Tell me what you think of this play

[jwvdcw]

First hand of single table $215 SnG at Party. No notes on any players. I get AKs in MP. Blinds are 10/15. EP raises to 45. I ponder a raise, but its early and I don't want to go broke here. I call(mistake?). LP calls as does one of the blinds.

Flop comes A-Q-4 with two diamonds. BB checks, EP bets 50, I raise to 200. LP folds, BB calls, EP folds.

Turn is a 5 non-diamond. BB bets 350. Whats your move?

I folded it. I think he had a monster on the flop and only called my raise in order to get more people to call. Then he fears the two diamonds so he bets out the turn.

This hand hurt me a lot, and I ended up not making it very far in the tourney. Thoughts on my fold there with top pair/top kicker?

[Hold em 888]

i'm torn between a call and a move-in on 4th the way you played it up to there. Then again, some guy who just lost a sit-n-go to me told me i suck and that i'm a fish, so what do i know? /images/graemlins/wink.gif.

Actually, i'd of raised him pre-flop up to about 125-150. Being the first hand, he probably moves in with AKs, AKo, AA KK or QQ, so you get to make a pretty easy decision at this point. if he just calls, you can be pretty sure it's either a weaker ace (AQ, AJs) or a mid pair (10s on down). This way, unless he has AQ or hits his set, you've got a huge advantage on the flop. And if he does have AQ.... well, just know that you were horrifically outdrawn and go win the next sit-n-go. Seeing a flop like the one you described and not playing it seems like a mistake to me. With a monster like AKs on the first hand, you should be looking to double-up or go home if the flop hits you as hard as it did. Crippling your stack without even knowing if you were beat obviously did you no good.

[Jason Strasser]

I don't really like your play here, but given your preflop line I think you played alright.

Firstly, I raise with AKs. Against most opponents I'm fine playing a big pot with position with a hand like this. I'm also fine folding to a reraise preflop, and a reraise from behind me, if they seem like normal opponents.

And the reason you raise is.... Well on the flop you seem to like your hand, but on the turn you seem to be disgusted. If you had raised preflop, and driven out the people behind you so that you had this hand HU with position, I don't think a call on the flop would be a bad move, even if the bet was extremely small. You have the type of hand that is very vulnerable to paying off hands, if you know what I mean. And taking one card off the deck, getting one card closer to showdown, is never a bad idea with a hand that is likely way ahead or way behind. A free card will rarely hurt you in this spot, unless you think your opponent is on a flush draw, which seems unlikely.

The way you played it, I agree, the bet on the turn is fishy. I think I may have folded it too, but I think the fact that I'd raise preflop and that would give me a much better idea of where my opponent stood.

So, raise preflop next time, and you will be able to control the pot much better, and you will also not have to worry too much about free cards.

-Jason

[stripsqueez]

push

hard to judge what is going on because you didnt raise pre-flop - unless this is a guy i recognise as decent, which is unlikely given the dodgy looking turn action, i am going to assume this is one of those crazy guys who is going to turn over KJo

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[willperkins]

I would have reraised preflop t135 (4 X BB + the t70 already in the pot). If BB and EP call the reraise, you know they have a powerful hand.

Your flop raise looks good to me.

Since BB called your raise, and then bet into you, I think you made a good laydown. Since this is the first hand, you have no information about him and have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I do not like to get all of my chips in the game early with just a single pair, albeit top pair/top kicker.

[Tosh]

[ QUOTE ]

So, raise preflop next time, and you will be able to control the pot much better, and you will also not have to worry too much about free cards.


[/ QUOTE ]

What do you reckon, 150 to go?

[Jason Strasser]

That works, I'd probably do 125 to go.

-Jason

[jwvdcw]

thanks for the advice guys...I'm usually a little hesitant to get into big pots early with AK since it'll only hit the flop 1/3 of the time, but maybe I should change that up a little. It actually didn't cripple me all that much since we start with 1000 chips(I could've easily made a comeback to win the tourney, I just didn't get the cards).