$25 NL HE MTT: BB vs UTG on bubble

R

Rajten

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Silver Level
Joined
May 18, 2020
Total posts
129
Chips
88
Game
Hold'em
Game Format
No Limit
Table Format
MTT
Buy-in
25
Currency
$
We are 398/675 548 places paid

UTG chip leader (56 bb) raises 2,2bb, 6x folds, we are on big blind (19,7bb stack) KJs

UTG has significant chip domination, second stack on table UTG3 got 33bb, there are two 20bb stack, and few short stacks 10-15bb.

Bubble is on shallow stacks, so it will last probably sth like 20 minutes.

According to situation, UTG can easy make pressure on us, so he can play very loose generally, but it is still opening from UTG, so it requires some strength.

Ok, so after preamble, question is, what should I do here. KJs is decent hand, of course it can be dominated, but we can also dominate him.

What do you do here? I think every option got merits. Do you call here, it seems standard and safe play, but it can be difficult to realise equity in this situation, he can be very aggresive.
Do you fold here, GG got very flat payout structure, so It is worth to not risk and crawl to money :), or I should pull trigger and Jam, he probably can make very tight fold. It looks very strong, even if he call (it sucks) we can win and take initiative on bubble.
 
3

300HPGOD

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Bronze Level
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Feb 13, 2018
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How has UTG been playing? Have they been opening a lot or been playing more "normal"? I believe if UTG has been opening a lot and taking advantage of their chip lead then you just call here and basically be prepared to call off all your hands where you flop a pair. If villain has been tight or we will call it tighter than they should be with the chip lead then I still think you call (although folding would not be terrible, just not as good as calling) and then see the flop with the exception being you dont value a pair of jacks if you should hit it the way you normally would and proceed with caution.

The tricky part comes up if you flop a open ended straight draw or flush draw in this scenario. In those spots I would think we should be willing to check jam those hands over villain (especially if they have been playing loose) although then we are risking cashing but the reward there is that you potentially double up to 40 BBs and that means UTG would drop to 36BBs and you would be the table chip leader. All depends on the min cash amount I guess and how often you play $25 buy ins. If this is your normal buy in then I think you should be going with the draw to have a decent shot at being chip leader plus there would be, I would think anyway, some fold equity with the play. If you normally play $3 buy ins and this is your "take a shot" tournament then the min cash probably means more to you and then you are more in a pickle when the draw flops and then I guess, although not sure, you could play it passively.
 
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