AQ call or fold?

[jasminetomcat]

i'm pretty new to poker, and therefore have lost my shirt a few times at the casino where i play, but the other night i made a couple hundred bucks, despite taking a bad beat when i made a str8 (lost all in) and another big loss when i folded 2nd nut flush to what i was pretty certain was a full house.. point is, i think i played really well that night, and tightening my starting hand requirements was a big part of it.

so, to my question: late in the session, i'm in the big blind, playing 1/2 NL, and this guy who hadn't been playing a lot of hands raises to $17 from UTG + 3 or + 4 - something like that - after a couple of limpers. it's folded around to me, and i have AQ suited - i folded, let my 2 bucks go. at the time, i just didn't want to risk gouging my profit, but afterward i wondered if it was a missed opportunity or good discretion - like, what do i do if i miss the flop? for that matter what do i do if i hit? i didn't really want to get involved in a big pot out of position to a guy who i didn't really have any kind of read on, and for 8.5 times my blind, i thought i'd let it go and wait for a better spot to get a bunch of money in (which i did do later, vs a guy whom i did have a read on, getting my set all in against his str8 draw).

was it a good fold, or not? any analysis welcome

[HalfSugar]

Was 8.5xBB a standard raise at your table? It seems pretty high but if everyone was opening pots for that sort of amount then I guess it doesn't mean too much.

I think the two important factors here are the inactivity of the initial raiser and your position:

1) The fact that the raiser had not played many hands suggests that your AQ may not play too well against his range and therefore it shrinks in value because of this.

2) In the big blind you are out of position and therefore calling a raise with AQ is not good play against a potentially tight player.

Under different circumstances, eg with a less tight raiser and/or if you were on the button or some other late position seat, it might be OK to call or raise in this spot but as described, I think your fold is fine.

[jasminetomcat]

thanks for your reply sugar - you basically confirmed my thought process on that one - 8.5 x BB was indeed a higher than normal raise - $10 or $12 is more typical at that game. i suspected he was going hard with a decent pair. i also considered AK. but the crux of the matter, like you said, was being out of position against a player who seemed to be playing tight. so i wasn't totally out to lunch on that one... yay

[jeffonline]

You will never reach you potential playing with scared money, however that aside, not getting involved when your out of position against a tight player with your limited experience was the correct call.

[ak2009]

I do agree with Jeff. Nice discussion.

[miaowmiaowchowface]

bring more shirts preflop