Where did I go wrong with AQ?

[Skip Brutale]

Durring 25/50 I've folded every hand and have around 650 chips. I raise to 150 in middle position with AQ and a player behind me re-raises to 250, everyone else folds. For another 100 it's an easy call, and I consider if I should just move all-in for my remaining 500.

I decide to call, flop comes 44J. I check to my opponent who immediately pushes all-in. Now I had one of those quick acting non-thinking moments where I immediately call and he shows AA. If I fold the flop things are ugly leaving me with 400 chips to contest 50/100 blinds in a few hands. My opponents flop play certainly doesn't look like it wants a call. And I'm getting around 2-4.5 pot odds to call.

Did I play correctly, should have folded the flop, re-raised all-in, folded to the raise less than my initial raise?

[K C]

AQ is a tricky hand in MP. While it's good to play it aggressively, you don't want a re-raise downstream. I don't fault your raise here, other than it's a good amount of your stack, and if you get re-raised, you probably should look to throw it away, unless it comes from a particularly aggressive player. It's not a bad idea to just call here and see what happens. The re-raise though should get you out of the hand.

On the flop, well, calling all in with nothing of course wasn't one of your better moves this tourney /images/graemlins/smile.gif

KC
kingcobrapoker.com

[ChrisV]

These situations are awkward. You should certainly fold the AQ at some point. The question is whether it should be preflop or on the flop. You might think it sounds nuts to fold for only another 100 preflop, but in NL raises are often more than they seem. This one goes close to pot committing you.

In my experience typical opponents have a very strong hand for this reraise, so I would fold preflop. I wouldn't fault calling and seeing if you can hit a flop. The odds are very good for the call, but there is the problem that flops like Qxx or even Axx might turn out to be disastrous.

[hovemag]

First post- here goes.

Ive only been playing a couple of months and stick to the supertight levels 1/2/3-all in maniac level 4 on. This has been succesful for me but I feel I need in some situations to loosen up a little and try to get some chips earlier.

I had this same situation yesterday. I hadnt seen a flop yet blinds 25/50 650ish chips 7/8 handed. Dealt A /images/graemlins/diamond.gifQ /images/graemlins/diamond.gif in MP1. My thought process went along these lines.

Should I raise 150. 5 players to act 3 have me covered, unlikely to fold them all

Call? dont like it if theres a lot of limpers even if the flop hits Im out of position.
If Im raised how much would I call? Calling 100 would leave me T500 with blinds at 100/50 next time round.

What if someone raises more would I call all-in. If Im willing to call an allin I should push first. Do I want to push AQ at this stage.I wouldnt want a call so I would be risking all my chips to win 75.

I folded. But I do wonder if I am being too weak

Great forum BTW
The FAQ put me the path, and many thanks to Aleo for the spreadsheet.

[ericlambi]

Well, the raise pre-flop is fine. You can't really justify folding for another 100 chips, so the call is fine. However, that small re-raise should have sent alarm bells off in your head. He knows you aren't going to fold, so keep that in mind.

The call of the all-in with 400 chips remaining is a pretty bad move. 400 chips is playable. You'll need some help, but I've seen people come back from smaller stacks than that.

Of course if you call and an A or Q hits the flop, you're going broke. That's poker though.

[ericlambi]

WAAAAY to weak. Raise to 150 or 200. You will win the blinds at least 50% of the time. If you get a call, that's fine, proceed from there. If you pick up 4 to a flush, an ace, or a queen -- push. If not, check and see what your oppenent does.

[schwza]

welcome to the forum, hove.

you'll get better responses if you start your own thread.

[schwza]

raise is fine, and i would call the raise. reraising all-in would be bad.

on the flop, the two options you have are to check-fold and to push. check-calling is bad. there's nothing worse than calling a missed AK that thought he was bluffing but who actually turned out to be value betting. the best hand you're ahead of here is AT or KQ - hardly standard 3-betting hands. i would check-fold.

[assron]

I dont see what the point is in calling... he has AK or a pocket pair, so you're beat in just about any scenario I can think of after missing the flop.