Play this hand from the button?

[GrekeHaus]

What sort of flop are you hoping for with this hand?

1) A made flush--don't happen very often and when it does, you're not going to get paid off.

2) A flush draw--you'll only make it 1/3 of the time and if anybody else has something, you'll be paying a TON to make it. You might even have to fold if they push you out. If they don't have anything, then you might end up winning a small pot.

3) A pair of aces--nobody's paying you off unless they have an ace or a hand that can beat a pair of aces. If they have an ace, it will usually be a better ace. If it's a worse ace, you'll end up chopping a lot.

4) Trips/Two Pair--these are the only real flops you can hope for which might win you a big pot.

A5s is a hand that is destined to either win a small pot or lose a huge one. Since the only way you're winning a big pot with this is trips or two pair, you may as well be playing any two here.

[adanthar]

Yes, limp this.

[ QUOTE ]
Since the only way you're winning a big pot with this is trips or two pair, you may as well be playing any two here.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's a 5+1. The implied odds are 'some guy's stack' on every flop he hits. And, for that matter, I'd also call 75s here.

[drapes]

-AT are all easy folds for me here.

I like to sit tight early.

[gasgod]

The fact that It drew a mix of opinions convinces me that I was right to ask the forum. It seems like it's a close decision.

I agonized for all of 5 seconds, and mucked it. The complete HH:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (8 handed) converter

SB (t1060)
BB (t1245)
UTG (t1405)
UTG+1 (t695)
MP1 (t1300)
MP2 (t695)
CO (t805)
Hero (t795)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, UTG+1 calls t30, MP1 calls t30, MP2 calls t30, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t150) 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(5 players)</font>
SB checks, <font color="#CC3333">BB bets t30</font>, UTG+1 calls t30, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, SB calls t30.

Turn: (t240) Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
SB checks, <font color="#CC3333">BB bets t30</font>, UTG+1 calls t30, SB calls t30.

River: (t330) 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
SB checks, <font color="#CC3333">BB bets t30</font>, UTG+1 folds, SB folds.

Final Pot: t360

Obviously, I wound up wishing I had called. Thanks to all who commented.

GG

[adanthar]

Pop quiz: pretend you played it.

[ QUOTE ]
Flop: (t180) 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(6 players)</font>
SB checks, <font color="#CC3333">BB bets t30</font>, UTG+1 calls t30, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, Hero...

[/ QUOTE ]

[lastchance]

I suck at playing postflop, so take my answer with a grain of salt. I call.

[bluewilde]

In response to adanthar's proposed quiz, I think, had you called and seen the same flop action, the hand plays itself until the river. With 7-1 odds on the flop bet, easy call with 9 outs to the nut flush, 3 non-spade 4s to a likely best straight, and 3 As (maybe count as 0.5-1 full outs). Again on the turn, great odds=call. My question is how much you can bet on the river and get callers. Sure it depends on your knowledge of the other guys in the hand, maybe 100-150 (I'm thinking somewhere around 1/3 of the pot)? More? Less?

[RobGW]

Of course this is an easy call. The real question is do you raise with it? On the flop or on the turn? Nobody is showing a whole lot of strength so it may be yours for the taking without a showdown. I am not saying that I would, but I was interested to see if anyone else would.

[RobGW]

As for the PF limp I guess it depends on how well you play post flop. If you cant let go of TP then just fold. If you can hit your A and still fold to action then I guess you could play it. I tend to play these hands in the right situations (like this). $30 isn't going to kill me but if I hit it I can get some chips to work with. I hate getting to the bubble short stacked. I like to take calculated chances to get the big stack so I can wield it like a club later. Anyways, I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. It just depends on your post flop skills.

[bluewilde]

With the tournament still 8-handed and your having a modest stack, I don't know if you should try being too creative here. Certainly it looks like a large enough reraise could take this down on the flop or the turn, and you have some decent outs if you are called. However, if you fire and miss completely, you're stack is hurtin'. I think it's too early to risk putting yourself in a fairly desperate situation (reducing yourself to around 400 chips) to win a modest-sized pot (about 200). So, I call these small raises because I have a good draw, but would be very cautious about calling any larger bets/raises as the hand progresses; what do you guys think?