ATo hand gone wrong

[IMRichB]

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t100 (5 handed)

Button has been a fairly conservative player thus far and has been likely to fold to a preflop raise.

UTG (t2710)
Hero (t2000)
Button (t705)
SB (t1835)
BB (t750)

Preflop: Hero is MP with T/images/graemlins/spade.gif, A/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
UTG folds, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises to t325</font>, Button calls t325, SB folds, BB folds.

Flop: (t800) 5/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 6/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 2/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">Hero bets t250</font>, Button calls t250.

Turn: (t1300) 9/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">Hero bets t175</font>, Button calls t130 (All-In).

River: (t1605) 7/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="blue">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

Final Pot: t1605
<font color="green">Main Pot: t1560 (t1560), between Hero and Button.</font> &gt; <font color="white">Pot won by Button (t1560).</font>
<font color="green">Pot 2: t45 (t45), returned to Hero.</font>

Results in white below: <font color="white">
Hero shows Ts Ad (high card, ace).
Button shows Ah Th (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Button wins t1560. Hero wins t45. </font>


I realized afterward that this hand was the turning point for me in this tournament. After this I was shortstacked and saw no decent cards before it was too late. However, I'm not sure what I would do differently next time. I often have the problem where I raise preflop and when the flop doesn't hit me I'm not sure whether or not to slow down.

Any feedback is welcome - either on this particular hand or on the general concept of missing the flop when raising preflop.

Thanks,

Rich

[Big TR]

I'll throw in my newbie toughts. Flame away if I'm off base.

You mention that the button is conservative. If you trusted your read, why bet into him on the flop with only 2 overcards? You have to know he has to have a PP or a high Ax of some sort to even think of calling you preflop. Trust your read enough to not bet into him on this flop. You save 380 more chips by getting out of the way.

Flush card on the turn, and you bet? You know he's not calling unless he has a pair or better. Also, you won't bluff him out of the pot since he's already pot-committed, so check/fold.

[The Venetian]

Tough one, made tougher in that you're almost obligated to get him all-in with the size of the pot, your cards, and the size of his stack. You still had a playable stack after this, so I wouldn't get too worked up about the final result.

If you're going to bet the flop, no point in betting less than all-in for him, though. That's where it's headed, you might as well get it there.

I will also say that calling a raise for half his stack with ATs (his play) is a poor play, so that might give you an idea of his general skill to exploit later.

As for a general rule to betting a missed flop, I think it's very position and situation-dependent and hard rules are difficult. Make things easy for yourself and don't go firing off large bets unless you can be reasonably sure you have the best hand or the other guy will fold. Folding and living to fight another day is often just fine.