Things to consider: raised with TPTK

[AdamL]

I'm new to tournaments, and I gather getting raised with top pair top kicker is both a lot more common (level of aggression in tournaments seems higher to begin with) and also a lot more difficult a decision.

What should I be thinking about particularly? Stack preservation says just fold when you get raised, but I'm not sure if that's way too weak.

Here is a hand I played earlier. It looks like I was too aggressive. I didn't want to call the turn and let another spade fall, and if I was called on the turn or reraised I was done with the hand. So I made it a semi-bluff, hoping he might fold 2-pr and to stop a bluff from turning into a flush.

Unfortunately it left me with a fairly small stack.

No reads, because this is the first orbit of the entire tournament.

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

Hero (t1000)
UTG+1 (t1000)
UTG+2 (t1000)
MP1 (t940)
MP2 (t1000)
MP3 (t1000)
CO (t1030)
Button (t1075)
SB (t970)
BB (t985)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with Q/images/graemlins/club.gif, A/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
<font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t60</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, MP1 calls t60, <font color="#666666">6 folds</font>.

Flop: (t142.50) 5/images/graemlins/spade.gif, Q/images/graemlins/spade.gif, T/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets t100</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP1 raises to t200</font>, Hero calls t100.

Turn: (t542.50) 9/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">MP1 bets t175</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t350</font>, MP1 calls t175.

River: (t1242.50) 8/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, MP1 checks.

Final Pot: t1242.50

[AdamL]

Perhaps to add some more substance to the thread, an observation:

It's probably something to do with the way I played the hand, but I notice that after having your pair cracked *just once*, already you're in a survival mode.

This must mean that chip preservation is even more important than I thought. Perhaps a fold on the flop was the right move?

[AdamL]

Does anyone have any advice on how to play this? Did I play it fine?

[11t]

Chip preservation is for those who are superior poker players and can afford to wait for the best spots. I say accumulate and look to win.

That being said, early on in a low buyin tournament I'll probably just stack myself off here looking to double up. Of course, I'm sure he had TT but I see people overplay KQ, flush draws and the like all the time.

Min-raises scurr me though, but readless I refuse to fold this since there are so many donks early on in tournaments and you are ahead more often than you are behind.

[11t]

I think you played this pretty poorly. Calling his bet then check-raising the turn probably isn't going to get him to fold after he has put in such a high percentage of his stack. I say push OTP on the flop or let her go.

I push this every time versus random players but let it go with a read versus a TAG.

[AdamL]

Thanks for the advice. What is OTP?

Do you find yourself often either way ahead or busted out early fairly often?