It’s pretty rare that I’m folding 99 pre-flop when I have 15 BB’s, but here, there were a lot of danger signs:
1. The UTG Limper
It’s far from a guarantee, but at this stage of the game, there’s not a lot of open limping, especially not UTG. So I’m somewhat concerned about this guy slowplaying.
2. The Small Raise
This could represent a hand like AJ or AQ that wants to raise but is suspicious of the UTG limper. However, this guy didn’t seem that smart. I’d also seen him make a pot-sized raise (which is absurd with antes and these shallow stacks) with AK, which made me more inclined to think a smaller raise was likely to be trappy rather than a hand that players like him don’t like to see a flop with.
3. The Shady Call
The button is calling 40% of his stack, which is highly suspicious, especially since he hadn’t been shy about sticking his stack in the pot. I’d say he was open shoving about 75% of the time that it folded to him and he had 12 BB’s or less, so he certainly seemed to understand that dynamic of tournament play.
Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 200/400 Blinds, 50 Ante, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter
UTG+2: 6,155
MP1: 9,054
MP2: 19,615
CO: 6,380
BTN: 4,985
Hero (SB): 6,595
BB: 12,459
UTG: 6,742
UTG+1: 16,521
Pre-Flop: (1,050) 9
9
dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG calls 400, MP1 raises to 1,450, BTN calls 1,450, UTG calls 1,050
Flop: (5,400) 6
9
6 (3 Players)
UTG bets 5,242 and is All-In, 2 folds
Results: 5,400 Pot
UTG mucked and WON 5,400 (+3,900 NET)
Of course, I would have flopped a full house, though based on this action, I probably didn’t even need it. Tilt-inducing, to say the least.