A tough decision

His flop check after preflop re-raise is ultra suspicious. I probably can't get away from this either but I'm thinking QQ here too.

[Simplistic]

this thread makes me laugh because the STT forum generates responses that don't seem very standard at all to a cash game player or even an MTTer.

I view STTs as mini MTTs, good hand, push edges early, if you're wrong you move onto the next. this might be a leak because i'm failing to comprehend that the reason you push small edges early is because in MTTs you want to accumulate chips to get you deep where the payouts are much larger. either way i'm on a quest to finish 1000 sngs and we'll see how my strategy goes.

in regards to the hand, 2nd hand of a SNG, no real read.
hero raises 5X BB after 2 EP limpers, indicating strength, villain donk re-raises to 175 which is less than 3x original raise. range of hands i'd put would be JJ+ and AK as OP mentioned. hero calls, indicates either a trap with a big pair or AK.

villain is first to act and checks on a KQrag rainbow board. either he's not afraid of a straight draw or he's weak.

hand range is consistent with JJ, QQ, KK, AA, AK, there's one hand that hero's ahead of and one hand where hero ties. however I discount AA because a KQ flop isn't pretty and I suspect AA bets here a good percentage of the time. KK is a one-outer which may or may no be likely. QQ is likely.

hero checks behind.

why did you check behind? afraid of monsters? pot control? want a cheap showdown?

people advocating a check behind, what happens if villain wakes up on later streets as he did? you're essentially lost in the hand and either muck it or call down. if you're going to muck, why the [censored] did you call the pre-flop re-raise in the first place? hoping to flop a straight?

next street brings another brick. this card helps somebody 1% of the time. villain bets a weak amount into the pot. hero calls. raising the turn is worse than betting the flop.
but in the absence of a flop bet I raise pot and fold to a push.

in this case hero calls. (why?)

river brings another brick and villain fires another weak bet out. why does villain bet so little and again after being called on turn? he's either weak and wants a cheapshowdown or he's value betting.

what does hero do here? and if people are advocating fold on the river after calling the turn, that play is horrible. plan what the hell you're going to do on later streets. if you're going to fold again to a weak bet then you should have folded the turn.

raising with TPTK is bad. calling is good.

in conclusion, either bet the flop and fold to a raise, if called check behind and control the pot. not once in the action did hero take control of the betting, esepcially with position. yarg.OTHERWISE, check/call down, especially when villain bets so weakly.

you guys need to think more about what villain is doing, what villain's hand range is and you also need to plan what you're going to do on later streets. calling turn only to fold to a river bet is just spewing.

[adanthar]

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in conclusion, either bet the flop and fold to a raise, if called check behind and control the pot. not once in the action did hero take control of the betting, esepcially with position. yarg.OTHERWISE, check/call down, especially when villain bets so weakly.

you guys need to think more about what villain is doing, what villain's hand range is and you also need to plan what you're going to do on later streets. calling turn only to fold to a river bet is just spewing.

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Or, you could check behind on the flop and control the pot that way from the get go because there's absolutely no sense in betting if you want to maximize value when ahead. (edit: I see you give this as an option, misread your post the first time)

Of course, you're right in that even thinking about folding the river is terrible.

[suited_ace]

My passive approach to the hand is due to the fact that there's a very good chance that this is a way ahead / way behind spot, so I'm trying to keep the pot as small as possible and get the cheapest possible showdown.

Betting the flop and having a plan of folding to a raise could be an option, but if villain indeed has QQ, he's most probably just calling my flop bet, and I'd get to the turn with just as much information and a much bigger pot.

Why do you say raising the turn is worst than betting the flop?

[Simplistic]

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My passive approach to the hand is due to the fact that there's a very good chance that this is a way ahead / way behind spot, so I'm trying to keep the pot as small as possible and get the cheapest possible showdown.

Betting the flop and having a plan of folding to a raise could be an option, but if villain indeed has QQ, he's most probably just calling my flop bet, and I'd get to the turn with just as much information and a much bigger pot.

Why do you say raising the turn is worst than betting the flop?

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if you bet the flop say fire out 250(arbitrary), his options are fold/call/raise.

a raise and your hand is mucked. a bet gives you the chance to win the pot right there if he's got JJ or a draw. a smooth call and you're pretty close to being done with the hand but you have position on him the rest of the hand.

for the price of 250 you find out something.

on the turn if he bets 125 into a pot of 390, raising here is worse because any meaningful raise is at least 375+, so you're committing more chips here in what you say could very well be a WA/WB situation. a donk min-raise is out of the question.

[Pudge714]

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Id push preflop, if not then Id definately push on this flop. I think your ahead here way more often then not.

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Pushing PF is not good. The BB reraised you big. He COULD be a donk, but a good portion of the time he's either going to have a pocket pair in which case you're on the sucky side of a coinflip or crushed.

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I don't like pushing preflop, but I don't mind it, in 1 22 I think you will see AQ or get someone to fold enough to make it slightly +EV.

[Village Idiot]

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Why not bet the flop after he checks ahead of you to find out where you are ?
I think there may be a chance if he does have trips that he raises fearing a straight draw or that you have hit two pair and are drawing to a boat.

Just checkig behind tells you nothing IMO.

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1. What actions that he can take will give you information about where you are in the hand.

2. What is so important about knowing "where you are in the hand." I'm genuinely curious if there is a reason as opposed to throwing around a catchy phrase you heard someone use once.

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1. If I bet the flop and he raises me then at this level of play I'm done with the hand this early in the game.
Making a bet of about 1/2 the pot here either gets Villain to
Fold
Call
Raise

If he folds great.
If he calls, then you still have info. that Villain thinks he is ahead or has a draw to enough outs to call your bet.
If he raises I'm thinking I'm beat and will lay it down saving me more chips than calling down to the river might cost.
This early in a $22 I assume Villain is a decent tight player unless he prved otherwise in the 1st hand.
While checking gives you the free card chance to hit one of your outs to improve your hand the odds of that aren't great here IMO.

2. I want to either take this down right here with TPTK or give Villain a chance to make a mistake by calling my bet if I'm ahead.
Here Villain has shown weakness by checking.
I want to make a bet and get him to react to try to determine if I'm really ahead or he was trapping and looking for a check/raise.