New to No Limit. Early in a Party $5+1 SNG

[mlepinski]

I'm new to no-limit tournaments. This hand is early in a Party $5+1 one table SNG. (So far Villain has entered fewer pots than the average player at the table)

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t15 (10 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

MP1 (t520)
MP2 :#A500AF(Villain)/ (t835)
Hero (t710)
CO (t875)
Button (t680)
SB (t1145)
BB (t1200)
UTG (t560)
UTG+1 (t815)
UTG+2 (t660)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
<font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, UTG+2 calls t15, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, MP2 :#A500AF(Villain)/ calls t15, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t50</font>, CO calls t50, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, BB calls t35, UTG+2 calls t35, MP2 :#A500AF(Villain)/ calls t35.

Flop: (t257.50) 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, A/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 5/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="#0000FF">(5 players)</font>
BB checks, UTG+2 checks, <font color="#CC3333">Villain bets t65</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t165</font>, CO folds, BB folds, UTG+2 folds, Villain calls t100.

Turn: (t587.50) 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Villain bets t95</font>, Hero calls t95.

River: (t777.50) 9/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Villain bets t275</font>, Hero calls t275.

Final Pot: t1327.50

Questions:
1) Is my raise reasonable pre-flop?
Am I better off making a larger raise to increase my chance of getting heads-up with the limper or should I limp and see what the flop brings?

2) I interpret his bet on the flop as an attempt to get information. It seems likely that my pre-flop raise scared away any 5's and so I'm not too worried about trips from a player behind me. I figure that Villain probably has either a pair of Aces (hopefully with a smaller kicker) or a medium pair. Therefore, I think I'd like to get heads up with Villain or maybe win the pot outright. Are my thoughts here reasonable? If so, is the size of my raise appropriate?

3) Should I have gotten away from this hand on the turn or river? (That is, when he bets on the turn should I start to suspect AK or trips?)

Thanks a lot

[lastchance]

Think you played it fine, cept don't raise in MP3 preflop. Calling the flop is decent, I suppose, though I like raising, probably to t200 more.

And after that, guess you got to go call any bet on the turn or river.

[willie]

seems ok to me

but

don't play party 5+1s, play the 10+1s, the play is just as bad and the rake is half.

[Page Jacobson]

I play AQs less aggressivly than you did preflop in the early rounds. I'd probably just limp.

I agree with your raise on the flop and I would probably have called him down to the river hoping for AJ or A10. Obviously he had something better.

[Sam T.]

First, and most importantly, play the $10+1 tables. If you don't have the bankroll for that, switch to Stars. I'm paying $1 for the chance to win $39. You're paying $1 for the chance to win $19.

In round one, my rule of thumb is to raise t75 if I'm the first one in. Too many low buy-in players think not in terms of Big Blinds, but chips. "Hell, it's only 50 chips, and I've got hundreds of 'em!" Raising to t50 won't thin the field enough for you to feel good about AQ. This early (in the tournament and in terms of your position), I might limp, just to keep the pot small, and allow yourself more flexibility on future streets.

On the flop, you should raise more. His tiny bet is either a probe to find out if his A9 is good, or a value bet to find out how much he can make from his set of fives. (At this level, it is by no means certain that your t50 bet drove out A5o, 65o, or even 52s.) If he calls a bigger raise, you know he means it. The problem with a pot-sized raise here is that it's a huge chunk of your stack. This is where limping pre-flop would have helped by keeping the pot small.

At this point, I think you're in real trouble. He's betting 95 into a pot worth 600? How can you fold? You can't of course. But you could think about raising. You may be worried here, but is there any card or bet that would convince you to fold the river? If not, then you need to push here. (In short, if you are going to finish the hand with all your chips in the middle, do it by pushing, not calling. He can't fold if you don't bet.)

If I had any sense that this guy was good, I would fold. But you're getting almost 3:1 on your call, and at this level he could well turn over AJo. I assume not.