Aces Early.

[celtic]

25/25 Edinburgh. £220 buy in. 25k start stack.

Blinds 50-100. Third hand, so no real info, other than the guy who 3 bets seems to know what he's doing, caller less so. Neither player knows me, as far as I know.

UTG, I make it 250.

UTG+2 makes it 600

CUT OFF calls.

I make it 2075

One fold, cut off calls.

Flop

Do we just bet, bet bet here? If so how much? Any value in checking the flop? We have 

[Ironside]

get it all in cold deck when he flips the pocket and river the SOB

[celtic]

get it all in cold deck when he flips the pocket and river the SOB

So just jam 23k in?

[TL900]

id just plan to bet/bet/jam vs described villian yea, his range is prob pretty TT-QQ heavy so id be a little wary of those cards

3k into 5, 6500 into 11, 13500 into 24 seems good

[TL900]

meh, changed my mind. if hes a monkey who can just have QJs here then checking flop seems cool. checking flop > checking turn imo

[celtic]

Lol, cheers Tom. I've had 4 different conversations about this hand in the last hour and they have all said something different. Thinks it's fairly interesting.

[TL900]

Going back to option 1 cuz I know thats what id do, it sucks when he checks back a street somewhere (which I think he should with basically his entire range that isnt a boat) and we cant get stacks in its not like we look weak even when we check after c4b 3rd hand of a tourney our range is pretttttttttttttttty strong. Maybe people just take off here when you check I'm not too sure. Exploit and bet imo.

[Honeybadger]

If you want to play your range vs his range to maximum effect: bet around 3.5k, then around 6.5k, then jam for last ~13k. This is the most powerful way to play, and it is usually the best.

However, it might not be best right at the start of the tournament. Your opponent may not want to go broke after three hands and so may find some good hero folds if you make it clear you are threatening his entire stack. So you could consider checking a street or betting very small each street, just to let him know only half his stack is at threat. Then take that half stack away from him.

The psychology of it being only three hands into the tournament makes a lot of difference here IMO. I'd try to size villain up, and make some guesses. If I think he has travelled to get here, this is not his local casino etc then I'd probably play to get half his stack. If he looks like a cautious older guy I'd do the same. On the other hand, if it feels like he is a local, he looks comfortable etc then I might choose to go for his entire stack. He's probably got some mates in the casino he can go and tell about how he got his JJ coolered by AA on the third hand, before re-entering ten minutes later.

I would not be cautious about any card peeling off the deck. If he hits a full house with his TT, JJ or whatever then he deserves my chips for making such a skillful outdraw.

[celtic]

Cheers Stu.

Cautious older man. Local casino, seemed pretty spot on at the time. Maybe a bit nervous. Never seen him before, but I don't imagine he plays many 'big' comps.

[shipitgood]

Going to be easy to get it in by river, so i'd play it like HB said.

Was really interesting stuff about the psychology of it being so early in the comp and type of player involved.

Nice post HB!

[Honeybadger]

Cautious older man. Local casino, seemed pretty spot on at the time. Maybe a bit nervous. Never seen him before, but I don't imagine he plays many 'big' comps.

In that case, allow him to keep about half of his stack. He sounds like a nice fellow. So I'd let him know that he does not have to worry since only half his stack is at threat. I'd do this by either betting all three streets small and friendly, or I'd check the flop and then bet turn and river with more greedy sizings.

[Honeybadger]

After a little further thought, don't check the flop. Go for half his stack by bet-bet-betting, using a small sizing. The reason this is superior is because it allows you flexibility to change plans later in the hand. For example, if you get a read. When he calls your flop bet you might get some gut feeling that he has KK/QQ rather than TT/JJ. Or you just get a sense that he is in stubborn and sticky mode and is going all the way. Then you can switch plans and bet bigger to get most of his chips. If you check the flop you don't get that option.

If two lines both seem good then choose the one that retains more future options.

Just to note something. This is such a lovely spot to play, because you do not have to spend ANY energy at all worrying that he has you beaten. If he outdraws you on the turn or river then just be happy for him. This means that every bit of your focus can be on trying to work out how he is feeling. You don't need to plan ahead for various board run outs, you just need to keep your eyes on him and make guesses about how much he is prepared to lose right this second.

[celtic]

If we bet say 2.6k, and he calls, is that better than check calling a similar bet on the flop?

Is checking a mistake because he can check back?

[cambridgealex]

id just plan to bet/bet/jam vs described villian yea, his range is prob pretty TT-QQ heavy so id be a little wary of those cards

3k into 5, 6500 into 11, 13500 into 24 seems good

This for me.

#nomercy

[celtic]

id just plan to bet/bet/jam vs described villian yea, his range is prob pretty TT-QQ heavy so id be a little wary of those cards

3k into 5, 6500 into 11, 13500 into 24 seems good

This for me.

#nomercy

I'll come back to this when stu has replied to the above if that's ok.