Agree with above posters. I don't think your line before river is bad, but I could see playing most decision points differently. IMO there's a case for:

3bet pre-flop

bet larger on flop

check turn

Checking turn is the only one I feel strongly about. I think T9/98/97 are all quite likely to take this line, so although there may be some hands you can get value from, there are also some you can lose value to. I doubt you're a big favorite against the range that puts money in against you, and getting check-raised is a disaster even if V has the goods 100% of the time.

I don't think your river logic really makes sense either. You're talking about how he can't shove a straight because you might have a full house meanwhile you're considering calling with one pair.

“The ONLY reason I am flatting with this hand at 10/20 is to hit my nut flush so i can stack my opponent.”

Then just fold pre, because it’s pretty damn hard to make a flush, and when you do it’s pretty damn hard to stack someone with it.

“i hate the donk lead”

The preflop raiser checked.

“if this is a thinking opponent, I beleive he is flatting it becasue he has a monster and wants to punish you because you’re just the type of opponent who he believes cannot get away from tptk at 10/20. And if he has a premium like JJ+ and he raises on this wet a board, then what do you do?”

Hero will have the best hand very often here. All of your arguments are about why it sucks to bet into hands that are better than yours, which of course is true, but you’re ignoring the value of betting into weaker hands. It’s pretty hard to make a strong hand, and you shouldn’t just go around assuming your opponents always have them.

mikewebb68 said:

Foucalt, so you are advocating that a player who has presumably already splashed around in pots early to the tune of having already lost 24 bbs at the 10/20 level should be playing trouble hands like A-10 aggressively this early in the tournament? I can understand why YOU might want to be involved in the hand, but, imo that logic does not necessarily apply to players whose postflop skills might not be as strong as yours. And why would we lead out large into two players on the flop on a wet board this early?

Mike,

I don't know why you are so focused on those 24bb as though they indicate some mistake. It's entirely possible to play perfectly and lose 24bb or even much more in level one. I would contend that if you're going to play ATs, you ought to play it aggressively or not at all. Calling isn't a compromise, like “I raise my strong hands and call my medium strength ones”, especially not from middle position. You're going to make a flush draw a lot more often than you make a flush, and when you make a flush draw, you want to be able to play aggressively.

As for the flop, it's not really leading out, the PFR has already checked. The fact that the board is wet is the reason to bet larger, as there are more opportunities to get a large bet called by hands you are beating.

If it's less good than another option, it's a mistake in my book. I agree calling is better than folding, but you should always be looking for the most profitable option. Why would you only merge your range late in the tournament? It's always seemed strange to me that aggressive 3-betting is so common among the best cash game players, and yet so rare in the early stages of MTTs, which really ought to play quite similar to a cash game.