AJ sooted utg with low blinds???

[soccerfreakjj10]

my friend and i had a little disagreement on whether or not to play AJ suited utg middle stacked 8 handed with low blinds green mzone in a 9 player sit and go (8 handed).

I would say to not play it because feel that there are very few flops in which you have an easy decision

if the ace comes then you have to be worried that a caller has a higher ace.

if the jack comes with a K or Q also a very tough decision.

two diamonds would be okay but you would need to invest a lot of chips early to chase the draw too.

in this case he (royalburrito24) missed and lost even more chips trying to take it down.

thoughts???

here is the hand

full tilt poker Game #4201940116: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (31891127), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:38:40 ET - 2007/11/17
Seat 1: F15-Eagles (1,060)
Seat 2: royalburrito24 (1,435)
Seat 3: SameKidWon (1,900)
Seat 4: adidasrounder22 (1,075)
Seat 5: po-max (1,435)
Seat 6: Chasin Ethan (2,785)
Seat 7: invisionN (1,440)
Seat 8: beaverpapa (2,370)
beaverpapa posts the small blind of 25
F15-Eagles posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
DEALT TO ROYALBURRITO Ad Jd
royalburrito24 raises to 150
SameKidWon folds
adidasrounder22 folds
po-max calls 150
Chasin Ethan folds
invisionN folds
beaverpapa folds
F15-Eagles folds
*** FLOP *** [9d 6h 8c]
royalburrito24 checks
po-max checks
*** TURN *** [9d 6h 8c] 2♣
royalburrito24 bets 175
po-max has 15 seconds left to act
po-max raises to 500
royalburrito24 folds
Uncalled bet of 325 returned to po-max
po-max wins the pot (725)

 

[royalburrito24]

im royalburrito by the way


and i say thats a perfectly fine raise, and i didnt want to c-bet into a dry board like that, and when he checked behind me i figured monster or whiff, and i bet to see which one

 

[jaketrevvor]

Yeah this bet is fine after the usually weak check behind you. The only trouble is that you probably would have bet a big pair on the flop and unless you were slowplaying a set the villain might realise that your high ace is uniproved after the 2 falls on the turn. So it's quite easy for him to make a play here.

 

[soccerfreakjj10]

i agree with you there

the bet was fine on the turn for the given situation but i still feel he could have avoided this situation all together by throwing away the mediocre ace preflop.

or at least call, but definately not raise.

 

[royalburrito24]

limping utg with a mediocre hand is a worse play than raising, that is for sure

 

[soccerfreakjj10]

not according to

harrington on holdem

 

[royalburrito24]

plz quote the book if you can

 

[jaymfc]

I would have c-bet the flop to see if he had anything while he wondered how strong you were , after the check I'm sure he put you on high cards and knew he could steal it. possible but not probable you raised pf utg with the 7 10 or any pr that makes a set . also not likely you slow play a high pr with the flop having a str8 possible .

OK whats Harrington got to say ?

 

[soccerfreakjj10]

here is the quote

sry if my comment sounded flip i know royalburrito quite well plays in my home games... and I nearly busted him last time hehe

you are utg +1 middle stacked early in a major tournament

"your hand: AJ of spades

action to you: Player A folds

Question: Do you fold, call, or raise?

Answer: As a practical matter, you should call with this hand. Theoretically, it's not quite strong enough to play in such an early position. But there are weak players in the early rounds of touraments that it's not a bad strategy to see a few cheap flops with marginal hands, just to see if you can catch something and maybe double up."

he continues..."Raising is a mistake unless the table has been so quiet that you think there's a good chance you may buy the pot. When you play ace-jack from early position, your goal is to see a cheap flop and evaluate, not to build a big pot before you actually have anything"

I also read this section after my post, but i think it answers my question pretty thoroughly

That quote is from Harrington on Hold 'em Volume I: Strategic Play

A MUST READ for any serious no limit hold 'em tournament players

 

[WVHillbilly]

nevermind...wrong thread.

 

[ellisman7]

hmm, i would have bet after royal checked, just to see if he had anything. i like to do this to see if someone has anything or if they are just trying to keep me from stealing the blinds.