A questionable play on every street ?

[Tosh]

Just a hand that came up on Stars just now. Level 2, noone has an especially big stack. 3 limpers and the SB to my blind, where I hold AQo. I check.

Flop is A24r. I bet 1/2 pot and get 2 callers (SB folded).

Turn is a jack. I bet the pot and they both call.

River is a 6 and we all check.

[slogger]

If you're going to check after 3 limpers (who I'm going to assume you have very little read on at this stage), I'd probably prefer going for a check-raise on the flop because the deception value of being in the blind.

You're not afraid of two-pair or a made straight here because you're the BB, and there's very little chance that you're up against AK. Generally, I would say that this means you should bet it out, but given the rainbow flop and your position (the blind), I think you'd be better off check-raising a late position bettor the full size of the pot or betting the pot on the turn if the flops gets checked through. If the late position player calls the checkraise, I think you have to play it very cautiously thereafter.

Otherwise, I think you played it well.

[DOTTT]

I like it!

[swimfan]

The way you played it is fine, given the tournament stage. The other line would be to check-raise the flop, as another poster said. However, I find the way you played it will yield more chips with multi-way; there is deception with your flop half-pot bet on an A/rag board from the BB. I would believe player holding pp>4 would call, and may not necessarily believe you would bet out an A. Not to mention any weak A's. I may have bet the river since no one played back at you; however, at this tourney stage playing the river as a bluff catcher is more safe.

[Jason Strasser]

I agree with a previous poster. Checking in the BB with AQo is deception. The normal play for me would be to raise, but sometimes I check in a shorthanded pot for deception. Thus, check raising the flop seems like the best play. You played the hand a little passive. A two pair will raise you on the flop. You are likely getting called down by a weak ace or a moron with a jack. I'd bet the river for value.

[Tosh]

How much would you bet this river ? The pot was around T1000 I believe, and I had about 1200 left.

[Jason Strasser]

The amount to bet is tricky. At this point in the hand, I am 95% sure my hand is good. The only hand that I can see beating me is a horribly played 2-pair (would've raised turn), or a rivered two-pair. I'd probably end up pushing for two reasons:

1) It's early. An ace with a weaker kicker may read you as a bluff, and call.

2) Table image. I really don't want to show the table my ace queen. Checking in the BB preflop here is an advanced play, and I really don't want to show the table that I am capable of such deception.

Mini betting the river (500 or so) is also an option, but a typical player will read a bet like that as strength, and an all in as weaker. I feel you are just as likely to get the pot committed AT or A9 to call with an all-in bet. That "double up or go home early" mentality that I am not a fan of also applies here.

This response was all over the place Tosh, so I apologize. But I end up pushing here.

[nolanfan34]

I hate hands like this. Maybe it's because lately I keep running into the person who holds A2o when I have AQ in this scenario.

Personally, I would only try for the check raise if I felt confident that someone is going to bet. I wouldn't want to give a free card here if someone checks a weak ace and makes aces up on the turn card. I usually bet this right out.

When you get callers though, I think it becomes tricky. Especially when you bet the pot on the turn and get callers again. I probably wouldn't push on the river, because in the early going, I just think there are too many opponents who could be in there with a set of 2s, who don't seem to know any better.

It's probably weak-tight, but I don't mind the check on the river as a result, because I don't know that you're going to get callers often enough who don't have you beat. I certainly could be biased on this though, since I've run into hands like this a lot in the past couple of days, and been shown down A6, A4 or A2.

Care to share what happened in this case? I think you lost the hand to an idiot who check/called an A2o.