Ok, I am pretty sure I biffed here.  I been trying to start doing some 3-betting to mix up my play a bit and follow the advice I have seen in many videos on here.

Villian in this case just moved to the table and I thought it would be a great opportunity to 3-bet him, since he would be more likely to take me serious with no reads on me.

Buy-in $10

Full Tilt Poker $10,000 Guarantee (Early Antes) No Limit Hold'em Tournament – t60/t120 Blinds + t15 – 9 players

TournamentPokerEdge.com Hand History Converter

indigosev (MP1): BB = 36.7, t4408

shyv4s (MP2): BB = 53.6, t6437

tommyT24 (CO): BB = 28.9, t3465

zeedonkus (BTN): BB = 23.0, t2755

ESox05 (SB): BB = 103.9, t12473

Xvenger (BB): BB = 40.9, t4904

BrandSN (UTG): BB = 75.5, t9057

Les Payne (UTG+1): BB = 64.9, t7793

asimhut (UTG+2): BB = 79.0, t9481

Pre Flop: (t315) Xvenger is BB with 9 A

4 folds, shyv4s raises to t323, 3 folds, Xvenger raises to t840, shyv4s calls t517

Flop: (t1875) J 4 4 (2 players)

Xvenger bets t1080, shyv4s requests TIME, shyv4s raises to t4355, Xvenger calls t2969 all in

Turn: (t9973) K (2 players – 1 is all in)

River: (t9973) 5 (2 players – 1 is all in)

This is my first HH post, but don't be easy on me at all.  Let me explain my thinking and where I think I went wrong, and please correct me.

So, looking at this, I think my 3 bet plan was good.  I am not sure if my 3 bet size was good.  It seems like the right size to me or perhaps I should have gone slightly higher with it.

I think my biggest mistake was donk betting the flop.  Perhaps I should have check / shoved there thinking that it is unlikely this flop hit his hand, he may sense weakness and try to pick up the pot, and a raise all-in would represent an overpair, worst case I am drawing to the nut flush and perhaps two live cards.

I am also thinking that when I chose to bet, calling his all in was a mistake, because at that point my pot equity is small and I have 0 fold equity.

EDIT: Wait what am I thinking, I obviously have odds to call… Betting was just bad I think, because I can't fold to that raise with that much in the pot already.

Other thoughts and questions I have:

Is this even a smart thing to do early in a $10 tournament.  I mean, do I just expect my opponent is not going to be smart enough to even understand what my line means?

Should I be just playing ABC poker with an occasional 3-bet and some suited connector raises and calls in late position against TAGs?

I've really been trying to open up my game since joining this site.  I have been basically a Harrington follower as my general game plan, and it has worked decently well, but I am pretty convinced the meta-game has changed a lot since I played poker a few years ago and that I need to adapt as well.