Originally Posted by
Udaman
Hmm. I guess I'll go against the grain on this one. In a tourney, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY don't like calling an All-In bet early on - if I'm not 90% better to win. Why? Because even though the odds are in your favor, there's still a 25% chance that you're going to be out of the tournament. I wasn't playing in this one, and I didn't know the style of the person who went All-In, but he had already called a decent raise as the BB. Maybe he thought you were bluffing to steal his blinds, but probably unlikely in that spot - especially with another person having called the BB. He could have had A,K - in which point you're DOA. Or, as you said, pocket 6's. He could have been bluffing, but that's an enormous bluff in that position, with that flop. Turns out, he made a risky All-In Raise, with the goal of putting you all in as well. Dumb bet, on his part. Of course, not knowing his actual cards he might have had a straight draw as well. But when you called, you were basically gambling, and I'm not a big lover in gambling on my tournament life that early, with 30 plus BB's in my hand. Let's put it this way...when the spade hit on the turn, you must have felt deflated. And yet, you still had a 25% chance at that point to win, which was his odds when he went all-in.
On his $3K open, I would have simply called, worried about a flush draw. Instead, you kind of muscled him with a raise, which he then fought back on. If you were going to call and All-In bet on his part, then you should have gone All-In with his small bet, which you (smartly, I think) didn't do initially. If you had called his $3K, then with the turn a spade, I fold on his bet. Then again, he probably would have checked in that situation, hoping to draw you in, so you might have gotten to see the River for free (with a chance of demolishing him). But that's my style. Someone who knows me well can definitely get me to fold with early All-In bets. But that player will eventually run out of luck, or put themselves all-in when I have the nuts. Then it's game, set, match. I like those players at my table, because they almost never make it to the end. I especially like when I'm the one to take them out.
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