A Trout Played This Hand

After busting near the bubble last night, I decided to sweat some of the seasoned posters whose views and analyses I value on the guaranteed 200G hoping to learn a trick or two and came up with this hand from one of them:

Blinds at 25/50, hero with about 2300 limped at UTG+1, villain with about the same stack to his right raised to 150. Folded to hero who called.
Flop was A 9 6 rainbow. Hero check-called 150.
Turn was another 9. Hero checked, villain bet 150, hero raised 600, villain called.
River was blank both went check-check.

Hero had 55, villain had AQ.

Thoughts?

[MLG]

It was meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. The small flop bet was a wierd bet to my eyes. I thought he either had a monster or had nothing. So I called and figured either he would make a real bet on the turn or he would check behind. If he checked behind I would bet the river and he would fold (at least that was the plan). I viewed the tiny bet as the same as a check behind, so I c-raised instead of betting the river figuring that I'd take it down. When he called, I gave up. Very very strange way for him to play AQ, but he got my chips.

[Roman]

Dont really like it, you arent going to fold out too many hands with this bluff. What range do you put him on?

[MLG]

I specifically expect to fold out 77 88 which have me crushed. I'm also expecting to fold out KQ and KJ hands which while I'm ahead of them they can easily take the pot on the river. It would be nice if he folded KK, QQ, JJ, 1010 too, but given that its party i dont think thats happening all the time. However, if based on the timing my sense is that he called with a non A non 9 hand then i might follow though on the river to try and lose those hands.

Mike,

Glad to see u come up and give me a better understanding of your thoughts about the hand, coming from the ABC school of limping early with a small PP and no-set-no-bet-on-the-flop-check-fold mentality.

OTOH, I think your opponent got the better of it. By betting small on the flop he induced your call. His betting small (yeah kind of strange to me too but maybe to induce you to bluff) and calling your re-raise on the turn maybe a defensive move thinking you could have limped with A6s or T9s or a slow played set.

Anyhow it was enlightening.

BTW, congrats again for a great finish last night. Damn, when a good trout does good in these tourneys, hand-analyses threads get buried deep. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif