Well, I want to share something actually. I’ve been playing holdem at home games in tournament format along with some friends. Recently, we started playing the blinds. A friend of mine went short of funds when he was in the big blind as well as in the small.

Now I’m wondering in the event the big blind goes broke, should the next hand be played by the button and the big blind or someone might get in the way? Similarly, in case the small blind goes broke, on the next hand does the button remains on the same person as the former hand and the blinds will go on as usual? Or else, does the button goes to the person who was the big blind beforehand and then get lucky for not paying the small at such round?

Thanks for your time!

Barry
Barry,

In the event the big blind in the current hand is eliminated, the next hand the next player that is supposed to get the big blind will still play the big blind, but there will not be a small blind. If the small blind busts, then the next players that are supposed to post the blinds will post and the button is frozen. In the event both blinds bust, then the button is frozen and the player that is the big blind gets the big blind and the small blind is dead.

Nobody should ever post both blinds at once.

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Hand 1:

There were eight players. Player 1 was Rich with 54137. Player 2 was Wesley with 129679. Player 3 was Elija with 197197. Player 4 was Noah with 45939. Player 5 was Mike with 182007. Player 6 was Perry with 222544. Finally, player 8 was Benj with 54593. All figures by the way were in chips.

At certain point, Rich posted the ante 400. This was followed by Wesley, Elija, Noah, Mike, Perry, and Ben who all posted the ante 400. Mike then posted small blind 4000 while Perry the big blind 8000.

Noah then was dealt Jh Ah. Ben raised to 1600. Rich folded and so as Wesley and Elija. Noah raised to 45539 and was all-in actually. Mike and Perry then folded. Ben called 29539. Flop came and was Ts 8c 5d. Turn followed and brought Ts 8c 5d Th. River as expected then also came and brought Ts 8c 5d Th Qs.

At revelation time, Ben flipped over Ks Qh two pair, Queens and Tens while Noah had Jh Ah a pair of Tens. Ben then got the pot.

Hand 2:

There were nine players. Player 1 was Terrence with 11780. Player 2 was Avie with 21364. Player 3 was Sam with 7314. Player 4 was Zeck with 8808. Player 5 was Axel with 6650. Player 6 was Sean with 7405. Player 7 was Dean with 9430. Player 8 was Norman with 8379. Finally, player 9 was Iñaki with 11845. All figures were in chips.

Terrence started the posting. He posted the ante 50. Avie, Sam, Zeck, Axel, Sean, Dean, Norman, and Iñaki all followed and posted the ante 50 as well. Zeck then posted small blind 300 while Axel posted the big blind 600.

Later, Norman was dealt Kc Ac. Sean then folded and so as Dean. Norman called for 600. Iñaki raised to 1200. Terrence, Avie, Sam, Zeck, and Axel all folded. Norman then called for 600 again. Flop then came and was 7c 6c 8h. Norman placed a 600 bet while Iñaki called 600. Turn came and brought 7c 6c 8h Ad. Norman placed 1200 bet while Iñaki again called, at such point 1200. River came and brought 7c 6c 8h Ad Qc. Norman then checked while Iñaki placed 3000 bet. Norman then raised to 5329 and was all-in. Iñaki called 2329.

At showdown, Norman had Kc Ac a flush, Ace high while Iñaki had Jd Ah a pair of Aces. Norman won the pot.

Aside from the two recent hands, I would like to also share to you something and eventually ask a few questions.

In one of your sections, I’ve read that you believe the player has played the second hand perfectly. I’m referring here about the player who had a couple of tournament hands. I’m sorry but I have to disagree. Well, I believe that you must be 100% sure that when you check, your opponent will bet. I also somehow believe that to make more money, do not risk a check raise and place a nice bet just enough and not too huge to invite a call. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Regards,
Deluzio
Deluzio,

You’re right. In order to check there, he needs to be certain that his opponent will bet. I think in the situation above, that checking will make it appear that he is scared of the flush. One of the opponents probably read on this and acted. If that is the case, I think it was a good play.

In either case, you must be sure your opponent is going to be to try that move. Actually, in many tournaments, if you do not bet on the river and are shown to hold the nuts, you can receive a penalty for soft playing.

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The other day, I joined a $2.00 online tournament with 300 players initially. The average chips was $5000 and I had around $4800. Eventually, the tournament was down to 60 players.

At some point, 9 players were in at my table. I was dealt A J diamonds and blinds were 320/640. By the way, I was the small blind. If I can remember it right, there was just one player who called before me. Then, I raised to 1200 while big blind and other caller decided to call. After the call, it was found out that big blind had about $5000 while the caller had $3300.

Later, flop came and brought Kd Qc 4d. With $3600 I then went all in. Two others called. Big blind had a K 7 not suited, caller had a Q 9 not suited, and I had a top straight draw or nuts flush draw. In the end, Kings busted two of us. So do you think I made the right play? How about the two other players at the table?

Thanks a lot!

Regards,
Porchia
Porchia,

I don’t think that it was a good idea to push there. Yes you had a lot of outs, but you want the pot a little bigger first. I am not saying get out the hand, but I would let someone else be the aggressor so that you do have true pot odds to draw to your monster hand. The player with Q-9 was a little loose in his call but was probably hoping his queen was good. The King was overplaying his top pair, but was in the lead. I think you should have let someone else bet and then called or moved all in for your draw. With 15 outs on the flop and 60% to hit your hand, you were going to probably stay in.

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Last night, I was in a 14 person NL tourney. I believe the players who joined were mostly average players, just one or two were really good players. The entire night, I was doing okay and was actually dominating the table. I played aggressively and was focused then on winning the pots alone.

At some point, with an average player, I got to heads up. Good side was that I had more chips, I believe 2-1. Blinds then were at 500-1000. In the small blind, I was dealt A-8 suited and so I decided to go all in with a little hope of stealing blind. Consequently, with 910 of diamonds, he called. Flop came and brought 2 diamonds. Turn followed but was a blank. Finally, river came and gave him a flush. Because of this, he won.

Now I’m wondering if my all in play with A-8 suited is a good one? I believe I had the best hand then so I went all in. I was also expecting that the guy will call as I was stealing his blinds and was pushing him.

On the other hand, in a heads up game, is going all in with any ace pre-flop effective? How about if I’m the chip leader? And do you think putting in a raise while hoping that flop would hit is far better? What about pocket pair? Or I’m the chip leader?

Sorry for the many questions. Please bear with me, I badly need your help.

Thanks,
Alexander
Alexander,

Without knowing the stack sizes etc, I can’t say whether the push was really good or not. However, raising with any ace preflop is a good play heads-up. If you went all-in, that’s not necessarily a bad play. It turned out you were ahead. You just got unlucky.

Heads up you want to raise with a wider range of hands to include pairs, any ace, and two big cards. Being the chip leader or not doesn’t matter. You want to push your big hands preflop. Otherwise, see a lot of cheap flops with your other hands and hope to flop well.

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Just last Saturday, I was in a tournament for $10,000. We started with 70 players and then was down to 9 at each table, there were 2 final tables. Blinds were at $4000-8000 and then will move up to $8000-16,000 when we finally have the next hand. $4000 chips, I was at the small blind. After posting, I have around $34000 chips.

Of course aside from the small blind, there were 8 other players around. Player 1, the big blind, had $40,000 chips after posting. Player 2 had around $70000 chips. Player 3 had around $180000 chips. Both players 2 & 3 called the big blind. Player 4 was next and folded. Player 5 had around $25-30,000 chips, he folded then. Player 6 had around $70,000 chips. Player 7 had around $50-60,000 chips. And finally, player 6 had around 25,000 chips. Players 6, 7, & 8 folded.

At some point, I was dealt a Q/5 off-suit. Flop then came and brought 6h 6s Qh. I was bothered after knowing this as about 20% somebody will be hitting the six. Well, this was just based on my instincts and observations. Because of this, I checked and so as everyone else, I was not hoping for it actually, I wanted somebody to throw out a bet.

Next card came and was an 8s. I then went all-in hoping that somebody might think I have the 6. Suddenly, bid blind called while two others folded.

I knew then he had a 6/7 clubs and I have my 2 pair. River card came and was a 2. Because of this, everything was over then for me.

Some hands came. Player 5 who is actually my friend was blinded out, K/9 spades to pair of 5s. We then went out, along with our another friend, we discussed what went wrong. Well, I believe that my mistake was going all-in then. Well I realized I should have thrown out a feeler bet, however I don’t have enough chips to do so. One of my friends on the other hand had made a mistake of not going all in, and most especially for laying down beforehand. I believe his play was moronic and everything else seemed like a joke and all. On the contrary, he believe he made the right decision as the flop/turn/river didn’t help him.

Up to now, we still argue every time we talk about what happened. Personally, how do you find the way I played? How about the way my friend played? Who’s right between the two of us?

I’m really open to suggestions and even criticisms so you can actually tell me everything. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks a lot for your time.

Regards,

Paul Jon
Paul,

First, you should have put out a bet on the flop to see where you were at. If you were raised, you could then fold. When you checked around and then moved all in on the turn, you were telling the person that you did not indeed have a six. Someone with a six there would have put in a smaller amount.

In regards to your friend, I don’t have enough information. If he was blinded out to the point where K-9 was his only choice to push with, than I would recommend he loosen up his requirements in later position some.

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Just recently I joined a home tourney. A hand came up at some point. On the button, I got 4-5 clubs. Everyone at the table folded to me therefore I raised, 80. By the way, the blinds then were 10-20.

Later, both the small blind and big blind folded. Just to give you information about the two, the small blind was a very loose player then and would normally go on his way to call raises any suited A,K, Q, or the like while the big blind was a not so tight player and was fond of running for flushes back then in the tourney.

Well, to continue, after the folding event, small blind checked while big blind placed a 300 bet. I then went all in though I knew I would win. I just want to make sure that the small blind will not run for his flush.

Few minutes passed and small blind called while big blind folded. By the way, big blind had K-Q. Afterwards, small blind flipped A-3 of spades. At such point, I’ve proven to myself that my instincts about what he had was true. Well, turn brought his spade. Unfortunately, I was busted out the first hand of the tourney.

Now my question is, do you think that was an overplay? Back then, I should have re-raised however I believe that somebody had a flush draw therefore I thought that an all in bet would be much better as it will scare him away. Also, if a spade didn’t hit on the turn, I should have re-raised the 300 to 900 and then pushed all in. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Kevin
Kevin,

First, you had 4-5. This is not a strong hand. You tried to steal from the button. When you were reraised, you needed to give it up. Pushing all-in was an overplay. The rest of the thinking is irrelevant. When you try and steal with a weak hand an face resistance, it is time to fold.

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