First hand with 88, 20/2 180 player SNG

Though I have been following 2+2 for a while, I am a newcomer to posting hands. Please be easy on me.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (9 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Hero (t1500)
SB (t1500)
BB (t1500)
UTG (t1500)
UTG+1 (t1500)
MP1 (t1500)
MP2 (t1500)
MP3 (t1500)
CO (t1500)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
[color=#666666]3 folds</font>, MP2 calls t20, [color=#666666]2 folds</font>, [color=#CC3333]Hero raises to t80</font>, [color=#666666]2 folds</font>, MP2 calls t60.

Flop: (t190) 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] [color=#0000FF](2 players)</font>
[color=#CC3333]MP2 bets t80</font>, [color=#CC3333]Hero raises to t260</font>, [color=#CC3333]MP2 raises to t440</font>, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t890

This is the first hand of the tournament, so I had no reads on the opponent. I was really confused by his re-raise on the flop. Was he re-raising with Ace of spades or does he have something like AT or 99?

How do you guys play this?

I could see him with either an overpair hand where he has one spade or maybe both. I would put him on the former however.

[Sam T.]

Limp pre-flop. At this level you aren't going to drive out enough hands to make raising worth the chips. All you will do is create a large, four-handed pot.

I don't think there is any way of knowing what he had, and in many ways it doesn't much matter. A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Tx seems likely, but it would probably be a mistake to discount a made flush. Not many players at this level will lead into a monotone board without the goods, so I might just let it go.

(Also note that if you limp here, the pot on the flop is only worth ~60 chips, which makes it much easier to get away from your hand without losing much of your stack. No sense getting in a dog-fight over t60.)

[betgo]

Set converter to 2+2.

You are playing too aggressively for the first hand of the tournament. Limp preflop. Fold to the flop bet.

Definately fold to the reraise. I don't care what your opponent has.

[JustPlayingSmart]

Limp preflop. Check/fold flop. Fold to flop bet. Don't raise the flop bet. Fold to the reraise. Fold on the turn. Fold the river, etc. About the only time you shouldn't fold this hand is preflop. But you still shouldn't have raised it.

Basically you're goal here is to flop a set and double up. Otherwise, you get out for 20 chips.

When the flop comes, your hand is terrible. You may not only be behind, but you might not even have the best spade. The bet and min 3-bet is usually an indicator of a very strong hand. If that means a flush, you are probably drawing to runners. Regardless, you should not have put in a dime after the flop.