Only 20 hands on Villain but they were 47/17 so most likely loose.

I believe we are ahead of their range on that board and we can make AQ, AK to fold by shoving the turn.

What line would you take and what sizing?

PokerStars, $0.45 + $0.05 - Hold'em No Limit - 125/250 (25 ante) - 7 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: 5,802 (23 bb)
MP: 4,176 (17 bb)
MP+1: 6,098 (24 bb)
CO: 3,005 (12 bb)
BU: 5,491 (22 bb)
SB: 1,991 (8 bb)
BB (Hero): 7,448 (30 bb)

Pre-Flop: (550) Hero is BB with 6♣ A♣
UTG raises to 500, 5 players fold, Hero calls 250

Flop: (1,300) 7♣ 3♠ 9♥ (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets 500, Hero calls 500

Turn: (2,300) 2♣ (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets 750, Hero raises to 5,250, UTG calls 4,027 (all-in)

River: (11,854) J♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: 11,854

Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows 6♣ A♣ (high card, Ace)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 56%, Flop: 19%, Turn: 27%, River: 0%)

UTG shows Q♠ 9♠ (a pair of Nines)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 44%, Flop: 81%, Turn: 73%, River: 100%)

UTG wins 11,854

For me, I would not have called the flop bet. On the turn since we are in, the over-bet doesn't make sense when you have so many BB and not a made hand. Just call and see the river for cheap. The Villain can't put you on a flush draw really.

Preflop
I am fine defending this hand against a mini-raise. We just need to be aware of potential kicker domination, if we flop top pair, and be prepared to fold at some point.

Flop
You basically missed the flop with just a bad ace high and some backdoor potential. Against tight and “honest” players I would just give up and let it go. Against someone, who C-bet the flop to much, I might turn this hand into a bluff and check-raise him on a board, where he should have missed a lot.

Sure I have basically nothing, but if he folds to much, because his range is full of junk, it will still be a profitable bluff. If I get jammed on, I can fold with no regrets. If he open to many hands but only C-bet strong, donk leading could also be an option. Check-calling out of position is my least favourite play here. Your hand is just simply not good enough.

Turn
When people continue to bet on the turn, it is typically more weighted towards a strong hand than a flop C-bet. This is especially the case in tournaments due to ICM and stack size issues. With 23BB to start the hand, he can ill afford to make an advanced multi street bluff. At the same time he is committed with top pair or better.

So while it is normally better to bluff with some kind of equity, in this situation stacks are simply to short for a turn check-raise to be effective. He is giving you a good price, so folding is not an option, now that you picked up some real equity. Therefore I would check-call with intentions to lead the river, if I make a flush.

Preflop is fine. I think your check/call on the flop is bad. Fold.

Nice line!

The flop call isn't too out of line given the double backdoor draws along with ace-high. As played, the turn check-shove is great. His small sizing looks weak and we have at least 18% equity when called -- on average higher equity than this since the three aces are partial outs.

So I like this hand a lot

Originally Posted by Collin Moshman

Nice line!

The flop call isn't too out of line given the double backdoor draws along with ace-high. As played, the turn check-shove is great. His small sizing looks weak and we have at least 18% equity when called -- on average higher equity than this since the three aces are partial outs.

So I like this hand a lot

I respectfully disagree with this analysis. I feel that the hero became a victim of "tricky play syndrome" here, and would have been much better off either folding pre-flop or on the flop. As the tournament progresses and the hero gets a better read on the dynamic of the table, he can open it up a bit. I think this play was careless and spewey.

Its exploitative alright...we exploited ourselves! This is a bad line on the turn with one card to come. This is my take on the situation.
Preflop is fine I dont mind the call whatsoever. Normally I would advocate for a 3bet in this spot but we are too short and the raise came from early position so generally bad idea to be 3betting this spot in particular.

The flop is very dry and uncoordinated - if we are going to check/raise this is the street for us to do it on where it shouldn't hit much of an early position raise opening range - we have no pair, A hi and some backdoor draws that may allow us to barrel other streets but the X/R move on the flop is intended to take the pot down now when it is one that favors our range more than the raiser.

As it is we call flop - which I do not like but nonetheless we get to see a turn which is a club. Villan bets again which should indicate some level of strength and we decide to jam....why? Are we jamming for value or jamming as a bluff? If we are jamming for value what worse hands are calling? (None!!) And if we are bluffing - what better hands can we get to fold? Would our villan fold A9 here? TT+? Probably not, right? So we just botch this hand and take ourselves straight to value town. Players do this all the time - it's a bad habit and one to be avoided at the lower levels. Maybe as you move up into higher buy ins thinking players will fold to these odd actions, but not the general micro player pool. You have to think before you take an action!

If we stuck around to peel one more - which I dont advise but it's better than raising - and then when we brick the river - I like a lead out for about 1.5x pot...in this specific case we are jamming but the concept is the same...think about it, T8 gets there, maybe you were slow playing a monster the whole time, JT makes top pair, etc....point is now all 9x hands feel like they are in rough shape, TT and pairs under that did not make a set don't feel too good either. When we call two streets, brick everything and then take this line on the river, I like it a whole lot more - it looks super strong and I think we get a ton of folds. Even when we do get called it's not for our entire stack (tho in this case it would be). If we get raised we can just snap fold and move on as well.

Originally Posted by Collin Moshman

Nice line!

The flop call isn't too out of line given the double backdoor draws along with ace-high. As played, the turn check-shove is great. His small sizing looks weak and we have at least 18% equity when called -- on average higher equity than this since the three aces are partial outs.

So I like this hand a lot

The writer of the SNG book that introduced me into studying poker actually likes my play.

That's an ego boost if I ever saw one, so no other replies are necessary thanks guys.

Joking aside I understand why most people are against taking that line and thank you all for the insightful replies.

Defend big blind with A6s is correct.
Opponent didin't hit the flop but he can have here a lot of overpairs like TT+ and even sets with 77 and 99 (with deuces probably make fold)
I like call to c-bet because of arguments above.
What did you do on the turn? You have only flush draw and perfect potodds to se the river (750 to 2300 to win 3000 is like 1:4) only call nothing else.
Your move was without sense, turn doesn't change anything.
Every sets you play check - call, two pairs you play check - call here and lead on the river often.

Originally Posted by jordanbillie

I respectfully disagree with this analysis. I feel that the hero became a victim of "tricky play syndrome" here, and would have been much better off either folding pre-flop or on the flop. As the tournament progresses and the hero gets a better read on the dynamic of the table, he can open it up a bit. I think this play was careless and spewey.

Flop we can call because we better the some bluffs by opponent (KJ, KT, KQ etc)