AQ in N/L Tourney

[Gotmilk]

blinds 75/150 ante 25

You have 5000, UTG has 6200

utg calls, next seat calls, pass,pass,pass, you call with AQo,pass,pass, small blind folds, big blind raps

flop comes A56

UTG leads 300, you make it 1300, UTG calls


turn comes 3 -- what do you do:

a.) check

what do you then do if river blank and UTG moves all or bets a lot

b.) move all-in


c.) make reasonable size bet

if check raised all in, call or fold ?

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

That flop call has me worried. I assume there's no flush possibility since you didn't mention suits. I'd check behind on the turn and fold to any strong bet on the river. You didn't mention the buy-in or whether this was live or online, but too many people will limp from any position with Axs or a small pair. This smells like he flopped top 2 pair or a set. Throw the hand away and you still have 24.5xBB left.

Remember, Doyle Brunson claims he *never* plays AQo.

[Toro]

I would have raised preflop. By not doing so you have too many opponents and therefore have not idea if your hand is good.

[maplepig]

I'll make a bet of around 1000 on turn. If he check raise or bet large on river, fold.

[curtains]

!

[Greg (FossilMan)]

I usually check the turn here, and then call the river bet pretty much no matter what comes. I expect to have the best hand on the turn pretty often, but if I bet the turn, many (most?) of the hands I'm beating will fold, but none of the hands that are beating me will fold. And, since you don't mention suits, it doesn't appear too likely this player is on a draw. The only reasonable draw here is 78, so you are giving a free card to this 8-outer when you check, but I don't expect that will be happening too often.

The one thing you can't do, absent a big tell, is check the turn and then fold the river. If you do this, it is because you know the player, and as soon as he called your 1300 raise, you knew you were beat.

Alternatively, if you know the player well, you could bet some amount on the turn that will clearly define his hand for you, and let you get away without going broke when you're beat. For example, maybe you can bet 1500 on the turn, and if you're called or check-raised, you can safely shut down knowing you have few or zero outs. However, this is a dangerous play if you don't know the opponent pretty well, and this play suffers the disadvantage that you win less when they hold AJ, AT, and the like. Again, the reason to do this is because you will know what they hold after they act on this bet. If you won't know with high certainty, I prefer checking the turn to induce the bluff. Plus, if they have a monster, they probably won't bet the river all-in, because they're looking to get paid off, and you again avoid going broke, but with some upside potential (i.e., inducing the bluff).

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[curtains]

Thanks for your replies, I just have a problem with the whole hand. It was played by a friend of mine...and he starts the hand with a great chip count of like 5000, and ends the hand almost completely crippled with 1400 in chips, after betting the turn and folding. Somehow this seems wrong to get in such a position in this particular hand? I don't know if it was the turn bet or something earlier in the hand.....but does this make any sense?

I feel like there has to be a REALLY good reason to lose over 2/3 of your chips in a hand without even getting to a showdown....it just seems wrong to me somehow, and I asked my friend to post this hand to see if this made any sense.