When They Hit Runner-Runner and Run You Out

Craig, a student at the University of Missouri, got knocked out of an online tournament in sixth place and wondered if he had played the hand correctly. One of the many college kids now playing tournament poker online, he was playing a small buy-in ($22) event with 230 players and had made it to the final six players with an average chip stack. With approximately $28,000 in chips, he was in fourth place, and the chip leader, sitting to his left, had about $40,000. The blinds were $600-$1,200 with a $125 ante. Here's how Craig described the play of the hand:



"I was on the button and looked down at Q-J suited. Everyone passed to me, so I made it $3,600 to go. I raised to three times the big blind because the big blind hadn't been defending his blinds often, and the small blind, who was the chip leader, seemed to have tightened up his play until a few more people were eliminated. Neither player had seen a flop for several rounds, and although Q-J suited isn't a big hand, I thought a raise probably would enable me to pick up the blinds and antes.



"To my surprise, both the small blind and the big blind called my raise. I wasn't happy with that result at all! But, I had position on both opponents and knew that if the flop didn't hit me hard, I could still get away from the hand. To my delight, the flop came down K-10-9 rainbow; I had flopped the nut straight. I couldn't believe my eyes when the chip leader moved all in from first position. The big blind pondered and eventually folded, and, naturally, I pushed in the rest of my chips. When we turned our cards faceup, the chip leader showed K-J offsuit. I was just hoping a queen didn't come off, because I wasn't interested in sharing a pot of this size.



"My hopes were dashed when the turn brought a king, followed by a jack on the river, to make a full house for my opponent. I was pretty disgusted with the outcome of the hand, but although I was disappointed and felt unlucky, I like to analyze every hand that busts me out of a tournament to see if there was any way I could have played the hand differently to avoid getting beat.



"After the flop, of course, there was no way to get away from my hand. But I wonder if my preflop play was flawed. Once the final table gets shorthanded, my raising standards usually drop. This table was playing pretty tight, and I was having success stealing an occasional pot without any struggle. When I showed down a hand, it was usually a big hand, and I think I had the table's respect of my raises. My question is, do you think raising with my Q-J suited was a mistake? If not, was the amount of the raise too small? The small blind may have laid down his K-J for a larger raise, but I didn't want to get committed to a hand like Q-J preflop. I raised an amount that I thought would make the blinds fold, and also an amount that I could live with losing if I was reraised.



"Honestly, in this instance, I think I was unlucky, but perhaps laying down the Q-J preflop instead of raising with it would have been the preferred play. I would really like your insight into this situation. I have read your Championship No-Limit & Pot-Limit Hold'em and Championship Satellite Strategy, and greatly enjoyed both books, as well as your columns in Card Player. I have conflicting feelings on how I played this hand, so any advice you could give regarding my tournament exit would be appreciated."



In my response to Craig, I told him that when you're in a shorthanded situation with the blinds playing on the tight side, raising from the button with Q-J is a reasonable play. A slightly bigger raise might have forced the chip leader in the small blind to fold, but don't forget that many players don't respect a raise from the button as much as from an earlier position, so he might have called even if Craig had raised more. He made a marginal call before the flop with his K-J, but once he hit the flop with top pair and a gutshot-straight draw, he was willing to gamble. If I had been him, I probably would have made a pot-sized bet on the flop rather than risk elimination by fully committing my entire stack.



Overall, Craig, I thought your play was correct; you just got extremely unlucky when runner-runner cards ran you out of the tournament. If our nut straights hold up next time, I hope to join you in the winner's circle.

Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars.com and is the voice of ProPlay. If you would like to find out more about ProPlay, please visit the website at www.ProPlayLive.com/TomMcEvoy.