AQ from EP

pdubz · #1 09-30-2004, 03:15 AM

Two hands that have been bugging me. A litle new to multi-table tournaments, so just wondering if my game plan was right but unlucky, or not correct to begin with. This is maybe my 4th or 5th multi.

In the first hand we're down to about 100 players from 450, 50 get paid. Average stack is t5000.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t300 (10 handed)

SB (t3290)
BB (t4660)
UTG (t8570)
UTG+1 (t20285)
Hero (t5970)
MP1 (t6747)
MP2 (t3742)
MP3 (t2590)
CO (Villain) (t7750)
Button (t2975)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+2 with A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, Hero raises to t900, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO (Villain) raises to t3100, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t4450
Main Pot: t2250 (t2250), won by Villain.
Pot 2: t2200 (t2200), returned to Villain.

So I'm feeling a little uneasy about this, but I'm still around average and I feel confident about placing. Down to about 80 people, average stack t6000, then this happens [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t300 (10 handed)

Button (Villain) (t5880)
SB (t7870)
BB (t5280)
UTG (t16575)
Hero (t4620)
UTG+2 (t6897)
MP1 (t4592)
MP2 (t2590)
MP3 (t8650)
CO (t3625)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
UTG folds, Hero raises to t750, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button (Villain) raises to t1850, SB folds, BB folds, Hero raises to t4620 (All-In), Button (Villain) calls t2770.

Flop: (t9690) T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t9690) 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t9690) J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t9690
Main Pot: t9690 (t9690), between Villain and Hero.

He had JJ, and I busted out.

It felt awful to be close to the money with a reasonable stack and then bust out. Should I just fold AQ from EP when its close to the money? That seems rather tight -- but maybe its correct? Should I have taken a flop in the second hand? In this case, am I pushing any A/Q? Obviously I'm making the raises with the intent to take the blinds -- but are the odds from EP that I will get reraised enough to make this unprofitable? I couldn't tell if Villain's min-raise was meant to commit himself to a reraise-all in, provoke me to push, or give himself room to get away if SB/BB interfered. So granted, in all of this, I was a coinflip, but that's probably not what I wanted at this stage in the tournament...

I'm feeling like the push here was really bad tournament strategy. Comments?