NLTRN: 11$*s, first hand AJ vs... ??

[hra146]

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t20 (2 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

Hero (t1500)
BB (t1500)

Preflop: Hero is Button with J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
<font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t60</font>, <font color="#CC3333">BB raises to t150</font>, Hero calls t90.

Flop: (t300) 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
BB checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero bets t240</font>, <font color="#CC3333">BB raises to t480</font>


wtf is that?

[Wu36]

Not really a sng player, but I think you should either be bet/calling happily or checking back on the flop. Since its the first hand I'd lean towards the latter.

[Dima2000123]

If you're up against an overpair or a set on the very first hand, then it's a cooler. However, I'm not going to waste 20% of the starting chips just to find out a couple of hands later that I'm playing against a maniac. I would smooth call here and push when BB bets the turn.

[jay_shark]

Let me hijack this for a bit .

I prefer to re-raise preflop with ace jack but the decision is very close .

For instance , if villain would raise with a-8 + , then you're ahead of a-9,a-10,tied with a-j but you're trailing to a-q,a-k . If you get re-raised yet again , you can lay down your hand .

Since you have position , I strongly believe it's slightly better to re-raise with a-j here . The only exception is if he's a lousy postflop player and will spew lots of EV being oop .

As for how the hand was played , I would re-raise here and pay him off if he has a higher pocket pair but the decision is close . I will provide a mathematical argument(later) to see if my intuition matches the math .

If he has king queen , I made the right decision . That already counts for 16 possible combinations compared to 15 combinations for a higher pocket pair .

I will come back to this after .

[Nichomacheo]

Isnt KQ more likely to shove than minraise? I think that makes it weigh much less here.

[daveT]

I wouldn't be surprised to see middle pair or even AK here. But I don't understand why he is taking the lead pf then check-raising on the flop. Hard to interpret, but it looks like he is either bluffing or trying to trap here with a good hand. Really leaning toward the latter.

I don't really know what line to take, but I hate to fold. I think I would like to call down and see what happens.

Does anyone think about re-raising here?

[ChicagoRy]

I wouldn't count on anything being more likely from an 11 dollar player, Nicho. Play varies so much from player to player.

[derosnec]

i would fold this. once he check-minraises after 3betting pf, i remove AK/AQ from his range (or weight it much less), which leaves you with crappy equity. you can argue he has a jack too, but i often see a c-bet for protection when they have that. it sucks to put in almost 1/3 of your stack in and fold, but you're still fine. i know i sound nitty, but when villains take extra strong lines, especially postflop, from experience being nitty would have been prudent (unless pot size warrants continuing).

[Dima2000123]

I think that pf 3bet combined with a min-check-raise on the flop is not a sign of strength, it's usually froth. Strong players typically lead on the flop after 3-betting, balancing out the times when they hit it big with the times they c-bet with nothing. I don't feel strength here, in fact I feel good enough to hold back for one street before pulling the trigger.

[derosnec]

possible. i dunno. seemed like strength to me. i could be wrong.