Missing the flop

[gibs]

Just got busted out of the $200K tournament at Party. I got down early because I'd raise preflop in early position with hands like AK and AQ and when I'd miss the flop but only rags would come out, I'd make a bet at it. The couple of times I tried this there was only one other guy in and he played back at me. I of course then had to fold. So when it's still in the early stages of a tournament and you don't know the tendensies of your opponents, what do you do with a hand like AK, AQ, etc. when you misss the flop and there is only one or two other opponents. Do you play it conservative and check to your opponent, since it's still early in the tournament, or do you try to be aggressive like I did and lead into your opponent? In case you havn't picked up on it, the situation I'm talking about is when you've raised in early or mid-early position and get one maybe two callers behind you.

As for how I did in the tournament, I started off down because of the hands I described above, but then made a run after the 1st break to get up to a little over T2000. Then a guy in early position with about T680 went all in preflop. I had QQ and called. He had ATo, and took down the pot when an ace hit on the turn. A little bit later, with about T1400, I got AKo in the SB. Blinds are 75/150. Folded to middle positon who raises to T500. Button calls and I decide to move all in. Why? I don't really know now. It was a huge pot and maybe I was still a little mad from losing with the queens. Comments on whether you would do the same would be appreciated. Looking back on it I don't think it was the right move, but I don't know. Anyways the MP raiser calls and the button folds. He has JJ. TQx come on the flop, but I could not hit any of my outs and am out of the tournament. Poop. Again, comments would be appreciated.

[gibs]

Damn, no responses. Once again, I would appreciate some responses since I am not too experienced in multi table tournaments, and feel I still have a lot to learn. Thanks in advance to those who respond.

[jwg152]

Personally, I don't like playing AK hard all that much early in a tournament because the blinds are just so small that picking them up is basically meaningless in relation to your stack size. In my opinion, AK is basically a semi-bluff hand. I don't play AK hard unless there is something to take down in the first place. So my advice is to ease up on raising a sum with big slick early in a tournament because if you make TPTK you may hook a fish with AQ or AJ but you will get action from a solid player only when you are beat.

[AceKQJT]

Well...I started writing a response to your post, and 20 minutes later I wiped all of it out to write this:

While pre-flop strategy is important in NL Holdem, it is not all-encompassing. You are going to have to develope your post-flop strategy as you go, and posting individual hands on this site is a great way to get started. The texture of the table and board are very important to your post-flop descisions. There isn't a *catch-all* solution to your problem.

In general, with A-K on a rag flop, make a small bet and see how the other players react to it. If someone calls your bet, ask yourself WHY he called. You are gathering information.

Collect your hand histories from the Early-Position A-K & A-Q hands you mention in this post, and post those hand histories here (use a hand history converter, please) Converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

You will find plenty of people on this site willing to help you out. Hand histories get more responses than general questions ("what do I do when the flop doesn't hit me?"). Be sure to include important info such as Blinds, your position, stack sizes, player reads, no. of players at the table, etc.
Good Luck,
--Casey

[gibs]

Thanks for the advice Ace. I will start posting specific hands in the future.

[davidross]

Remember you can't win a tournament early, just lose it. Don't overplay anything early. If you miss the flop check and fold. You said it yourself, you were down early but were average by the middle of the tournament. You're just trying to survive. Save the bluffing for when you really need it, and have better reads on people. The texture of the board is important too. a board of 322 might make for a better time to bluff than JT9.

Your all-in hand was fine. AK is a great all in hand because you want to see all 5 cards with it. Especially out of position and it's better to be the guy going allin, u might induce a fold.

Tough luck.