Top pair with good kicker - good or bad fold?
 

Hi all. I'm a successful .50/1 limit player and I've mainly been playing that to build my bankroll. UB's SNG promotion was too nice of a deal for me to pass up, though, so I've been doing those this month. I have some experience with SNGs in the past, but never really played this many. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts of this hand. I don't have the online hand history so I can't use the converter, but I have all the info. Here it is:

UltimateBet $5 + .50 SNG
Blinds are 20/40

UTG (t645)
Hero (t870)
UTG+2 (t140)
MP1 (t890)
MP2 (t1540)
MP3 (t1645)
CO (t2435)
Button (t830)
SB (t995)
BB (t10)


Hero is UTG+1 with A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

Pre-flop: UTG calls, Hero raises to t80, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 calls, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds, BB is all-in after posting, UTG calls.

Flop: A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
UTG checks, Hero bets t270, MP3 calls, UTG raises to t565 (all-in), Hero folds, MP3 calls

Turn: K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

River: 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

After the call by MP3 and the check-raise by UTG, I decided that I might be beat, and against two players it would be best to fold and wait for a better spot. The blinds were still somewhat small and I could wait it out.

Re: Top pair with good kicker - good or bad fold?
 

that's a tough call... it's close. i'd be inclined to push. you've already put in 350 of your 870, and early in SnGo's i've seen people way overvalue a hand like A7 in this spot. if you fold you're going to be short-stacked and it will be tough to get back in it.

Re: Top pair with good kicker - good or bad fold?
 

My initial reaction is to push, but the check-raise all-in by UTG (particularly after MP1's call) just screams of a monster. (Or "idiot". At this level you can't be too sure.) Tough lay-down, but I think you made the right choice.

Re: Top pair with good kicker - good or bad fold?
 

At this level, I would find this very tough to lay down. This may be a bit of a cop out, but I think you should've raised more pre-flop. Miniraises are a pet peeve of mine, so others may not have as big of a problem with it, but I think you need to ask yourself what it is that your trying to accomplish with your preflop raise.

If you're trying to thin the field and potentially take down the blinds (not much of a prize here given the all-in BB, I know), you must raise at least 3 to 4 times the BB, preferably 4x because of the UTG limper. It's too easy for a wide range of hands to call your small raise, and when you don't even have a pair, this is not a good thing (it does not apply here, but generally the BB will call a miniraise with just about any two cards and this puts you in an uncomfortable spot when the BB comes to life later in the hand).

If you raised to 140-150, UTG would have a tough decision with his pocket 6s and only (605 chips left). And if he got out of line and pushed pre-flop, you'd have a relatively easy fold with minimal loss. He probably still would've called the larger raise, but that's usually going to make you money when you hit the flop (and sometimes even when you miss).

Also, after the larger raise, you can make a decent sized bet at the flop (and then if you're called by MP 3 and check-raised all in by UTG, it's easier to lay the hand down).

Re: Top pair with good kicker - good or bad fold?
 

[ QUOTE ]
At this level, I would find this very tough to lay down. This may be a bit of a cop out, but I think you should've raised more pre-flop. Miniraises are a pet peeve of mine, so others may not have as big of a problem with it, but I think you need to ask yourself what it is that your trying to accomplish with your preflop raise.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think AQs is a tough hand to play at this point in the SNG. If you raise with it and are reraised, you are likely beat. For this reason, I like to minimum raise to usually drive out the blinds, and a minimum raise is easy to get away from if facing a decent-sized reraise.

Thanks for the responses, all. These forums are great.

Re: Top pair with good kicker - good or bad fold?
 

MP3 had 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
UTG had A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

In case anyone cared. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Top pair with good kicker - good or bad fold?
 

What did the all in BB have?

Re: Top pair with good kicker - good or bad fold?
 

Joking aside, I think this is an easy call. UTG limped so he has a weak hand. If he has A3 or A6 he got really lucky and you still have outs to beat him. Most likely he caught part of the flop (an ace) and doesn't think anyone else did.

In a $5 SnG you'll see that push from Ace-any quite often, even from heart draws. You have a very strong hand and I don't think folding is correct. You basically got one of the flops you want with AQ and you fold? I call here all day.