Jacks, Jacks, Jacks!

[najisami]

Hey guys ,

I know that JJ is a hand that has generated a lot of talks already. Still, I admit that I always have a problem with it.
Every time I have it, and even though it doesn't look as bad as 97 or 84, it just doesn't make me feel that comfortable, especially when someone open raises before it gets to me. Of course there are so many ways to play it depending on so many factors. So I'd like some help/insight about the following particular scenario please:

We're already ITM in a nice MTT, but the payout is just about double the buy-in at this point. My stack is a little less than average (38 BBs) and have been card dead for a while. Comes this hand where the CO, a regular, TAG kind of player open raised to 4x. He has me covered by at least 2 to 1. Button and SB folded. I'm on the BB with JJ. I haven't seen him raise for a while.

--Folding is out of question.
--Not sure I have any fold equity if I shove.
--It would be tough to play out of position if I just call and don't hit.
--3-bet? What if he 4-bets or shove?

 

[dannystanks]

1. I agree, folding for me out of the question. We are ITM and playing to win, so let’s figure out how to best play this hand here.
2. If we shove 38 BB, yes we have a lot of fold equity, generally. We still have fold equity at 10BBs depending on the player type we are playing against. So if we shove we have to figure out first what our intentions are, do we want a call? If so don’t do this with a player who folds a lot to jams. If we want a fold, don’t do this to a station. So this guy is a TAG. But we should be paying attention to him way before we get to this part of the tournament. By now we should know a lot about this guy so that will help our decision here.
3. It’s always tough playing out of position because if we hit it’s hard to make money from this spot. If we miss we can win this pot so many way post flop so if we flat we have lots of options.
4. If I’m 3 betting here then it’s with the plan on jamming if he 4 bets. No way I’m flatting a 4 bet and folding to a miss on the flop. I think with 38 BB I’m good to get this hand all in PF.
Good luck that was fun!

 

[fundiver199]

The first thing to notice here is, that he opened to 4BB, which is kind of unusual. So right off the bat the first question is, what kind of reads do we have on this player, and what do we think, it means? Is he always using this sizing, or is he normally min-raising, but now he suddenly goes to 4BB? Its a little bit of a red flag for me, especially if he is "a regular TAG kind of player", because then I would assume, he is not doing this with nonsense like A5 offsuit. But with that being said there is also an argument, that its usually a capped range, since aces or kings would want more action. So more commonly I would expect to see a decent pair or a AJ-AK type of hand. And against that kind of range JJ is doing just fine. And obviously we are not folding here.

Because of his sizing the first option, I would rule out, is a non all-in 3-bet. There is just not enough stack depth for that, because we cant go large enough to get fold equity without committing ourselfes. And I dont want to 3-bet to say 10BB, have him call, and then face some really awkward postflop spots on boards with overcards. Jamming is a bit of an overbet, but easy and profitable. However I do think, you might get some hands to fold, which you dominate. So my favourite play here is to just call and then basically see, what happen postflop. If you flop an overpair, then you can check-raise flop and jam most turns. Or if the flop is really bad like AK4, then you can just fold and only lose your original 4BB investment.

 

[gravii2011]

The first thing to notice here is, that he opened to 4BB, which is kind of unusual. So right off the bat the first question is, what kind of reads do we have on this player, and what do we think, it means? Is he always using this sizing, or is he normally min-raising, but now he suddenly goes to 4BB? Its a little bit of a red flag for me, especially if he is "a regular TAG kind of player", because then I would assume, he is not doing this with nonsense like A5 offsuit. But with that being said there is also an argument, that its usually a capped range, since aces or kings would want more action. So more commonly I would expect to see a decent pair or a AJ-AK type of hand. And against that kind of range JJ is doing just fine. And obviously we are not folding here.

Because of his sizing the first option, I would rule out, is a non all-in 3-bet. There is just not enough stack depth for that, because we cant go large enough to get fold equity without committing ourselfes. And I dont want to 3-bet to say 10BB, have him call, and then face some really awkward postflop spots on boards with overcards. Jamming is a bit of an overbet, but easy and profitable. However I do think, you might get some hands to fold, which you dominate. So my favourite play here is to just call and then basically see, what happen postflop. If you flop an overpair, then you can check-raise flop and jam most turns. Or if the flop is really bad like AK4, then you can just fold and only lose your original 4BB investment.

I completely agree with this statement.

 

[najisami]

Good luck that was fun!

Because of his sizing the first option, I would rule out, is a non all-in 3-bet

Thank you guys, exactly what I was looking for.
And @fundiver199, great insight and analysis as always, thank you very much man .

 

[R.Holynskyi]

Personally, such a situation would not be difficult for me. In my opinion, everything is simple. You have a strong enough hand to take the risk. Luck is a very important factor, and as for me, such a hand deserves to take a risk. Luck will tell, but I know exactly what I would do in such a situation all-in.

 

[najisami]

Personally, such a situation would not be difficult for me. In my opinion, everything is simple. You have a strong enough hand to take the risk. Luck is a very important factor, and as for me, such a hand deserves to take a risk. Luck will tell, but I know exactly what I would do in such a situation all-in.

No guts no glory, right? 😂😂.

 

[Mazembe]

Hey guys ,

I know that JJ is a hand that has generated a lot of talks already. Still, I admit that I always have a problem with it.
Every time I have it, and even though it doesn't look as bad as 97 or 84, it just doesn't make me feel that comfortable, especially when someone open raises before it gets to me. Of course there are so many ways to play it depending on so many factors. So I'd like some help/insight about the following particular scenario please:

We're already ITM in a nice MTT, but the payout is just about double the buy-in at this point. My stack is a little less than average (38 BBs) and have been card dead for a while. Comes this hand where the CO, a regular, TAG kind of player open raised to 4x. He has me covered by at least 2 to 1. Button and SB folded. I'm on the BB with JJ. I haven't seen him raise for a while.

--Folding is out of question.
--Not sure I have any fold equity if I shove.
--It would be tough to play out of position if I just call and don't hit.
--3-bet? What if he 4-bets or shove?

Jacks only look strong preflop, once the flop comes, they become vulnerable to any K/Q/A. I rather play it more slower, alot of people pile money in preflop and the flop comes and it's so ugly that they can't even see the turn.

 

[najisami]

Jacks only look strong preflop, once the flop comes, they become vulnerable to any K/Q/A. I rather play it more slower, alot of people pile money in preflop and the flop comes and it's so ugly that they can't even see the turn.

You're right, a nice-looking pair, yet very vulnerable.