I was just reviewing some of my hands from previous sessions and came across a situation that got me thinking. I’m going to post the hand below and then discuss what I discovered. Feel free to correct, add-to, or comment. Here it is:

WPN, 30/60 blinds No Limit Hold’em Tournament, 8 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager – The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

SB: 8,426 (140.4 bb)
BB: 7,389 (123.2 bb)
UTG+2: 1,838 (30.6 bb)
MP1: 5,391 (89.9 bb)
MP2: 2,500 (41.7 bb)
MP3: 4,350 (72.5 bb)
Hero (CO): 2,870 (47.8 bb)
BTN: 2,470 (41.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q K
4 folds, Hero raises to 120, BTN folds, SB calls 90, BB folds

Flop: (300) 2 K 7 (2 players)
SB bets 225, Hero calls 225

Turn: (750) A (2 players)
SB bets 375, Hero calls 375

River: (1,500) 9 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Results: 1,500 pot
Final Board: 2 K 7 A 9
SB showed T K and lost (-720 net)
Hero showed Q K and won 1,500 (780 net)

 I came to the conclusion that by calling from the SB here you really cap your range. On the flop, it seems like villain can’t have AK and at best has KQ which we aren’t worried about. That leaves KJ, KT and maybe K9s that we can really extract maximum value from. If he always 3-bets AK preflop its obvious that we are way ahead on the flop. I think I could have put in a flop raise or bet the river. I think I definitely missed some value here. The turn is scary for both of us so a raise would make the most sense on the flop or bet the river after villain checks. I’m thinking on the flop of a raise to something like 675-725 range. What do you guys think about this sizing? Would you agree or bet smaller/bigger. Or would a call make more sense? I realize there are a few hands that V could have that we are behind on but not many. I think if we go for value this looks like one of the best spots to squeeze out a few more chips. On the river it’s a bit dicey and clearly I froze up a little bit but what do you think is the biggest I could bet (assuming we didn’t raise the flop) to get a call from worse hands here? I think somewhere between 500-750 but IDK maybe we could go bigger?