AQs just in the money, what to do?

[Joboo]

$10+1 Pokerstars Multitable, we're just in the money. SB is fairly loose and passive, and UTG+1 is a desperate short stack far away from a pay ladder increase.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t2000 (8 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

MP1 (t17976)
MP2 (t15192)
CO (t30242)
Button (t23217)
SB (t20777)
BB (t39188)
Hero (t19734)
UTG+1 (t9070)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q/images/graemlins/heart.gif, A/images/graemlins/heart.gif.
<font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t5000</font>, <font color="#CC3333">UTG+1 raises to t8970</font>, <font color="#666666">4 folds</font>, SB calls t7970, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, Hero calls t3970.

Flop: (t26510) 4/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 5/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 5/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
SB checks, Hero checks.

Turn: (t26510) 8/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">SB bets t11707 (All-In)</font>, Hero folds.

River: (t38217) T/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players, 1 all-in)</font>

Final Pot: t38217

Should I reraise PF to try to isolate? Is there any way I can call his turn bet? I'm fairly inexperienced at MTTs, and this sort of situation makes me extremely unsure of myself.

[M.B.E.]

You've got about 20K, blinds are 1K/2K (I assume there's an ante too), you have AQs UTG at an 8-handed table. Generally you should just push there, hoping to pick up the 4K in blinds and antes. You won't be called very often, and when you are called it will usually be by a smaller stack.

Your play of raising to 5K wasn't too bad, it might have been a viable alternative except that the big blind is the chip leader at your table. Not much chance that he will fold for only 3K more. If BB's stack was 15K rather than 39K, your raise to 5K would have made more sense.

[ QUOTE ]
Hero raises to t5000, UTG+1 raises to t8970, 4 folds, SB calls t7970, 1 fold, Hero calls t3970.

...

Should I reraise PF to try to isolate?

[/ QUOTE ]
That's a difficult question. The SB is showing a lot of strength here by calling a UTG raise and an allin reraise. On the other hand, you said he was loose and passive. My concern is that even if he's got a weakish hand like 77 (which he ought to have folded to the raise and reraise), he's now in for so much of his stack that he might well call your all-in. On balance I think you were correct just to call the additional 3970, but it's close.

Your flop check was good; on the turn when SB bets the rest of his chips you have to fold your AQ despite the pot odds, because you have at most six outs for the main pot, and maybe not even that.

[schwza]

yeah, push pre-flop. i like just calling-preflop, but i would push the flop. there's no reason to let yourself get pushed out later.

[halis123456789]

I know people are going to hate my play but here it is:
AQs, UTG, 8 handed
FOLD

It's not that AQ isn't a decent hand, it's your position. All you can do is limp in and pray to god someone doesn't raise and when they do, depending on who it is and how much, you could be beat. So I say just let it go, pre-flop.

As for the hand, the shortstack could have anything, probably some pair. The SB has to have something that makes him want to put that much money in, but what? When he bets on the turn (nearly 12,000) it smells like an overpair, Jacks? I think he actually wants you to call to cover him in case he loses to the short stack. He should've bet less if so, and if that's not the case, then why not check? But yes its a definite fold on the turn.

[schwza]

[ QUOTE ]
I know people are going to hate my play but here it is:
AQs, UTG, 8 handed
FOLD

[/ QUOTE ]

but we're only going to hate it b/c it's really bad.

[Joboo]

Thanks for the help everyone. I'm still trying to work out of playing too passively in MTTs, and I see that pushing PF would have saved me a whole lot of trouble.

As far as what the SB had, after I folded to his push, he showed an unimproved AQ to take it down over UTG+1's unimproved AJ. Putting aside the fact that his push was pretty stupid with no side pot and a monetary advantage to knocking the player out (correct me if my thinking is flawed here), I just wanted to know how I could have avoided losing half the pot to him.

[M.B.E.]

[ QUOTE ]
As far as what the SB had, after I folded to his push, he showed an unimproved AQ to take it down over UTG+1's unimproved AJ. Putting aside the fact that his push was pretty stupid with no side pot and a monetary advantage to knocking the player out (correct me if my thinking is flawed here), I just wanted to know how I could have avoided losing half the pot to him.

[/ QUOTE ]
The SB's turn bet with AQ was fine. He figures, correctly, that you have no pair because you checked the flop. If you have AK or AQ you will probably fold to his bet. Even though it's a dry side pot, there's some chance that AQ currently has the allin player beat, and if not then it likely has 6 outs. (In addition, the board was paired, so if the allin player happens to have AK, then the SB has six outs to tie plus three outs to win.) Finally, at this stage of the tourney the "advantage to knocking the player out" is not a real consideration.

[schwza]

[ QUOTE ]
there's some chance that AQ currently has the allin player beat, and if not then it likely has 6 outs.

[/ QUOTE ]

i agree with everything you wrote except that there is only "some chance" that AQ is ahead of the a-i. i'd say it's pretty likely, which is why i push the flop if i'm hero.