First time I've played against this Villain, fourth hand of the STT.
Looking back I'm not sure what I was doing, or should have been doing, when Villain donks the flop. As played I think I should have shoved the turn.
What would you do when V. shoves the river, are there any non-Queen hands in his range then? And through the rest of the hand? All feedback is appreciated!

PokerStars, $3.11 + $0.39 - Hold'em No Limit - 10/20 (3 ante) - 9 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: 1,525 (76 bb)
UTG+1: 1,585 (79 bb)
MP: 1,488 (74 bb)
MP+1 (Hero): 1,478 (74 bb)
LP: 1,674 (84 bb)
CO: 1,438 (72 bb)
BU: 1,379 (69 bb)
SB: 1,428 (71 bb)
BB: 1,505 (75 bb)

Pre-Flop: (57) Hero is MP+1 with A♠ A♦
3 players fold, Hero raises to 60, 2 players fold, BTN calls 60, 1 fold, BB calls 40

Flop: (217) 4♥ 7♠ Q♥ (3 players)
BB bets 109, Hero raises to 218, BU folds, BB calls 109

Turn: (653) 4♣ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets 400, BB calls 400

River: (1,453) Q♦ (2 players)
BB bets 824 (all-in)

Preflop
Standard raise. I also use 3BB in the first blind level of 75BB SnGs. From the second blind level I go to 2,5BB.

Flop
This is a great flop for aces, because its quite likely, someone can have top pair, and its highly unlikely, someone can have two pair. Of course if they are fish, anything is possible, but if someone can have Q7 or Q4, then they can also have Q5, Q6, Q8 and Q9, and they are likely taking those top pair bad kicker hands way to far. So even though we are somewhat deep here and against two opponents, I am willing to play for stacks with AA, unless the board runs out unfavourable.

For that reason I like your decision to raise. I dont particular love the sizing though. You min-raised, which let BTN get away easily from any marginal hands, and it gave BB 4:1 on a call. If he had a flushdraw, this is correct odds to draw even to a single card, and you want him to make a mistake, if he continue.

So I would go larger here, which also makes it look more like, you could be bluffing. Spend a few seconds pretending, you are thinking about it, and then make it 400 chips to go. That will create a pot of roughly 1.000, if he call, and then you can just shove the rest in on a clean turn card. This is a great line, if he has a draw, because then he is paying you on the flop, and he will be forced to fold on the turn.

It also helps you create a "maniac" or "bully" image, which can be beneficial later in the tournament, even if you dont get action now. So avoid those cute little min-raises and dont be scared to play fast, when you almost certainly have the best hand. Yeah someone could have 44 or 77, but its much more likely, they dont, and we cant live in constant fear of those (set) monsters under the bed.

Turn
Another pretty good card for you. None of the draws completed, now there are only 4 combos of flopped sets (because QQ 3-bet pre), and if he somehow had Q7, now you beat that hand as well. As played I like your bet and sizing. You made it a 3 street hand, and this sizing sets it up perfectly for a river shove.

River
Worst possible card and action, and as a default I would fold. Its possible, that he could be bluffing with a busted draw, but you have shown a lot of strength in the hand, and you could very easily have a Q, in which case bluffing into that would be totally suicidal. You dont have any info on the guy, and in my experience, as a population read in games like this, he is not bluffing 30% of the time. So I would find a bucket, puke, and then lay down those aces. Being able to make a fold like this is part of, what separate the winners and losers in the micros.

Thank you so much fundiver, your feedback is always very enlightening to me.
I called the river, justifying it by convincing myself he should/would have some bluffs in his range there. But you've given me some clearer ideas on why it was unlikely he was bluffing and I was not at all surprised when he showed the Q and I lost. I'm sure you're correct that these spots can really make a difference to my win-rate, next time I'll have a bucket to hand and I'll get away!

I think he would have called whatever your turn bet would have been. So it's a cooler, but the river call is a no no. Pretty clear he has a queen, so you have to get the strength to fold and move on.

Originally Posted by Badday94

I think he would have called whatever your turn bet would have been. So it's a cooler, but the river call is a no no. Pretty clear he has a queen, so you have to get the strength to fold and move on.

Thanks for your feedback. That's what I had thought re: the turn. And I think you're correct; at the river it's quite clear he has the Q. Hopefully I can get away next time.

I would’ve raised the flop bigger and basically commit on the turn. Or just call the flop, either call or bet if he checks the turn. The way its played, I would fold the river since you are repping a Q.

The click back raise on the flop accomplishes little of nothing - I like the raise, but we need to go larger when we are deep like this - we want to build the pot to stack out villans as much as possible here - I would raise to 350 and overbet jam turn - I would do this with a mix of flushdraw combos as a semi bluff, all my sets and overpairs as value - and the Q is never folding anyhow, so we just get to stack villans a TON here. Calling on the river is semi justified...but at the same time, it's a HORRIBLE card for us and we essentially have a bluff catcher. I would consider folding AA on the river here. Our villans just dont have as many river bluffs as they should here and more often than not, this is always a value bet.

After the flop and the bet/call to the raise, I think that he has hitted something, at the turn he checks and shows that the flush draw doesn't matter to him and the bet at the river may be for value

Originally Posted by LuisBoaC

Thank you so much fundiver, your feedback is always very enlightening to me.
I called the river, justifying it by convincing myself he should/would have some bluffs in his range there. But you've given me some clearer ideas on why it was unlikely he was bluffing and I was not at all surprised when he showed the Q and I lost. I'm sure you're correct that these spots can really make a difference to my win-rate, next time I'll have a bucket to hand and I'll get away!

You can think about ICM in early game too