[Buzz]

Hi Nina - You played fine. Other lines of play would have been fine too. I probably would not have played exactly the same as you, but it doesn't matter. You played fine.

When you sit down in a short-handed game, you can generally expect to encounter some very aggressive play, and that's what you seem to be getting from UTG here.

UTG raises before the flop. You might have read somewhere that you should raise from early position with aces before the flop. Does that mean UTG has A-A-Y-Z? It does not. Does UTG's raise mean he has A-2-Y-Z? It does not. Indeed, unless you know otherwise, the pre-flop raise doesn't mean anything at all except that UTG is probably an aggressive player. Maybe UTG has a better than average hand. Or maybe UTG is simply trying to steal your blind. It's impossible to know.

With your strong starting hand, you probably have a better starting hand than UTG. Hard to know. You're strong enough to re-raise, and I'd probably do that. But calling is fine too.

I'd probably bet this flop directly. When you don't, UTG bets. UTG might have raised if you bet (or not). When you don't bet, there's almost a guarantee UTG will. Doesn't mean anything. At any rate, your check/call is fine. A check-raise would be fine here too. It's a pure guessing game and all you need is courage (guts).

Then you check-raise on the turn. Good for you. (I'd probably directly bet the turn).

If you want to play in this seemingly tight, aggressive game, stand your ground and expect large fluctuations in your stack. (I wouldn't like this type of game, but some love it).

Buzz