Anything I can do in spots like these to avoid losing all my chips??

[teddyFBI]

(My first post in the STT forum, so go easy on me!)

I'm a solid limit player, but decided I wanted to better my NL play, so I just bought Harrington's book and have been playing (and kicking ass in) a lot of low-limit SNGs lately.

In a $30 SNG last night, I was a slight chip leader with close to $950 and all 10 players remaining, blinds like 15/30.

Here's the situation:
I'm in MP1 with A [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] and I'd just taken down 3 pots after raising 3BB preflop, so I decide to limp for $30, MP2 raises to $75, MP3 cold-calls $75, folded around to me and I complete to $75.

Flop: A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Beatiful.
I check, MP2 checks, MP3 (coldcaller) bets $75, I CR to $150, MP2 folds, MP3 calls.

Turn T [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] I bet $175 (figuring I want a call), MP3 calls.

River 5 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] I bet $175 (no way I figure he bet flop and stayed in on backdoor club draw), he raises me all-in for $400, I reluctantly call (leaving me with only $125), and he shows T [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]T [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] for the turned boat. 2 hands later and I was out in 10th place.

Of course I was a big favorite on flop, but is there anything I can possibly do in situations like this...I mean, AQ with AAT53 on board is a really tough hand to get away from. With river all-in, I figured I was beat, but was hoping to see AJ or A9...I considered folding, but it would only have left me $345, and it was only $225 to call into a huge pot.

Or are these just the type of "impossible" hands that you just have to live with in NL tournaments?

Any and all comments welcome.

[holdemfan]

If my calculations are right there was $270 in the pot on the flop. The $75 bet made it $345. Your check raise was right but if your done slow playing make it a bet comparable to the pot. An additional $75 is so low even drawing to hands 24 etc. have odds to stay. On that check raise I would have raise $350 or more. If he stays with TT and gets it on the turn it's okay because he paid to stay. You did't make him pay to stay here. His bet of $75 was a test to see if anyone had the A. You said I do but made it cheap enough for him to take a card. He paid $75 into a $420 pot. The odds were wrong but still when he lead he is likely to call this one.