when to bet a draw in a tournament?

[Petoria 0]

I'm going to play tournaments exclusively for about a week and see how I come out. Here's a common situation that i run into, I'll give you a few variations of it, that will hopefully further our knowledge of the game:Hand 1: Hero K 9 Blinds are 100/200 I have about 4500 in front of me. Table is tight since we're all looking to make the final table. I raise preflop to 600 from MP1, only caller is the SB with about 3500 in front of him b4 the call.Flop: A 4 6 SB checks to me, Hero???????My thinking here is that i should try to take it down right there, and hopefully represent an A, but if he has an A will he raise me out and take away my draw?Hand 2: Hero K 9 Blinds are 100/200 I have about 4500 in front of me. Table is tight since we're all looking to make the final table. This time i get 2 callers SB and button. SB has 3500 at the start of the hand. Button has 5200 at the start of the hand.Flop: Q 8 2 SB checks to me, Hero?????Do i have to lead out to represent the Q bc the button is left to act? If I do not act, the button will push with many more hands that completely destroys any information i could get out of him. I can't afford to waste chips chasing a draw, can I? The bet the button would make if i check has to be around 450 or so, to make it correct to see the turn, right? That way I don't have to consider negative implied odds of calling another bet on the turn if i miss. Any bet could cost me a good portion of my chip stack, and make me almost pot committed with just a draw. Advice in each situation.

[Guest XXEddie]

this is VERY unorthodox but since everyone wants to make final tablehand one: put SB allin, hell fold A-low xhand 2: check-raise

[highstackpoker 0]

Interesting...Take what I say with a grain of salt as I don't really play too many tourneys, simply because party is my main site and well...we all know the structure their sucks so...Anyways, in the first hand, I think a bet is almost mandatory, a nice solid continuation bet at this pot will more than likely take it down. What you're afraid of is getting CR'd by the sb and not allowing you to draw at your hand...but put it this way, you check, you're opponent may well bet out on the turn with middle pocket pairs here or even just KQo thinking your weak...forcing you to lay your hand down there to when you may have won it. You just simply can't be afraid of being checkraised, especially when you're heads up, have a great draw, have shown the most strength so far and your opponent has shown none...checking here in the long run i suspect would be - EV. Betting here, about 1/2 pot here i think will surely be +EV. Plus, it depends highly on your opponent. Is he a weak player who is likely to call your pf raise out of position with weak hands? or did he need at least AJ or something to make the cold call...also is he aggressive and tricky? if he's tricky and fairly aggressive, you may be better off taking the free card. On average though, i suspect that betting here is by far the best play. As for the second hand...a bet again in my opinion is probably a really good idea...simply because if noone has the Q, then you'll most likely pick up the pot, and EVEN IF they do, you're about even money with them to win the pot with your flush draw and K over card, given that they don't have KQ (obviously)...In poker, people miss their hands way more often than they hit them, right...thats no news to anyone, so what i think is that it is really important to fire again at the flop making a continuation bet since it will pick up the pot more than its fair share of times. Tricky stuff though. Good luck at the tables.

[krup24 0]

Hand 1 -> Bet at least pot (now you are committed)Hand 2-> Being that you have an overcard as well as high flush draw I would fire at it about 1000 bet to avoid allowing button to take it down with a similar bet

[bannedit 0]

This hand is tricky in both situations. The first hand you have too options and it really depends on your previous play and read of your opponent. If you think the flop missed them completely a bet here would be fine. However, I also thing a check would be fine as well. The only problems I see for the check is the possible bluff bet on the turn. If the turn is a small card your probably still safe to call and chase your draw.Hand two, with two people in the pot I'd say check is the better option. You might get the free card your looking for and you can also setup for a play on the turn if the button bets (ie. the button bets the flop, you call, your bet the turn).