I think you firstly let the pot get out of control by letting him take control of it. Raise or check-raise to get an idea of where you are in the pot on the flop, by milking the pot it just means it gets bigger until eventualy you "have to call" as you are getting such good odds.

Many players over-think and become quite self obsessed, trying suibtile little plays that noone is picking up on, particuly at these sort of levels. Its a good idea to be mindful on how others are perceving your play but don't try and project an image onto the table. You mention how you are playing but not how was he playing, which I thionk illistrates this point perfectly. Raising 4 out of 6  hands  is pretty aggressive but you might have just had good cards, he had possition over you so calling with 89 after he puts you on a high pair gives great expect value if he hits. Without raising it plays right into his hands, without definition on the hand it means its much hard to get away from.

Any two cards can win in Holdem, it also means any one person can win, the secreat is not only winning money but also not lossing money too. Although it seems conter intuitive, intelligent raising saves you money.

I cann't see much with your move, I think I would have done much the same thing (or possibly call-pushed but only if the cercumstances were right). The push with 7,7s is particuly agressive but not nessisarily wrong, unless you have AA you should probly have to think about calling all your chips off and with your actual holding I don't think I would have called. This would also depend on the type of player she was, had you seen here do this type of play before with ace-x? If I had seen her make this type of move with high cards then I would be more likely to call, AK is only strong when the other player has an ace also. If they have a pair at best your under 50% to win (less if they have KK or AA), you're not in a weak position as far as chips are concerned if you fold.

In answer to your questions, I think her move was a bold one and your call was a gamble, although previous play could change this opion.

I think reducing tables so they are short handed would be a great idea and to be fair the casino in Cardiff do tend to keep the tables so they have 6 - 8 players (depending on stage of the tournament) which keep it ticking along. Saying this it dosen't stop the play slowing down by the late mid stages / late stage you still get a lot of all-in moves ect. The vast majority of tournaments I've played in have been self delt (the only exeption being the APAT, which has abuy-in under £200 and a great structure which probly explains why its so hard to get a seat) whilst playing self delt with novices is a slow when you get used to dealing it seems to be quick. Last night I noticed we were dealing a hand about every 2 miniutes, how do you think this compares to dealer delt hand rates? Hard for me to comapre as I'm generaly only used to dealers at the final table.

 I rember reading somewhere about a structure that was pot limit preflop and no limit post flop, this seemed a sensible structure that would stop players pushing pre flop but maintained the thrill of no limit post flop.

I think if you were calling off all your chips here it would be a hard choice but as you still have a nice stack left if you loose and given the player your up agaisnt I agree there is no point holding back here. Its one of the those chioces you feel stupid when it dosen't come off but a king when it dose, you just have stop yourself from making any stupid mistakes when your stilli in the game but lost a big hand.

I'm by no means an expert, infact I play little online poker but I do reguly play live poker tournamnets. I think firstly you should pay less attension to the average stack amount and more to your ratio of stack to blinds/antis, Harringotn givesa a far betterexplantion than I ever could but the average stack isn't all that applicable to standard tournaments as the ratio stack ratio is (first get used to calculating yours then everyone else). I'm not saying ignor the average but as Harington explains it as the average ass the "weak force" and the stack/blinds as the "strong force".

1/ I'm not a big fan of showing cards, I will do if I have a very good reason, if you think showing aces is likely to get more action then go ahead, I could be wrong but I think it will mean more caution agaisnt you not less (which is what you want presumably).

2/ I don't think this call is a great move, there are so many hands out there you are behind and so many more your either 50/50 with or along way behind. A table image has little do with your ability to call, only as other perseve you, its factored into thier thought prosess, all it means is that others will start seeing you as looser, so the image you have built up becomes erroded. Far better to use a loose TAG image to try and steal.

3/Should you play SnGs? Its a disision that only you can make, I think it depends on why you play poker. If you play it becasue you want to earn some money (either as a second income or as a pro) stick to what makes you money or set some asside to "invest" in learning a new and potentialy profitable game. If (like me) its a hobby that happens to involve money, you enjoy the challenge and if you make money at the end of the year great (that's not to say I don't strive to win and improve).

Hope this helped, let me know if you disagree with any of what I've said, this is what I belive, I want to know if I'm wrong. Cheers, good luck.

On some days I'd fold now (I don't know your stack sizes but I'm guessing its fairly deep stacked so there will be plenty of play left if you pass) on others I'd take the bet as saying "I don't have a great hand, I want this pot now". If there was just the two of you left a call could be an option (particuly if you both have few thousand left at this stage, if he's drawing he'll find it much harder to call the turn if a brick comes down) but as there is another player I think its either raise or fold. I'm feeling aggressive today so I'd say go for it, if he's hit trips you have loads of outs, if he's drawing you have a made hand and he has to get lucky. The only reason I think you can be conservative is if there is plenty of play left, otherwise raise.

Personally I think its a preflop raise. A minium rasie to me is a week play, only week players or strong players playing week would min raise, as your playing in a $3 rebuy its likley to be the former option. The call from the button can mean a wide variety if things (depending on the player) but without furthur knowledge I'd say he could be playing anything upto 50% of hands. So a weak bet and a weak call (by this I mean he has a wide variety), this is a perfect place to pull a squeeze play (as described by Harrington, one player raises the next call, your last to act ie if you call the betting ends).

As your the BB its only 2,000 to call and as you say your getting good odds (although not not a +EV as what will you do if you don't fill-up? you'll probly fold), a 6 comes down but with 2 suited cards. I think at this point you have two options, you either go all-in with your last 14,000 this gives the wrong odds to call (although as both have, particuly the pre-flop aggrssor more chips than you so they might still call, the second is more likely to call to a draw if the first one calls first) the second option is to check and look to get a "free card" so you can bet on the turn if a non club comes out. The problem with checking is what to do if someone bets now, do you call or not? You are almost definatly in front here so I'd call and hope he (or they) don't hit.

Of the three option I like the all-in on the flop the most, although if you call I think you should have moved all-in straight away on the flop.

I'm confussed here, there are 6 player left, 5 seats up for grabs, only one more needs to be knocked out, surely it's the perfect situation to be putting your bollocks on the line. I belive 6,5s is the best hand to be going in against aces, I cann't imagin anyone has a hand like this, both are likley to have a big ace or pair, both of which you dominate. As you only need to beat one of them (UTG), to garantee your place a call here seems mandatory, as long as the shortest stack dosen't win the main pot and UTG win the side pot your laughing, even then your still in with a shout.

Sometimes I'll make a bet on the river to get some more money in the pot, on occasions this will be the minium. Isn't there a play in one of Harrington books (I assume it must be in the chapter on bluffing) where he describes the "post-oak bluff" where you put in the minium amount on the river to represent a big hand when in fact you have bugger all?

Normally I'm not a fan of AK, it is normally a very tricky hand to play and seems to realy come into its own to battle against the forces of evil blind stealers (more often than not far more useful in the latter stages of a tournamnet than initally). owever from the situation described it sounds like the SB has half a hand and is fed up with the button's aggresive betting so is making a stand. I put him on a big enough hand range that I'm unlikley to be much less than 50-50 if the button folds, which I would expect him to.

I cann't see why you would want to even continplate calling this hand. With two pairs on the board there could easily be a FH, there also three cards to a flush, ok he might be bluffing, the 1,200 all-in into roughly a 400 pot seems a bit steep, I cann't see this being a full-on bluff, I don't think he has the lock hand but I'd be amased if he has one worse than yours. If he has, then good on him, sit-back and wait for him to deliver all his chip on another hand when you are in a stronger.

I agree with stewart, why check the flop and make it free for him to hit a hand which could be stronger than yours? I would have made a standard continuation size bet (half to 3/4 the pot), he might miss this but others on the table might not, making it easier to bluff later on. When the othe nine hits I would have been a bit warry, I might even give up the hand at this point to a bet, although I could well have bet / raised (if the bet looked week). The problem here is of course is you have built a nice sized pot which makes it hard to fold to a river bet regardless of what comes down (unless it a K where you definatly cann't fold).

I like boldie's idea here, another argument for the raise is there is about 1,200 in the pot, the raise of 800 would be a standard continuation sized bet. What would people think of a call here and raise on the turn?

I'd generally push, a standard raise and if someone calls leaves you too short stacked, can you call a ragged flop and if you raise have you got enough back to push them off? If there are players who like to raise an unoped pot(particuly if they are late to act) then I call/raise.

Initaly I thought fold, when a tight player reraises its often a sign he's got something. But then I thought out of matter of interest how is your table image? Have you beeb caught bluffing lately or have you layed-down a hand when you were reraised? Just becasue he's a tight player dosen't mean he wont bluff or semi-bluff, he could well have seen this as you making a move and now he sees and opertunity to take the pot. Push.

I'm suspisious of his minium raise but then he could have multitude of reasonable starting hands, it all depends on how much more you know about him.

a) I think the problem is calling here you now have a massive pot with crap cards (the pot will be 110,000 you have around 90,000 left) so its going to be difficult to let go, particuly if you catch a part of it, so I would fold and look for a better place.

b) QQ is a hppier holding, whilst not great cards I would seriously think about pushing here, I like to play good hands aggresivly becasue it disguses when I play bad hands aggresivly so I would push here. I might think about calling then looking at the flop then moving on the flop if no ace apears, if an ace apears, if he checks, is he the type of player to trap with an ace in the pocket? If he raises with a ragged flop is he likely to be making a continuation bet with smaller pp? The all-in pre-flop releaves you of any complcated questions.

c) I think AK is a definate push, ok he might have AA or KK and if he dose you got unlucky. He might have a smaller pocket pair in which case if he calls its a 50/50 race but he's also quite likely to have an A with a smaller kicker. If he dose have an A then realy you want to call and hope an A hits (or you get a ragged flop he buffs with) in which case you double up but I don't think you can be that specific. Push all-in, you pick-up a nice pit and some momentum if you take it there and then, if he calls you I still think you will be ahead more than your behind.