to trap or push??
 

Is a greedy trap or a passive push the best way to play this hand? 70 left in a 580 player PP $33 multi. You are under average w/about 7000 and the blinds are about 200-400. You can fold into the money but, of course, are looking to go deep into the final table so cashing is a very minor consideration. You, in middle position, get AA and look up to find that utg, with his 10K in chips, has made a raise to 1,200. You just got here and have no reads but expect that this table is like your last and, at this point is very tight. You now want to play this hand and want to maximize the win but are unsure if you should push and go for the 1,800 or limp and try to double or triple up.

How should this hand be played?


Not an issue but I limped and got all my money in after utg bet 1000 on a 9 high flop. He, of course, held 99 so pushing is my only chance to win but.... is the potential return gained by limping worth the risk in this situation?

Re: to trap or push??
 

I want to get this heads-up as quickly as possible. Granted it is unlikely on the bubble, but if you limp, and two other guys do as well, you can find yourself in very deep trouble.

With deeper stacks, I'd say make it 3.5-4k to go, but with 7k in front of you, pretty much your only play here is to push. It will take down the pot most times, but that's t1600 you didn't have a moment ago, and you could get called by a worse hand.

No way you're getting away from that flop.

Re: to trap or push??
 

This might be a good spot to make a donk reraise to like 3k or so, see if UTG likes his hand enought to push. Since he's raising UTG, there's a good chance he has a real hand and you'll probably get paid off if you push as well. Don't flat-call here, that's just silly.

Re: to trap or push??
 

I think UTG 3XBB opener on a tight table might be good for a little pop. I would raise to T3000 here. The reason I wouldn't push is I want to protect my future raises which would be in this range.

Re: to trap or push??
 

agree with Sam T. I'm reraising to around 3K and pushing any flop. You're probably dead either way though.