bad call? His error is clearly the limp but the call after seems correct... With his range, he has around 40% equity against my AJo (and 60% against 98s for example) so it is good odds, isn't it?
Don't you think that a bigger raise increases fold equity so my EV would be better (for my range of raising hand against a limper, not just for AJo)? I don't know much about the concept of equity, maybe my argument is bad 

It seems to me that you are really hung up on what cards your opponent has. Yes it is important, but you seem to me to be in danger of being beaten before you enter the hand as you are just assuming that someone will have a big hand.

You are absolutely right, i always imagine the worst when i have to play a hand. One of my greatest weakness  But i work to improve my game 

Poker is a dangerous game but he who dares wins

I'll try to keep that in mind 

[Fatcatstu]

It seems to me that you are really hung up on what cards your opponent has. Yes it is important, but you seem to me to be in danger of being beaten before you enter the hand as you are just assuming that someone will have a big hand.

You are absolutely right, i always imagine the worst when i have to play a hand. One of my greatest weakness  But i work to improve my game 

See, try and enjoy playing hands, i LOVE playing hands, that is what poker is about for me, pitting your wits against someone else and trying to come out on top. Dont be afraid of playing hands, embrace it

[AMRN]

I understand that a raise to 3BB is enough to isolate but isn't it give him too good odds to call with any two cards? Then it is more difficult to "read" his hand, isn't it?

If he has worse than AJ, and he is out of position to you, why would you ever want him to fold?..... in this instance, when we have the best hand and more importantly, position, we want him to make the bad call.  The ideal scenario is that the blinds fold, and the limper makes a bad call - and with the stack sizes as they are, 3xbb seems like an appropriate raise size to achieve this.

I completely agree with you but would it be a bad call? His error is clearly the limp but the call after seems correct... With his range, he has around 40% equity against my AJo (and 60% against 98s for example) so it is good odds, isn't it?
Don't you think that a bigger raise increases fold equity so my EV would be better (for my range of raising hand against a limper, not just for AJo)? I don't know much about the concept of equity, maybe my argument is bad  

From a pot odds perspective, yes he should call with any two cards..... but he will then be playing the rest of the hand out of position, and that is why I was saying it would be a bad call.   As Dean says though, the stacks are too shallow for much post flop play, so the value of position is decreased.... however it still has relevance.

Edited to fix quoting issue. [MOD]

[AAroddersAA]

It seems to me that you are really hung up on what cards your opponent has. Yes it is important, but you seem to me to be in danger of being beaten before you enter the hand as you are just assuming that someone will have a big hand.

You are absolutely right, i always imagine the worst when i have to play a hand. One of my greatest weakness  But i work to improve my game 

See, try and enjoy playing hands, i LOVE playing hands, that is what poker is about for me, pitting your wits against someone else and trying to come out on top. Dont be afraid of playing hands, embrace it

On a scale of 1-10 how much do you love playing hands? Is it a higher or lower number than you love playing pai gow?

[Fatcatstu]

It seems to me that you are really hung up on what cards your opponent has. Yes it is important, but you seem to me to be in danger of being beaten before you enter the hand as you are just assuming that someone will have a big hand.

You are absolutely right, i always imagine the worst when i have to play a hand. One of my greatest weakness  But i work to improve my game 

See, try and enjoy playing hands, i LOVE playing hands, that is what poker is about for me, pitting your wits against someone else and trying to come out on top. Dont be afraid of playing hands, embrace it

On a scale of 1-10 how much do you love playing hands? Is it a higher or lower number than you love playing pai gow?

Oh now you are just not being fair.

See, for me, poker should be fun. Sitting there and perfecting different folding techniques is not what i call "fun"

Getting involved, pitting your wits against someone else is. My favourite moment in Vegas was bluffing Stu Oliver about halfway through day 1, because it got the old heartbeat going, and also got me some momentum, woke me up, so to speak, and it got me playign that little bit more which meant that i made day 2 and went on to FT.

Playing poker hands - 8/10

Playing Pai Gow - 9/10

Playing Pai Gow whilst watching Darren getting "Shallised" - 12/10