inexperianced SnG player

[stillbr]

i normally play .5/1 holdem on party. I have a 500+ BR built up from playing this game. recently i have deposited a small amount of $$ on interpoker. i have tried to play some SnG's for a change becasue i find them fun and a nice change of pace. I havent doen very well so far though. Please critique this hand. (i dont have the HH on this computer so ill have to do it from memory)

5 players left-- (25/50i think)
im in the button w/ QQ (about 1000 in chips)
UTG limps, UTG +1 folds, Button(me) raises to 200, SB folds, BB calls, UTG folds
---- now the BB is the HUGE stack at the table-he has been taking out everyone. It seems liek he will play just about anything for any price, and has been getting a very good rush of cards---

flop comes AJ9 diff suites
BB checks, I bet 250 , BB calls
turn comes 10 BB checks, I go all in wanting to take it down right here if he is on a draw. Here is my thinking--- he didnt show strength with an Ace, he hasnt been doing any check rasing, I have 10 outs if i am behind in the hand......is this a bad move???
turn comes blank

BB turns over AK and takes me out in 5th place

hope yall can understand this...i wish i had the hand history so it would look better... how should i have played this differently??

[Bremen]

I find at the lower buyins I play that betting at an A when you showed strength preflop is definitly a positive play. However when they don't go away you normally have to assume they have the A and won't fold :-\ Turn I check behind and fold the river to a large bet.

[silversurfer]

easy push pre-flop. board hit him is all, /shrug

[wjmooner]

I check behind the turn assuming villian has a weak Ace and since he is big stack he'll probably call you down. Here he trapped you with AK. I would shut it down on the turn though.

WJ

[captZEEbo1]

When you bet the flop, he calls, he has the A. Give you your hand. QQ and KK are super strong pf, after a flopped A or K, you have to slow down a lot if you get resistance. Most people (at lower buyins) are willing to call any sized bet if they have top pair weak kicker, so don't even hope to represent AK.

Also, when you read the board, there is likely no draw he has. If he does have a draw, his draw is probably terrible, and can check the turn and (hopefully) check the river, but it really seems like he has the A.

[stillbr]

ok looks like most of yall are saying he has the ace just lay it down....its just he was on a very good rush of cards and was winning every thing with weak hands...it was pretty clear he was a weak player...playing things like 9-5 off with a decent sized raise before him...stuff like that...so i didnt rule him out calling down with just a J or somthing like that. I just can see how he wouldnt bet out with his Ace. and when i decided to go all in the pot was pretty big, and if he did have the ace i still had plenty of outs for to the best hand. to me when i considered his chances of being ahead w/ an A, compared to the size of the pot and my outs if i was behind--i thought it was an ok move

[silversurfer]

it was just bad timing...he caught a good hand at the same time you did. one of the absolute hardest things to do is lay down a big hand, even when you know you're beat. it's certainly been part of my learning curve.

don't sweat the maniacs...there are many who don't care about the game, they just want to gamble. continue to study the game and you will make a fortune off of these types.

and next time push pf /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Marcotte]

pf, good, flop good. Turn, second best choice.

Turn I think you gotta check behind, but it's also important not to bet an amount that let's him reraise you out of the hand. You've got a good hand that has a shot to improve and if you bet (small - ~1/2 pot or less) and he raises you have to throw away a hand that is either already ahead or (likely) has a 22% chance to be ahead after the river. So pushing the turn was better than betting, but checking was best of all.

[jedi]

[ QUOTE ]
easy push pre-flop. board hit him is all, /shrug

[/ QUOTE ]

Hero has 20xBB and isn't really desperate right now. You still think it's an easy push pre-flop? I think hero's pre-flop play was fine. As others have mentioned checking the turn was probably a better play than going all-in.

[silversurfer]

i would love to hear the mathematical reasoning (or any reasoning) behind why a push is bad(suboptimal?) here. You are right, he isn't short-stacked. My thinking: CL is LAG, calls all the way with Ax and gets lucky on a draw, good opportunity wasted because you didn't push him out of the hand. Why is it better to lose what you have bet up to the turn as opposed to at least getting the blinds out of it (or doubling up when he misses his Ax draw)?

Am I too used to being overaggressive because of the level I'm playing at? Fire away.

[Marcotte]

If you push you are likely to only be called by only AA (6 possible), KK (6) or AK (16). Of course the chance of being called by a worse hand goes up quite a bit at the lower limits, but I still think a 4-6xbb raise is better. You are more likely to be called by hands you dominate (lower pairs, AQ, etc.)

[silversurfer]

[ QUOTE ]
Of course the chance of being called by a worse hand goes up quite a bit at the lower limits

[/ QUOTE ]
Thats the whole thing. Against decent opponents, I agree with your 4-6x BB raise. But at the 5-10$ lvl(plus his description of the LAG CL), I think you are going to get too many people who will call you with anything anyway, and you are only in trouble against AA KK. (qq vs ak = flip) Keep in mind as well that there was no large raise followed by a larger reraise to indicate AA KK.

Therefore, I'm for a bigger raise or going AI (see the am/moneymaker post - my ideas certainly aren't original).

[poboy]

Well I can't give you a mathematical reason but how about a little common sense. If he pushes w/ QQ he likely will only take down the blinds. QQ is a huge hand and should be played for a large pot. I don't push QQ for the same reason I don't push AA or KK, because I like to make money with those hands. In fact I would probably have raised less because I don't want to scare everyone out of the pot. The Hero's play was fine until the turn, probably would have been better to check and call a small river bet. JMO

[tigerite]

I would push with 200+ in the pot and 1000 stack, but not with only 125. I think the play is fine, maybe raise a little more, by 250 say. When the flop comes ace then half pot it, if he plays back, check it down, as the others have said.