AQ after a raise preflop ($11, 2 tables)

[donkbee]

Early in the tourney with no reads, I folded. How do you play it?

PokerStars Game #3533617121: Tournament #17533226, Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2006/01/04 - 18:32:45 (ET)
Table '17533226 2' Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: dwain69 (1460 in chips)
Seat 2: Mrs. Burnsy (1690 in chips)
Seat 3: courtiebee (1420 in chips)
Seat 4: yurienjoy (1600 in chips)
Seat 5: wompass_cat (1490 in chips)
Seat 6: BEN_OUI (1440 in chips)
Seat 7: johnja (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: Steal_YrFace (1400 in chips)
Seat 9: para_ducks (1500 in chips)
wompass_cat: posts small blind 10
BEN_OUI: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to courtiebee [Qd Ah]
johnja: folds
Steal_YrFace: folds
para_ducks: raises 80 to 100
dwain69: folds
Mrs. Burnsy: folds
courtiebee: folds

[konahead]

I call here. AQo is good enough to put in less than 10% of your stack. I don't like a raise because opp already said he has something and his bet is enough to clear out the deadwood hands. I'd save my raise for the flop if you hit your ace. Good chance your Q is good too, if opp is playing TT or JJ. But you must be good at postflop play and reading strength or weakness to play it like this.

If it was a bigger chunk of your stack, I could find a fold or a push, but given the bet size, stack sizes, and blind level, I like a smooth call here.

[zenbitz]

call is ok. fold is ok. raise is terrible. A-high flop is really hard to play.

[Fortune 500]

I agree with Zen... call or fold here... neither is wrong. At this point in the game, I lean toward fold.

[MAX]

I think it is a good fold. It's weak, but you are at lv1, no reads, small pot, people left to act, and there are few flops you feel great about.

[WildBobAA]

Folding AQ to a raise this early with nothing invested is almost always correct.

I hate calling here. You're missing the flop 2/3 of the time and have to fold to his cbet. You could hit your Q but might not even have top pair. You can hit your A but AK has your stack.

[johnnyBuz]

I call here. AQo is good enough to put in less than 10% of your stack. I don't like a raise because opp already said he has something and his bet is enough to clear out the deadwood hands. I'd save my raise for the flop if you hit your ace. Good chance your Q is good too, if opp is playing TT or JJ. But you must be good at postflop play and reading strength or weakness to play it like this.

If it was a bigger chunk of your stack, I could find a fold or a push, but given the bet size, stack sizes, and blind level, I like a smooth call here.

Folding AQ to a raise this early with nothing invested is almost always correct.

I hate calling here. You're missing the flop 2/3 of the time and have to fold to his cbet. You could hit your Q but might not even have top pair. You can hit your A but AK has your stack.

Two conflicting, but equally good points.

[drmcboy]

le fold. You're giving the implied odds here, IMO. You either win his raise plus maybe c-bet if you hit, or get owned for half your stack + when you bet/raise the A high flop, he (re)raises and you have to tank it.

I'm much more likely to call here with a 67, esp if I think it will bring the blinds in too. Which is another reason I'm not wild about a call here, 3 or 4 way pot sux.

[GatorJH]

Two days ago I would have made this call in an instant.
However, based on some of the comments here I can certainly see the validity in folding this hand against a raise, even from late position this early in the tournament.

With villian's pre-flop raise, as Wild Bob mentioned, you are certainly in for a continuation bet which would be a tough call unless you hit two pair or a set.

I think I need to go back and reveiew some tournaments to see if this is a leak in my game!!! If I am continuously calling I would consider it a leak. A few calls mixed in with some folds (and steals at the right spot) I am ok with.

[zilch]

I fold most of the time, the rest of the time I would raise. I feel that A raise makes it easier to see where your at if a A falls. I think that calling just leaves you not knowing where you are and more likely to lose your stake to AK.

[GatorJH]

I feel that A raise makes it easier to see where your at if a A falls.

I am not sure that this is true. Villian has already taken a lead in the pot. If you re-raise and get called, what size bet do you call if an A hits the flop and how would this decision differ if you just called?

[konahead]

I agree. Reraising here is a terrible idea. Opp already said he has a hand. If he calls your reraise, what have you learned? That he likes his hand? A lot? He already told you that when he raised 5xbb.

If anything, save your reraise for the flop. You know opp will cont bet here. If an ace hits and he doesn't have an ace, he's not going to throw out a huge bet cuz it's VERY likely that you DO have one. I reraise his small cont bet to see where I am and either take it down or fold to a rereraise/push. But there are enough times that you take it down postflop to make it +EV at the $11s. (at least for me it has been....)

I can see the point about folding preflop. OOP I fold this without a thought. But with position, there's a good enough chance that opp is playing 88-JJ, or getting aggro with AJ-AT, that I think it's worth a call. (I do however believe this would be a big leak at the $33s and up. I play the $11s strictly.)

[Muxy]

I Call here blinds are slow PS low limit players are donks.

hit that flop hard.

pwn his JJ and take his money.