$22: A8s BB w/flush draw vs. min-raiser, level 1

[iceblink]

$22 single-table NLH sng on Pacific. 7-handed, 10/20 blinds.

Late in the first level, and I'm 2-tabling, so not sure of my read on Villain. I don't have any notes on him yet, which, on Pacific, usually means they're relatively tight.


BB (Hero) (t760)
UTG (t900)
UTG+1 (t760)
MP (t1240)
CO (Villain)(t1280)
Button (t2500)
SB (t560)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Ah8h
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, MP folds, Villain min-raises to t40, SB calls, Hero calls.

Flop: (t120) 7h Kd 2h (3 players)
Hero bets t66, Villain min-raises to t132, SB folds, Hero calls.

Turn: (t384) As
Hero bets t108, Villain min-raises to t216, Hero calls.

River: (t816) Tc
Hero checks, Villain bets t372, (putting Hero all-in), Hero folds.


I'm not sure about my play here at several points in the hand:

Flop: Villain is giving me about 5-1 odds on my flush draw with his min-raise, and an ace might also be good. Should I just take those odds and see the turn (as I did), or re-raise him all-in to guarantee I see two cards with nine (or possibly 12) outs (assuming he calls)? It's still early in the sng and I have chips, so I'm not really inclined to move in here. I've also seen tight players on Pacific play a monster the way Villain is playing here. They min-raise preflop, especially when it's folded to them in late position, so as not to scare everyone out, then minraise on the flop and turn for the same reason, then finally push on the river, when the coast is clear (no flush or straight is possible or likely and board hasn't paired).

Turn: Now I've got my Ace, and figured my ~1/3 pot bet would be enough to determine where I stand. Usually the weaktight players on Pacific will just call (or fold) here if they're beaten (eg with KQ), but he min-raised again, so now I'm thinking he probably has AK, or, less likely, KK or 77 for a set. Should I have considered pushing immediately when the ace hit? Or possibly re-raising all-in? If he's on AK or a set, then I've only got the nine flush outs (possibly minus the Kh). As it happened, he gave me almost 7-1 odds on my flush draw, so I figured simply calling and drawing to my flush was OK.

River: Push here representing QJ (maybe QhJh) for the straight? For sure, no one on Pacific is laying down two pair or a set here, and often they're married with just TP decent kicker. So I check-folded to his push, leaving myself t372, about 12 BB's when we move up to 15/30 in a few hands.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Alan

[FoldYourLife]

Leading the flop is no good, you would have been better off check/calling or folding to a big bet, since your stack is so small. As played, now you've built a big pot relative to your stack. I think that A traps you on the turn. I'm check/calling the turn or value betting the river, all while thinking of the crappy spot I'm in.

[iceblink]

[ QUOTE ]
Leading the flop is no good, you would have been better off check/calling or folding to a big bet, since your stack is so small. As played, now you've built a big pot relative to your stack. I think that A traps you on the turn. I'm check/calling the turn or value betting the river, all while thinking of the crappy spot I'm in.

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand what you mean about not building a big pot, but don't you think it's worth betting the flop, in case Villain min-raised preflop with a small to medium pair or AQ, AJ, etc.? Isn't there a good chance of taking down the pot right there?

If I check-call the turn (instead of betting out), then what do I do on the river? Check-call again? I guess I can see the reasoning there, given that Villain may keep betting his K (KQ for example) if I check the turn. But by betting the turn I find out if my ace is good or not, so then I can checkfold the river, right?

[FoldYourLife]

I also forgot to mention that you should fold PF.

[iceblink]

Was wondering a bit about the call preflop. I called because Villain only min-raised, so I'm getting 5-1 with my A8s (including the SB's call).

I know it's best to play tight early on in sng's, but is it really so bad to see a cheap flop with a medium suited ace here?

[tigerite]

Preflop is fine flop is not, you have only a draw, and it's very likely to have hit him, just check/call or even fold, your draw is not that strong at all, and semi-bluff doesn't have much value here at all.

[kevkev60614]

[ QUOTE ]
I understand what you mean about not building a big pot, but don't you think it's worth betting the flop, in case Villain min-raised preflop with a small to medium pair or AQ, AJ, etc.? Isn't there a good chance of taking down the pot right there?

[/ QUOTE ]
If this was true, your cards shouldn't matter and you should almost always call minraisers and lead for 1/2 pot.

Your pf call is fine because you're closing the action with 5 to 1 and a suited ace, but STT players semibluff too much. Leading into the pf raiser makes no sense. It's too likely he'll raise and not at all likely he'll fold.

If you'd c/c'd every street, you could've seen a showdown and spent a lot less. It's true that you make less when your flush hits, but that's unlikely to happen and the chips you lose are more important than the chips you gain.

[akashra]

No I think that's fine, your easily priced in on the condition that your good enough to get out later on in the case that your able to read your TP, poor-kicker as being dominated by a higher Ace.