Stars $22 180 SnG, 43 left, SB hand vs Big Stack

Villian in the BB has played very aggressively and won many pots without showdowns. HERO is currently 17/43 with a slightly above avg stack.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (8 handed)
FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

UTG (t3495)
UTG+1 (t6683)
MP1 (t13720)
MP2 (t5130)
CO (t3195)
Button (t7584)
Hero (t5590)
BB (t16787)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">6 folds</font>, Hero completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t475) 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets t600</font>, <font color="#CC3333">BB raises to t3000</font>, Hero...?

Final Pot: t4075

[JeanieJ]

Easy fold, you don't need to get involved with this many chips. This flop is scarey and you're still in good shape. Fold and be happy.

[yoadrians]

I guess my biggest problem with the hand is the fact that you just completed while in the SB against a huge stack. I think that if you want to make a play with this hand, I think you need to raise it preflop to about 3X or 4X the BB, or, simply, fold. I'm leaning toward a preflop fold here.

You don't really gain any information from him by just 'calling'. He could be slowplaying a monster, OR, most likely, he's just playing his stack here. FWIW, I'm shocked he didn't pop you back preflop.

Since you're here, though, and already lost about a fifth of your stack, I think you need to fold.

Next time, if you want to play, raise preflop. Otherwise, just save the chips, man.

I completely understand where you are coming from. I probably would've done the same if it weren't for HOH2.

My read on the Villian was that he was stealing a lot of pots with big bets on the flop and later streets. He was basically playing the big stack very well, but almost surely was stealing his fair share of pots. To this point, he had met little resistance, and the weak table continually folded to his raises. I felt that he was vulnerable to get cocky and lose a big pot somewhere down the line.

Since it folded to me, this is purely a heads-up situation in my mind. I have 3:1 pot odds on completing the blind. My hand is roughly 50% to win against any random two cards. So, without any raising, I have the proper odds to call, right (that is the HOH2 influence)? My intention was to call and hopefully see a cheap flop. If the Villian had min raised t200 more, I would've called that too (as I would still have the odds with plenty of chips left over). If he had raised more than that, I would've folded and given up the extra t100 I had put into the pot. This part of my play is weak. I realize that this is a weak way to enter the hand, but to be honest, I did not have the cojones to raise against the huge stack preflop with a Q5. Against a smaller stack, I might look at it differently.

Ultimately, I did fold this hand to the Villian's t2400 reraise. However, a part of me really thought that I might of had him beat, and it took me a while to actually make the decision to fold. I guess I should do the math on this one. Of course, he could of had me beat with 66+, 2 pair, or a straight, but he could have just as easily been stealing with a flush draw, straight draw, lower pair, or 2 overcards.

I was in pretty good chip position at the time, but in order to win this tournament I need to get a lot more chips, and I feel that there are times when weird hands like this can turn into a big tourney win.

In the future, should I just play scared of the big stack in these sort of heads up situations without premium cards and fold preflop?

I'd guess he has a pretty wide range and push. No idea if that's correct or not, but it's what I'd do.

I think this is a good call pre-flop. If you raise, the aggressive BB will rarely fold as he is playing his stack well. The bet on the flop is fine also. You need to fold to the raise. His range is huge, two pair, 66+, or even overcards which you could lose to on the turn or river. You still have plenty of chips, let this hand go.

[Solitare]

While betting the flop is fine, I'm not a big fan of the size of the bet. To me it says "I've got top pair, but I'm afraid of draws, so I'm going to bet more than the pot to let you know I have top pair so you will fold."

I think this is a case of strong looking weak. I think the size of the bet encourages the big stack to try to buy the pot with a semibluff, even if all he has is two overcards and a backdoor flush.

I'd bet out t300-350.

I would have also raised pre-flop. This sort of flop is exactly why the pre-flop raise is important. If Villain is semibluffing, your pre-flop weakness might have been a factor in Villain's decision to make that move. If you had raised pre-flop, Villain would have to be concerned that you had a pocket pair. Or an A5 giving you a gutshot straight draw to go with your pair. These possibilities could discourage a semibluff.