from 4th place to out on first hand of final table -- please help

[ninja please]

Paradise $5 tourny, 630 players, $700 first place prize

This hand is the first hand after the last two tables were combined into the final.

Blinds are 6K/12K, 600 Ante

I have 120K and am in 4th place of the 10 remaining players (200K, 180K, 150K, me, 80, 70, 60, 40, 40, 5).

I'm in BB with AdQd

Folded to chip leader (200K) on the button who mini-raises to 24K

I reraise to 55K, he calls.

Flop: T55 no diamonds.

I bet 25k, he calls.

Turn: 7

I bet 25K, he raises me all-in for my last 10K, I call.

He shows ATo, the river isn't my Q and suddenly I go from fantasizing about a possible win to out of the game before many of the final table short stacks.

After 3 hours of some careful play and some decent luck, this felt like a sour way to go out. I really don't fell like I played it right, but I'm not sure I know what -is- the right way. In hindsight, I almost wish I'd left it alone or let go and just coasted without much trouble to a 3 digit payout -- instead I got $35. But can you really let go of that good of a hand after the flop? Or should I just be all-in before the flop and let my dominating hand do what it will, never minding the tournament payout aspects?

How do you folks who know how to play no-limit tournies handle this situation -- an excellent hand against a probable blind steal, but from one of the very few players who can take you out when you are within easy reach of a real payout?

[Yeti]

Raise allin preflop.

[Nick B.]

You should push preflop, unless you feel like just taking a flop and dumping if you miss.

Any raise, besides all in, commits your stack, so it is better to just push.

After you reraised to 55k, you should either push or fold after this flop.

[JaBlue]

You have to push preflop. You gave him a great price with the ANY TWO he could have. He's in steal position and could have anything. You gotta push preflop.

[ninja please]

i agree with all the replies so far -- it seems pretty clear that i should have pushed and been happy with his 2BB when he (probably) would have folded. or i at least can have only his bad play to blame when i lose the hand and bust out, instead of mine.

BUT-- is there any creedence to the idea that i might WANT him to call my preflop raise? i mean, i have a premium hand and he could pretty much any two. is the fact that i might want to try to get even more out of him something to consider when deciding how much to reraise pre-flop? if the flop had come Axx instead of Txx, we wouldn't be having this discussion because i would have come away with a significant portion of his stack. are the risks too great to be trying to get more than just his pre-flop raise with an all-in push?

just wondering...

[david050173]

[ QUOTE ]
i agree with all the replies so far -- it seems pretty clear that i should have pushed and been happy with his 2BB when he (probably) would have folded. or i at least can have only his bad play to blame when i lose the hand and bust out, instead of mine.

BUT-- is there any creedence to the idea that i might WANT him to call my preflop raise? i mean, i have a premium hand and he could pretty much any two. is the fact that i might want to try to get even more out of him something to consider when deciding how much to reraise pre-flop? if the flop had come Axx instead of Txx, we wouldn't be having this discussion because i would have come away with a significant portion of his stack. are the risks too great to be trying to get more than just his pre-flop raise with an all-in push?

just wondering...

[/ QUOTE ]

You want him to call a push and then let the cards decide fall where they may. AQs just isn't that great of hand and you are out of position. Winning 3.5 BB with it is a good showing. By not pushing you, you invested half you chips and had to make a hard choice (make a weak bluff at the pot) or fold. With the bluff if you guess wrong, your tournament is over.
You don't have to make a move right away.There is a decent increase in money in most tournaments going from 10->4. Snagging those extra couple of blinds would allow you to stay alive while those small stacks blind out. Small stacks are also likely to be going all in with crap pretty soon so if you get lucky (ie you have AJ when they push with A5s) you can try and build your stack without risking your whole tournament life on one hand.

[betgo]

AK and AQ are hands where you want to push on the semibluff. If you see a flop, you are probably only going to have ace high, so it will be difficult to play. You usually trap with a big pair and push with a big ace.

[JaBlue]

You'd be right if you had a premium hand. AQ isn't one, though. Even with AK I don't really want my opponent to call with more play left. Remember you're out of position and all ready committed to the hand. The only time I wouldn't push is maybe with aces and possibly kings.

The reason you don't want him to call your raise is becausse of the flops like the one that came for you.

[patrick dicaprio]

you certainly wont mind too much if you win the pot immediately but you are also very happy if he calls with worse hands. if you could get him to call everytime with the same cards are you happy or not happy? i certainly wouldnt mind a call here for a ton of chips.

Pat

[patrick dicaprio]

if you are going to bet 25K on the flop you may as well check. personally with 42K in the pot preflop i probably would come over the top all in against a button min raise.

Pat