i have T1600... big stack (good player) has like 4k... big fish who will no doubt bust soon has 1k.

money is only top two. first wins $858 second wins $462. (Buyin was $220 +$15)

i'm in the SB with AK of club. blinds are 30/60

fish folds on button . i raise BB to T200 which he calls

flop T400
[5c][2s]

I ended up pushing in front for 1400 figuring i'm not folding to a raise either way.


however:

lets say i bet 300 on the flop and he pushes. i can readily assume it's a coinflip SH which i have a slight lead in. i'll have 1100 left blinds aren't too high yet. short stack fish is likely to implode soon.

so.. hows bout it?

I like the open push against some players (read-dependent). The c-r becomes more attractive if he's going to take a stab at a check.

I'd say for most players (guessing a little in a 6-handed tourney, which likely becomes more aggro), the good player isn't going away with QQ-AA, certainly not with a set, and possibly not with something like 76s (not clubs).

99-JJ as well as hands like 87s (I just played a 9-player where T7s sticks out in my mind when it got down to 3-handed, so a lot of these close suited things may be in there) are somewhere in the grey area.

Hmmm... I dunno, if it were me playing the T4000 stack, I'd bet to your check with any pair, with open-ender or with low flush draw. If you check-raised, I'd probably release on the vast majority of those (depending on my read on you).

You know, maybe the c-r is better. Putting myself in the shoes of deep stack here, I'm not sure my calling range changes at all, but I would bet behind on a lot of hands that I'd be willing to lay down (unless I had a read on you as tending to check big hands after raising). And if it's checked behind here, you can always bet the turn with the same result, really.

I think Xas's c-r is the best play. It just seems to me like you pick up an extra bet a lot of the time. And if he has a set or a really big pair, then the result is the same anyway.