Did I get unlucky or did I play it badly?

[GeordieGaz]

Tournament and Situation Was playing at Aspers last night in the £20+2 freezeout. I've hit the final table with around 75k in chips (avg 35k) and I'm 2nd in chips with the 9 players remaining. I've had an unbelieveable run of cards... AA 3 times, KK twice, QQ, AK 3 times.... so obviously I'd have been disappointed if I didn't have around the stack that I had. I'm feeling good.. playing well (well, tourney is playing itself with the cards I'm getting)... the payout structure is top heavy (1st = £600, 2nd = £400, 8th = £70, 9th = £50)... so I have a strategy to just go for the win, usually I'm happy to ladder up but I always go out in 5th, 6th etc... I really wanted the win this time. 2nd Hand in on the final table I pick up 77 in the small blind (blinds 1500/3000)... UTG+1 has pushed all in for 11,500 total... It folds round to me and I call whilst the BB folds... I'm up against AJ and the jack hits the flop so I lose that hand.... not too disappointed as I've already had a good run of cards and was expecting to take a hit. Main Hand Pre-Flop It folds round to me in the cut-off (stack 62k, blinds have just went up to 2k/4k).... I have :Ac: :5h: ..... I try to take the blinds with a raise to 10k but I am called by the BB (chip leader with around 80k)..... Flop The flop brings :7h: :9c: :As: ..... it is checked to me so I bet out 11k, the BB tanks before calling. Turn :Ad: ..... I'm happy, I'm not putting him on an Ace, think he may have a 9 or a 7, not many draws out there so after he checks to me I fire out a 13k bet (around 1/4 of the pot)..... he tanks again and calls River :6h: ...... he reaches for his chips almost instantly and quickly bets out 20k ...... I look at the board and try to work out what he has.... has he got the house?... has he got the straight (8, 10)?.... the more I'm thinking about it the more I think he's bluffing... I only have 28k left after putting in 35k, the pot is 90k and I've got trips..... I just can't bring myself to lay it down because of whats already in the middle so I call only to find that he's hit his straight on the river with :8d: :Tc: Analysis I can't work it out whether I played this hand well or not, Maybe I shouldn't have been in the pot at all with a trash hand like A5? I deffo should have bet more on the turn but knowing the player I think he would have called unless it was over 20k..... so should I have just pushed then? Has villain been very fishy by calling my bets all the way to the river? (that was my initial thought but as I think about it more, I think I may have given him perfect odds to call to hit his draw) It's really bugging me this hand, I really want to learn from this and maybe I need to make my bet sizes bigger in future but any comments thoughts would be greatly appreciated. How it Ended I had 8k left and dbld up almost immediately with KQ, I then pushed my 16k stack in a few hands later with :As: :6s: and got called by the same guy who had the monster :Kh: :6d: ..... flop :Ad: :7d: :Jd: ..... :2d: ...... four card flush.... night night, god bless, 8th for £70 and VERY disappointed!

[happyhornet]

Re: Did I get unlucky or did I play it badly? Pre flop: A5 is good enough for a steal from the cut-off. In essence you are attempting to win without a struggle so do the cards matter per se? Flop: i think your bet is fine there. There is an argument for a bigger (16k) bet but it is unlikely he has an Ace, and there seems only a limited chance of a draw there. Turn: You've hit trips and many people would have checked behind hoping to induce a bluff on the river. You've bet out to look weak and induce a call. Had you bet out more he may have folded his draw but if he did have Q9 he wouldn't calla pot sized bet. River: I can't blame you for looking him up, He could have had Q9 or JJ and was convinced that you didnt have an Ace and bet out. I think his play is ok pre-flop. He suspects you don't have a hand, but wouldn't he be better off re-raising rather than playing OOP? With an open ended draw, you gave him reasonable odds to call on the flop, but on the turn with a paired board and only 8 outs maximum, i think that is a dodgy call personally. I wouldn't beat yourself up over it Gaz, i think you were mostly just unlucky IMO:ok