AQs in BB L:1 50+5

[TheUsher]

[ QUOTE ]
"Because of this, you were guessing both on the flop and on the turn. I don't like guessing because it's possible to guess wrong. Folding on the flop means you give up chances at winning a small pot while it's still early without taking a big hit to your chip stack. "

This pot isn't so small right now. There's about 400 chips in the pot, which is quite signifigant when you have a 1000 chip stack. This simply isn't a clear fold.


Secondly - "You were either a tiny favorite on the flop or a huge underdog, due to the combination of many players either flopping a set or making a draw later on. Calling in that spot is giving your money away."

What hand are you a tiny favorite over here? There's no flush draw, and an unlikely straight draw. You are probably either way ahead or way behind.


I'm not advocating any specific play right now, because I want to think about it more, but I know that folding isn't clear cut.

[/ QUOTE ]

Folding isn't clear cut obviously, but when it comes to normal play, this hand just seemed so weird to me at the time. Perhaps that's why the hand wasn't "normal" at all since their hands were completely different than any regular hands that would play this flop, other than KK/AA+sets. I thought check/calling, although passive, would be the correct play as if the original raiser was bluffing, he'd shut down unless he caught something. I was correct in my assessment of the hand, unfortunately getting unlucky at the river.

I'm real hesitant to push my stack in here with TPTK against 2 opponents but would that have been the correct play? If it were one opponent, this hand wouldn't have even been posted.

[PhilipBass]

AQ of clubs would be a 51.5% favorite on the flop versus one player holding 98 of diamonds and one player holding AK of spades. How's that for a concrete example!

However, against so many players on the flop, it's very possible that someone flopped a set. A straight draw is possible. It's early in the tournament, and players are likely to hold anything. The best case scenario for AQs is to be up against QK, QJ, or QT. But those hands may not necessarily give AQ much action after the flop.

While folding AQ on the flop in that situation is not correct 100% of the time, it's a matter of either winning a small pot or losing a large one. I won't take that gamble early in a tournament.

[adanthar]

[ QUOTE ]
It's hard to fold AQs before the flop in that situation.

Your hand is an exercise with dealing with reverse implied odds. That is, your chances of winning the pot were inversely proportional to how much money went into the pot after the flop. You were either a tiny favorite on the flop or a huge underdog, due to the combination of many players either flopping a set or making a draw later on. Calling in that spot is giving your money away.

I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS want a turn card that will make me happy and signify that I've improved at the expense of the others. In your hand, I believe that wasn't possible. That's another case for folding on the flop.

Because of this, you were guessing both on the flop and on the turn. I don't like guessing because it's possible to guess wrong. Folding on the flop means you give up chances at winning a small pot while it's still early without taking a big hit to your chip stack.

[/ QUOTE ]

This would be a great reply if the PF raise was to, for example, 50 chips. But it wasn't - it was a minraise, signifying the minraiser was a moron with two cards. He almost certainly didn't have KK or AA after 3 limpers.

Therefore, CR on the flop (pot's big enough to push but t500 with the rest going in on the turn works, too).

[PhilipBass]

Oh boy, people will min-raise with ANYTHING early in a single table tournament. Min-raising with AA or KK versus several limpers in the first round is ideal because then nobody will put the raiser on a premium hand. I don't put min-raisers on anything. Maybe they have AA. Maybe they're just sweetening the pot.

TheUsher, it's way too early to go all-in on the flop. Either you'll be called by a set or everyone will fold. In the 50-100 rounds, going all-in would be okay. Then, you might get called by a weaker queen.

[curtains]

I'd wager you that a decent percentage of players at this level would happily call a flop allin with KQ here, and oftentimes worse hands.