Advice on a tournament hand, please

[shish]

Every time I get knocked out of a tournament, I try and analyze the important hands or decisions that I played/made. Usually, I find at least one thing that I did wrong that I can learn from next time. This hand, I would play the same way if I had it to do over again, but I wanted some input on maybe another way of looking at the hand or playing it.

Here's the background info leading up to the hand.

Casino tournament, start with 3000 in chips and 25/50 blinds. $25 buy in, no rebuy/add on. 15 minute levels, so you can't sit back and wait for premium hands. NL HE. 140-150 players.

I'm in the BB, which is now 100 (2nd level). I have 3200 in chips and have picked up two pots without showdowns. The first one I bet out on the flop after limping preflop and picked it up. The second pot I raised with 88 and got no callers, that was the hand before this one. Most of the players are playing tight, there has only been one big showdown, the second hand of the tournament. On that hand, the player to my right went all in with 66 on a A56 flop and got called by 55. The last five came on the river, so an alternate filled his seat (she is the SB in the hand this post is about).

Some information on the SB. She doesn't appear to be a player. Asking a lot of questions, not knowing how much to bet, could be an act, but I don't think so based on the following. She won a pot with QQ calling all the way on a board that had AKxxx with 3 to a flush. She called another guy down with 2nd pair. she lost that one.

I pick up AK offsuit. It's folded to the player in the cutoff+1. He limps in, he seems like a solid player from the action so far in the tournament. The SB calls for 50 more and I raise to 400. (The raise is the same as the previous hand where I raised it with pocket eights). First limper folds and the SB calls.

Pot: 900.
Me: 2800
SB: 3100

Flop: A94 rainbow

SB checks. I bet out 1000. The pot's big enough where at this stage in the tournament, I'm happy to pick up the pot. She calls.

Pot: 2900
Me: 1800
SB: 2100

Turn: 5

SB bets 500. I push all in, she calls.

Based on what I put so far, would any of you have played this differently and why? I think I played it right, based on the play I'd seen from her before this hand. In a tournament like this, you have to take more chances than one with longer levels.

Obviously I lost this hand based on the beginning of the post. However I'm not going to put whether it was a bad beat or I misread her.

[ZBTHorton]

Looks great to me.

[Elaboration]

news,

I would bet less on the flop. About 600-700 with no obvious draws out there. That will leave you some more manuverability later in the hand.
That being said, I get concerned when clueless calling stations suddenly come to life. She either turned 2P or a set. Pushing seems panicky to me.

Good luck-

[flipflop1970]

If you were happy with the amount in the pot then your intial 1000 bet was good. I think she was on a straight draw considering the flop. She was probably suited and if she was as weak as you believe she wouldn't be paying attention to her odds. So in essense if she was weak she would think WOW I HAVE A STRAIGHT ALMOST. After the 5 hit you have to look at the board and think what could she have called me with but now would bet on. She could have hit two pair, A straight , or a set. Any hand is possible knowing she isn't a good player. You only had Aces. If you were unsure of what she had after she bet I would have raised but not all in. If she raises you have to put her on a hand better than your Aces. She might just call, or perhaps fold. Then on the river she may then just check to you and you can check so that you don't risk your chips. If you win you still win a nice pot. f you lose, then you still have chips plus your chair. So I think your move was a move that you thought you could outplay her. I Think you though she was only on a small pair. At that moment what did you think she had? That is the real question. If you would have thought about it you might have even folded and saved your chips. Weak players play all types of hands and when they call and then start to bet you have to think they have a good hand then. I have seen that happen more often than not.

[Msogard]

Bet 600 instead of 1,000 after the flop. You know she is a weak player, so don't commit yourself to this hand so early. Bet 600 and leave yourself some breathing room if you have to get away from it on the turn. Surely this woman gave away some information when she bet the turn. I'm not saying you should've folded the turn, just leave yourself the option.
Against a tricky player I think you have to go all the way here, but most players like the one you described here play pretty straight-forward.

[shish]

Thanks for the replies so far. Trying to look back on it without knowing what she had (which is hard), the betting less on the flop option seems to make the most sense to me of all the alternate ways I could have played the hand. With the pot at 900, 1000 was probably too big of a bet, and it comes closer to committing me to the pot. Based on my read of her, I was prepared to commit all my chips to this hand (for better or for worse), but pushing seems to extreme to me. I know all I had was a pair of aces, but I was confident they were good. I put her on an underpair or a smaller ace. I'm still experimenting in tournaments like this that have fast levels. Obviously you need to gamble more since the blinds go up so fast and you have relatively few hands to build your stack. When I first started playing tournaments like this, I played way too tight and would always end up in "double up or get up mode" earlier than I wanted to be. I've been experimenting with how aggressive to play (I know that it varies based on your opponents, but I mean in general).

[schwza]

yeah, no reason to overbet the flop. the money will all go in if she has Ax or 9x with normal bets.