Folding QQ pre-flop 5-handed in the Main Event?

Quote:

---

Hand #45. Alex Livingston opened with a raise from under the gun and Dario Sammartino called from the cutoff. Gates was in the big blind and put in a large three-bet with pocket tens. Both opponents folded, but Livingston threw two queens into the muck.

---

:baddecision

To put this in context, four opponents have already busted - mostly losing flips. Livingston is one of the three shorter stacks left and is guaranteed $2.2m. The shortest stack still has around 20 big blinds so is not in imminent danger. What hand is he waiting for here? Fantastic opportunity to double up. Folding queens probably costs him $1m in EV.

My 1 thought was "he's not trying to win the tournament".

I've tried to find the info everywhere but to no avail. What did Gates have in the hand?

I've read critiques of the fold ranging from "reasonable because of ICM considerations" to "worst fold in final table history."

If I'm in that spot I'm ripping it in 100% of the time and I don't even think about it. But then again, I'm not very good.

Alex is a great player and he doesn't strike me as someone who folds his way up the latter. Really curious to hear his line of reasoning.

He jokingly alluded to it on twitter:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D_gKRuPX...pg&name=medium


https://twitter.com/rumnchess/status...81017373605888

Seems like a bad plan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Shrink

I've tried to find the info everywhere but to no avail. What did Gates have in the hand?

I've read critiques of the fold ranging from "reasonable because of ICM considerations" to "worst fold in final table history."

If I'm in that spot I'm ripping it in 100% of the time and I don't even think about it. But then again, I'm not very good.

Alex is a great player and he doesn't strike me as someone who folds his way up the latter. Really curious to hear his line of reasoning.

He jokingly alluded to it on twitter:

https://twitter.com/rumnchess/status...81017373605888

---

Gates had 10-10.

Sammartino was yet to act behind him after calling the original raise with 8-8 so he may have felt a trap happening.

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...43&oe=5DA60327

Much tougher spot than you think. He has 50m so it's pretty much all in or fold there. And there's a decent chance worse is folding to a shove unless it's AK. (I don't know if Gates is calling a shove with TT there for 37m more).

Problem with QQ is it's crushed by AA/KK and racing with AK.

Great hand to get when semi short but not a great one to put a decent stack in pre against a bigger stack.

If Livingston were shorter, say 35m instead of 50m, the fold would be much worse, because he could be pretty sure that Gates would stack off there with any reasonable 3-bet quality hand, plus Livingston would be shorter and more desperate to get it in anyway.

Sammartino wasn't really a huge factor, given he only had 29m behind.

I was surprised that Livingston tossed it really fast like it was an obvious decision. You have to stop and think in moments like these.

good fold if u want to dbl ur net worth. a true degenerate rips it in tho. im definitely going for all the cheese

where is the thread for KEVIN THE GOD MAAHS. guy is getting a hard time for just being a dork trying to look and act like a shark

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by thesidedish

good fold if u want to dbl ur net worth. a true degenerate rips it in tho. im definitely going for all the cheese

where is the thread for KEVIN THE GOD MAAHS. guy is getting a hard time for just being a dork trying to look and act like a shark

---

If he is folding this spot, he is gonna be doing a lot of folding waiting to ladder