$11 NL HE MTT: Ruined my tournament raising 863 flop with A6

I didn't understand the small donk bet, and I didn't realise that a pair with an Ace kicker would be an underdog. How can I read it?

PokerStars, $10.27 + $0.73 - Hold'em No Limit - 250/500 (50 ante) - 8 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

S.sybev (UTG): 19,976 (40 bb)
timmyoz (UTG+1): 6,546 (13 bb)
Begg369 (MP): 7,123 (14 bb)
luxplayer5 (MP+1): 10,000 (20 bb)
Mace F1 (CO): 11,330 (23 bb)
LethMike (BU): 30,920 (62 bb)
Mollyc2151 (SB): 18,050 (36 bb)
miklcct (BB): 23,350 (47 bb)

Pre-Flop: (1,150) Hero (miklcct) is BB with A♦ 6♠
5 players fold, LethMike (BU) calls 500, Mollyc2151 (SB) calls 250, miklcct (BB) raises to 1,450, LethMike (BU) calls 950, Mollyc2151 (SB) calls 950

Flop: (4,750) 3♥ 6♥ 8♦ (3 players)
Mollyc2151 (SB) bets 1,500, miklcct (BB) raises to 5,375, LethMike (BU) folds, Mollyc2151 (SB) raises to 16,550 (all-in), miklcct (BB) calls 11,175

Turn: (37,850) 9♠ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (37,850) 9♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: 37,850

Showdown:
Mollyc2151 (SB) shows 7♥ 5♥ (a straight, Five to Nine)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 43%, Flop: 63%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)

miklcct (BB) shows A♦ 6♠ (two pair, Nines and Sixes)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 57%, Flop: 37%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)

Mollyc2151 (SB) wins 37,850

miklcct said:

I didn't understand the small donk bet, and I didn't realise that a pair with an Ace kicker would be an underdog. How can I read it?

PokerStars, $10.27 + $0.73 - Hold'em No Limit - 250/500 (50 ante) - 8 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

S.sybev (UTG): 19,976 (40 bb)
timmyoz (UTG+1): 6,546 (13 bb)
Begg369 (MP): 7,123 (14 bb)
luxplayer5 (MP+1): 10,000 (20 bb)
Mace F1 (CO): 11,330 (23 bb)
LethMike (BU): 30,920 (62 bb)
Mollyc2151 (SB): 18,050 (36 bb)
miklcct (BB): 23,350 (47 bb)

Pre-Flop: (1,150) Hero (miklcct) is BB with A♦ 6♠
5 players fold, LethMike (BU) calls 500, Mollyc2151 (SB) calls 250, miklcct (BB) raises to 1,450, LethMike (BU) calls 950, Mollyc2151 (SB) calls 950

Flop: (4,750) 3♥ 6♥ 8♦ (3 players)
Mollyc2151 (SB) bets 1,500, miklcct (BB) raises to 5,375, LethMike (BU) folds, Mollyc2151 (SB) raises to 16,550 (all-in), miklcct (BB) calls 11,175

Turn: (37,850) 9♠ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (37,850) 9♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: 37,850

Showdown:
Mollyc2151 (SB) shows 7♥ 5♥ (a straight, Five to Nine)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 43%, Flop: 63%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)

miklcct (BB) shows A♦ 6♠ (two pair, Nines and Sixes)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 57%, Flop: 37%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)

Mollyc2151 (SB) wins 37,850

Click to expand...

Oh yeah… I’ve had moments like this too 😅
You look at the board quickly, feel pretty good about two pair, and only later realize there was already a straight sitting there. Poker has a way of humbling us sometimes.

Especially in turbo tournaments where everything moves fast. Don’t worry — you’re definitely not the only one who’s missed something like that.

Players will do different things these days, you can no longer assume a donk is a bluff, in this case it was a semi bluff with a massive draw on a connected board that theoretically you, as the raiser, doesn't connect much with, but the limp callers do.

In the end, you don't need to understand the opponents donk, you need to understand their bet vs your hand. Here a re raise with 2nd pair seems excessive and allows them to shove over the top of you. Which they do.

What do you expect them to have when the shove all in, you're still really only beating a bluff, whereas they have a straight and flush draws. They can easily have 2 pair, sets, or an 8. From their perspective, they are happy to take their chances if you even have an overpair or 2 pair with their really strong draw.

Preflop
I dont like this raise. You are never getting BTN to fold by raising to 3BB, so all, you are doing, is to build a bigger pot, where you will be out of position or monkey in the middle with A6o. And are you really excited about that? Just take a free flop and go from there instead. Alternative, if you want to raise, you need to go much bigger like 5BB. But I would want a stronger hand than A6o to do that.

Flop
Folding second pair to a 1/3 pot sized donk bet would be very tight even with a guy left to act behind you. So I guess, its ok to call here, but putting in a raise is spew. And its even more spew to then also call a 3-bet jam. Even when he has a big draw, like he had here, you are an equity underdog, and you are crushed against any made hand in his range.

miklcct said:

I didn't understand the small donk bet, and I didn't realise that a pair with an Ace kicker would be an underdog. How can I read it?

PokerStars, $10.27 + $0.73 - Hold'em No Limit - 250/500 (50 ante) - 8 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

S.sybev (UTG): 19,976 (40 bb)
timmyoz (UTG+1): 6,546 (13 bb)
Begg369 (MP): 7,123 (14 bb)
luxplayer5 (MP+1): 10,000 (20 bb)
Mace F1 (CO): 11,330 (23 bb)
LethMike (BU): 30,920 (62 bb)
Mollyc2151 (SB): 18,050 (36 bb)
miklcct (BB): 23,350 (47 bb)

Pre-Flop: (1,150) Hero (miklcct) is BB with A♦ 6♠
5 players fold, LethMike (BU) calls 500, Mollyc2151 (SB) calls 250, miklcct (BB) raises to 1,450, LethMike (BU) calls 950, Mollyc2151 (SB) calls 950

Flop: (4,750) 3♥ 6♥ 8♦ (3 players)
Mollyc2151 (SB) bets 1,500, miklcct (BB) raises to 5,375, LethMike (BU) folds, Mollyc2151 (SB) raises to 16,550 (all-in), miklcct (BB) calls 11,175

Turn: (37,850) 9♠ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (37,850) 9♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: 37,850

Showdown:
Mollyc2151 (SB) shows 7♥ 5♥ (a straight, Five to Nine)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 43%, Flop: 63%, Turn: 100%, River: 100%)

miklcct (BB) shows A♦ 6♠ (two pair, Nines and Sixes)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 57%, Flop: 37%, Turn: 0%, River: 0%)

Mollyc2151 (SB) wins 37,850

Click to expand...

I like to look at these hands action by action. I know you lost but not how.

Preflop at these stack depths a 4x or greater raise from BB is best most often 4x times the limp is 2k plus 500 for your chips and 500 for sb makes a 3 k raise more effective than $1450 -You want to study OOP bet sizing as a first step.

A6 is a horrible multiway hand your raise size is an easy flat for BTN which then gives SB great odds to call as well

As I said both players call. Now we hope to hit a hand but hitting an Ace makes us second best hand to a lot of limped Ax hands and both players will have some of those hands.
This has become a very tough spot we will have no clarity on any runout. Have you studied multiway play when you are in the "sandwhich"-between 2 players with uncapped ranges? That is your second study point!

Flop
Multiway we do not bet marginal made hands--it does not matter that we raised preflop we do not want to bloat this pot on that board. The good news is if we see an A turn, we can win a big pot

Sb leads this is a simple call by you--You raise. What range of hands does the SB lead here? build that range- take the time to learn to build ranges while you study so that it becomes natural in game.

SB can have sets they can have top pair they can have combo draws all of these can lead why would we raise? SB is the shorty stack they will often lead to get stacks in- they can now have an easy shove over the raise, and we have to fold.

The foundations of every hand are what is most important- bad foundation means more and more mistakes in the hand.

Work on the 3 study points I mentioned and your game skill set will improve.



SB does shove- we have to fold -please do not call I beg you --oopsie call -SB has combo draw and they hit

Flop flat -turn fold is the best way to play this hand which you will learn when you study this spot in-depth

It takes courage to ask for help--Great job posting