Satellite - was I too careful

[Magician]

Pokerstars, $36 + $3 NL HE super satellite for the $200 game on Sunday

Hand No. 1:

Early in the tournament ($10/$20 round):

I'm dealt QQ in early position. I raise to 100. I get one late position caller (everyone else + blinds fold).

On the flop there is 230 in the pot. Caller has a slightly larger stack (I had 1,300 and he had 1,700 if I remember right).

Flop is J T 4 (2 of a suit).

Figuring that the caller could have slowplayed AA or KK or could easily have called with JJ or TT, I decide to be cautious and bet 100.

Opponent calls.

Turn is another 4 (still 2 of a suit on the board). Again I'm cautious - opponent could have AA, KK, JJ, TT or even a 4 (unlikely but possible).

I bet 100 again.

Opponent calls.

River is a King (no flush on the board).

I check (I think the opponent could easily have a King).

Opponent thinks for a long time then checks.

Opponent flips over KTs (different suit from the 2 of a suit on the board) and takes down 630.

That wasn't the end of my tournament but I sure could have used those chips.


Hand No. 2

Same tournament, blinds are $15/$30

I've recovered back to about 1,200 chips again. I am dealt AKo in UTG + 2. UTG and UTG + 1 limped before me. There is 105 in the pot and I raise to 250.

I get one caller in LP and UTG calls as well.

I miss the flop completely (J 7 5 with 2 of a suit if I remember right).

UTG checks. I check. LP caller bets half the pot. UTG folds. I fold.

Should I have raised more pre-flop?

Is there anything else I could have done differently?


Hand No.3

Blinds are $25/$50. I've recovered to about 1,350 chips. I am on the button with K3o. The SB and BB both have about 900 chips. I decide to try a steal and raise to 150.

SB calls. BB folds.

Flop is Q 5 3 (2 of a suit). SB checks. I check (bottom pair + K kicker isn't much).

Turn is a 2 (now 3 of a suit on the board). SB moves in. I fold.

I think my Hand No.3 play was OK - what do you guys think?

[SoCalPat]

Hand 1: You're looking for monsters under the bed here on the turn. That 4 helped no one, and there's nothing out there to indicate you're behind. You need to make it a much tougher decision for anyone that's left holding top pair (or worse, in this case) and bet much bigger than 100 here. You're fortunate your opponent checked the river ... big mistake on his part, given your action to this point.

Hand 2: I would have bet no less than 300 preflop myself, but I really don't know if that would have changed anything. It's good you weren't married to the hand with the LP's big bet on the flop, and folded accordingly.

Hand 3: I'd need a better hand than K3o this early in the tournament to try and steal blinds (A3o is a huge improvement over K3o, and I'm not sure I'd try stealing here with even that). I'm not going to pick up that much if I do, and I could lose a lot if I don't. And why check the flop? You raised pre-flop, so represent the Q. After that, I'd fold to further aggression with no improvement on my side.

[ABSOLUTESUCKS]

Yes you should have bet stronger preflop. Post flop you played it right after the turn. But on the flop you should have bet more than you did.

Good Luck!