Modified Slowplay....The Probe Reraise

Slowplaying can be dangerous, especially in early MTT play, however there is one type of slowplay that has allowed me to double up in early play time after time....here is an example with commentary. Seat 1: Curls777 (660) Seat 2: pay2see em baby (1,455) Seat 3: the-giller (1,500) Seat 4: kpone (1,440) Seat 5: Bad_dog_As (1,365) Seat 6: BADNEW3 (435) Seat 7: havocrinaldi (2,805) Seat 8: Squib (1,470) Seat 9: Badbeets4me (2,610) Bad_dog_As posts the small blind of 15 BADNEW3 posts the big blind of 30 The button is in seat #4 *** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to Squib [Th Ts] This is a very good starting hand, but it falls outside of Group 1 hand choices for early play. It is worth playing, but unless the flop comes low and mixed, or you hit a set, you should be prepared to fold this to any paint hitting on the flop. havocrinaldi folds Curls777: u know im right, so great comeback Squib calls 30 Badbeets4me calls 30 Curls777 folds pay2see em baby folds the-giller calls 30 kpone folds pay2see em baby is feeling confused Bad_dog_As calls 15 BADNEW3 checks *** FLOP *** [Tc Js 2d] It's 7 to 1 to hit your set on the flop....here, I get lucky and make my hand....notice that this is a rainbow flop...if two cards or more cards flop suited, my play is going to be much different here Bad_dog_As checks BADNEW3 checks Squib bets 30 This is the set up. A minimum bet after the flop is known as a probe bet. In early MTT play, most players recognize this as a sign of weakness, later players will see this for what it is, a sign of strength. Badbeets4me raises to 120 The bait is taken. pay2see em baby: beastie boys rock! the-giller folds Curls777 is feeling angry Bad_dog_As folds BADNEW3 calls 120 And another....the only hand that can beat me is a pair of Jacks...since there are now two people betting into this hand, I place one player on at least a Jx and the other on some kind of a draw. I don't have the short stack on any kind of an overpair, as preflop this player would have surely pushed his stack all in. Squib raises to 1,440, and is all in This type of pot or all in reraise is known as a "squeeze"...on very, very rare occassions it is a bluff. Early in an MTT, almost never. Badbeets4me: hmmm This is nice....the player is trying to put me on a hand here. Badbeets4me: must have ace And I guess he is assuming I have AJ which make his call interesting, or he thinks I hit a lower card and am drawing to an Ace...not likely as an all in move here would be a very bad play. Badbeets4me has 15 seconds left to act Badbeets4me calls 1,320 It is early, so I think that he suspects that my probe/reraise all in is just a very fishy move. BADNEW3 calls 285, and is all in Sometimes, a short stack will just make a "get me out of here desperation call" Squib shows [Th Ts] Badbeets4me shows [Jc Kc] This is a serious leak. Many players will overplay top pair early. Keeping this in mind, you can really build a stack to someone who overplays their hand like this. BADNEW3 shows [2s 7s] I think he just wanted out. *** TURN *** [Tc Js 2d] [8c] The turn is not a great card for me and gives the KJc a little hope...a bad beat here and I am seriously damaged. It can happen, but this is an example of a hand where the favorable odds win out. Badbeets4me: nope *** RIVER *** [Tc Js 2d 8c] [6s] Squib shows three of a kind, Tens Badbeets4me shows a pair of Jacks Squib wins the side pot (2,070) with three of a kind, Tens BADNEW3 shows a pair of Twos Curls777: ha ha This player had just suffered a bad beat from BadBeets4me and was a little bitter about it....player names can sometimes tip you off to a player's abilities. Squib wins the main pot (1,365) with three of a kind, Tens BADNEW3 stands up *** SUMMARY *** Total pot 3,435 Main pot 1,365. Side pot 2,070. Rake 0 Board: [Tc Js 2d 8c 6s] Seat 1: Curls777 didn't bet (folded) Seat 2: pay2see em baby didn't bet (folded) Seat 3: the-giller folded on the Flop Seat 4: kpone (button) didn't bet (folded) Seat 5: Bad_dog_As (small blind) folded on the Flop Seat 6: BADNEW3 (big blind) showed [2s 7s] and lost with a pair of Twos Seat 7: havocrinaldi didn't bet (folded) Seat 8: Squib showed [Th Ts] and won (3,435) with three of a kind, Tens Seat 9: Badbeets4me showed [Jc Kc] and lost with a pair of Jacks There were 234 people in this tournament. On this hand, I hit my goal for the first quarter and doubled up. I played very tight the rest of the way until 57 players were left. Money was at 27. Unfortunately for me, I hit the Ace high flush on the flop, slow played it until the river, and was beat on the flop as my opponent had flopped the straight flush. Bad luck, which happens...I played my hand well and made one minor mistake in this tournament. I saved a few hands for future posts.