Semi shallow, someone is trying to isolate shorty & you have AQ

Mr. Flibble

6max NLH .5/1 Tribeca. What would you normaly do in this situation; You have been at table for 3 quick orbits. You have 65BBs. There is a terrible player in the BB two to your left with 9BB. UTG+1 (65BBs) makes it 9 to go. Its pretty obvious he wants to play HU with the shorty and you have AQo and position.

Considering there isn't a whole lot behind, what's your play?

Ste05

Why would he be trying to only win $9 with AA, KK, QQ or AK, therefore, I assume you are either ahead now or are a 50:50.

(1) If you raise will the shorty go All-In??
(2) If you call will the shorty still go All-In??

If the answer to (1) is yes, then I raise it up to 30 total, call any push, and push on (nearly) any flop if the other guy calls and checks the flop.

If the answer to (1) is no, and the answer to (2) is no, then I just call. i.e. get it heads up with the EP raiser and play Poker.

If the answer to (1) is no, and the answer to (2) is yes, I also just call, and hope to hit an A or Q.

Not sure if that makes sense, but alot of my decision would depend on what kind of fish we're dealing with and what sort of player the EP raiser is, but this would be my standard play...

Mr. Flibble

The short stack with $9 total will probably not take into account me calling/raising - he'll call allin with an A, PP or KJ+ I would imagine.

I don't think raising to 30 and pushing any flop is good. I can't imagine him (the EP raiser) calling that with less that AK or a PP and unless alot of over cards flop he probably won't fold a PP for 35 into a 60-70 pot. I actually don't see him just calling half his stack with any hand less than AQ or maybe even AK. Hes gotta really fold or push, and I'm not really on for putting in 65BBs preflop with AQo unless I have some sort of decent read. But I am here to learn. Does anyone else think a big raise here is good?

Regards just calling. People think calling off about 13% of your stack is good. What flops am I getting paid on? . . . I'm really a glass half empty sorta guy aren't I.

Ste05

Mr. Flibble wrote:

The short stack with $9 total will probably not take into account me calling/raising - he'll call allin with an A, PP or KJ+ I would imagine.

In this hand the Fish's hand is basically irrelevant, except for the chances of picking up the extra $9 in dead money he might put in, I'm looking for +EV spots, and picking up this dead $9 or taking a 50:50 shot is what I look for if I'm short/ shallow stacked, which this EP raise has made this hand.

The reason I'll raise to $30 if the Fish will call is to get the EP raiser to fold, that way we get 3:1 on our money with what is HIGHLY unlikely to be worse then this. i.e. a Good bet for us = +EV

Another reason I'll raise this much is because we're telling the EP player that he's playing for our whole stack, so, as you say, he'll likely either push or fold. And because I don't think he has AA, KK, QQ or AK, I also don't mind this as I'll take a 50:50 or a 60:40 and if you include our Fold Equity this is also +EV IMO.

The only down side is we're offering him good implied odds to call here and fold if the flop comes high, (But I'd actually put the K on the flop being enough for him to fold. So if the flop contains an A, K or Q, we should get him out, and pick up a nice side pot. I personally don't mind offering him the implied odds here.

Mr. Flibble wrote:

I don't think raising to 30 and pushing any flop is good. I can't imagine him (the EP raiser) calling that with less that AK or a PP and unless alot of over cards flop he probably won't fold a PP for 35 into a 60-70 pot. I actually don't see him just calling half his stack with any hand less than AQ or maybe even AK.

Because IMO it's unlikely he has AK+ this is good because the best thing for us would be if they both fold and we've just picked up 10BB's free.

Mr. Flibble wrote:

Hes gotta really fold or push, and I'm not really on for putting in 65BBs preflop with AQo unless I have some sort of decent read.

We actually would like him to fold, so that is a good thing. If we push though we're only getting called by AA, KK, QQ, or AK (-EV bet), however he should push with a slightly higher range here, mostly PP's, I'd say
As I said above if you include our fold equity I'll take a 50:50, 60:40 here with 65 BB's, this is one of the problems playing short stacked, you only have 2 rounds of betting and taking +EV gambles PF is the best way to play a short stack IMO. Using all the power of your stack when it is worthwhile, in this hand, because the size of the PF raise, you have even less room for manouvere.

Mr. Flibble wrote:

Regards just calling. People think calling off about 13% of your stack is good. What flops am I getting paid on? . . . I'm really a glass half empty sorta guy aren't I.

Well this is the problem with the size of the EP raise, you can easily fold, but I think this is a nice spot to be in. However, if you think the EP player would have QQ+ or AK here alot, then it's a fold. Any idea what the EP raiser's range is with this size of raise. When there's a short stack fish on the table, the whole dynamic of the table changes, and certianly in my experience this size bet will nearly never be QQ+ or AK. We need to adjust to the dynamic until he busts out or reloads.

Mr. Flibble

Thanks for the input. I won't fold so easily next time. Shorty folded and raiser mucked.

Ste05

NP, I hoped there would be more opinions as I think this is an interesting situation...

Mr. Flibble

Ste05 wrote:

NP, I hoped there would be more opinions as I think this is an interesting situation...

Is NP nice play or no problem?

I would have thought it would generate more discussion, it had me flummoxed for a 'correct' play.

Hectorjelly

I would just fold. Calling is terrible, pushing is ok (or making it 30 or whatever).

pok3rplaya

Hectorjelly wrote:

, pushing is ok (or making it 30 or whatever).

These things are not equivilent. If we make it thirty and the 65bb pushes I don't think we can call.

NickyOD

pok3rplaya wrote:

These things are not equivilent. If we make it thirty and the 65bb pushes I don't think we can call.

You can't call 35 to win 100?

Hectorjelly

pok3rplaya wrote:

These things are not equivilent. If we make it thirty and the 65bb pushes I don't think we can call.

I would like to point out politley that you are mistaken in this assumption. A good rule of thumb you might want to remember is anytime you have nearly half your stack in preflop you shouldnt fold. In this case the only hand you are not getting correct odds to call against is AA. If he showed you kings you should still call. This is a no brainer call.

pok3rplaya

Hectorjelly wrote:

I would like to point out politley that you are mistaken in this assumption. A good rule of thumb you might want to remember is anytime you have nearly half your stack in preflop you shouldnt fold. In this case the only hand you are not getting correct odds to call against is AA. If he showed you kings you should still call. This is a no brainer call.

Sorry,you're right, hangover.