What do you do here?

we are down to the final 14 in a $4.40 180 player sng...

i had just 3x up previous hand when my AA held up vs. two opponents all in preflop, which had put me in decent position (3rd or 4th place)...

i am dealt AQo on the button and raise it up. the BB (who is overall chip leader) calls, and then bets out on the flop. i have top pair top kicker, and didnt want to let him draw out on me. although i was fairly certain i had him beat at the time, i am thinking the proper play would have been to smooth call and hope another spade doesnt hit. i was afraid if i reraised him that he may have pushed on top of me and put me to a decision for all my chips. i would always rather make my opponent decide, but since he insta-called it wasnt too big a decision for him. what does everyone do here? call, reraise, or push???

PokerStars Game #4399453916: Tournament #21869713, Hold'em No Limit - Level X (400/800) - 2006/03/24 - 18:02:50 (ET)
Table '21869713 12' Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: AngyTheKing (10070 in chips)
Seat 3: Mopetey (24241 in chips)
Seat 4: dscottr17 (30097 in chips)
Seat 5: WillSiffred (24382 in chips)
Seat 7: Mervelous (24208 in chips)
Seat 8: 191970 (37303 in chips)
AngyTheKing: posts the ante 50
Mopetey: posts the ante 50
dscottr17: posts the ante 50
WillSiffred: posts the ante 50
Mervelous: posts the ante 50
191970: posts the ante 50
Mervelous: posts small blind 400
191970: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to dscottr17 [Ah Qd]
maasakill is connected
AngyTheKing: folds
Mopetey: folds
dscottr17: raises 1700 to 2500
WillSiffred: folds
Mervelous: folds
191970: calls 1700
*** FLOP *** [Js Qh 7s]
191970: bets 2400
dscottr17: raises 25147 to 27547 and is all-in
191970: calls 25147
*** TURN *** [Js Qh 7s] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [Js Qh 7s 6s] [8d]
Mervelous said, "lol nh"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
191970: shows [3s Qs] (a flush, Queen high)
dscottr17: shows [Ah Qd] (a pair of Queens)
191970 collected 60794 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 60794 | Rake 0
Board [Js Qh 7s 6s 8d]
Seat 1: AngyTheKing folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Mopetey folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: dscottr17 showed [Ah Qd] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 5: WillSiffred (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Mervelous (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: 191970 (big blind) showed [3s Qs] and won (60794) with a flush, Queen high

I play it like you did.He just got bailed out.

__________________

I once heard someone say, "Don't count too heavily on top pair being the best hand", or something to that effect. He had alot of possibilites, flush and straight draws, plus as wbtczn said, "if he hit a set on the flop." I tend to be conservative so I would have called and been even more cautious with the spade on the turn, but that's just me.

Nothing you could do about that one DScott.....he called your fairly sizable raise with a Q3 and then called the majority of his stack with it. He was committed from the get-go.

I can't tell you why....but he was.

I think you played it fine....particularly since you thought he might go over the top of you. My only possible conflict with your strategy (and this is minute) would be the all-in instead of a hefty raise. A non-all-in raise gives you the opportunity to back down once that 3rd spade comes down on the turn.

Plus. since he had top-pair plus the flush draw, he could have been figuring himself with 12 outs to the river (9 for the flush and 3 for his 3's)and figured he's bascially a coin-flip to double-up. OR....he may have seen your all-in as somewhat of a bluff--putting you on AK, AJ or any Jx--which puts him on a winning hand plus the flush draw or the 12 outs to draw out.

Not saying the play was bad, and certainly not putting him that sophisticated since he called the raise preflop, but its a possibility. Bottom line is, you were dead once the flop hit cause he mentally committed himself right there.

Great playing with you at 10:00 PM!

TZB

same to you friend

i enjoy these games, as it is fun to play with people you are familiar with, rather than a table full of random players.


i had some other things i was busy with the past week and a half, so i missed a bunch of the games, but i should be able to make the rest. we'll see if i can carry my mini winning streak into next week's games

I think that you played the hand well. He called because of the possibilities that he had, with out top pair and just a simple spade draw he's out of the pot. Quite what he was doing pre-flop calling with Qs3s is beyond me though, you were unlucky.

The question is...did this moron win the sng?

Let me ask you this question........... If that was you, would you make that call?

I'm not talking about the preflop call, thats a different story. I'm talking about the All-In call.

If you had the chip lead, and just flopped top pair and a 4 to a flush draw would you make that call? I make the call but maybe thats just me. I might have the best hand right now and if not , I have to figure i have at least 9 outs maybe 12 to improve to the best hand. I'm gambling here.