A friend and I were discussing this hand and we couldn't see eye to eye

Very first hand of a Pot Limit Holdem Party $10+1 SNG.

You are in MP with black AA and max raise to $120 preflop and it fold around to the BB who calls and everyone else folds.

Pot is about T300

Flop is a suited Qxx of diamonds. XX are complete blanks that don't put any viable straight draws out there.

BB checks, you bet T200 and are min check raised to T400. You only start with T800 so BB would now be down to 280 more and you have 480 if you fold. Even though you have no reads, you feel you are only against a pair and at most, a pair with a flush draw like Q[Jd] which you would be 50/50 against. What do you do?

This is a push in or fold situation, especially since you don't have the flush draw.

I argued that folding is definitely a viable option since this was not a good flop for you and the only thing worse is a flop like a suited JT9 so pushing all in would seem to just ignore the facts that you could be beaten and you were playing your AA to the end no matter what. You have no reads so he could be a good player and even if you go all in, he will call at this point and if he has a pair and flush draw, you are even money. You are pretty much dead if he has two pair, set, or flush. You have a decent amount of chips and the blinds are still small so you can move later when you have better reads.

He argued that you can't be worried about "monsters under the bed" and push all in and trust your read. Even if you are against a pair and flush draw, you are getting odds in the pot to go 50/50 with someone. Plus, if you double up here, you can have a much easier time making the money as you don't have to worry about pushing sooner if you hit a cold run of cards in order to make the money.

Result: My friend pushed in and was called by QJ no diamond but he hit his second pair on the river to knock my friend out on the very first hand.

Thoughts on this hand/situation?

I would have bet the pot after the flop then If raised I would have gone all in.

I play somewhat contrary to how it seems a lot of posters do early on in a tourney, but with AA and that flop, I'm pushing them regardless. If I'm up against a set, so be it, but to worry about the possible flush draws out there is wasting such a premium hand. Preflop, you'd rarely fold AA (there is one VERY specific case I can think of, but I won't get into it), and on a flop as harmless as this, folding is NOT an option.

His check raise could have been a bluff, but he could have TPTK which would justify his bet but even with that AQ hand, he's in trouble... PUSH!!!!

Push and be done with it - if you get sucked out on, then find another $10 to play. You just can't worry about, as your friend said, monsters under the bed when you have a monster in your hand.

I agree that you have to push all in here, although there is an argument for folding. His most likely holding is AQ, and you are only in real trouble against a set or a made flush- even against 2 pair, you have outs, and with three to a flush out you would hope he would have bet 2 pair and even trips to protect (although maybe not at party). I think at the lower stakes I would definitely be pushing, and at the higher ones I would consider a fold. So at a $10 table, it is a good call, imho.

maybe i'm afraid of monsters under the bed or playing the $20 sng's rather than the $10 has changed my opinion, although the play is practically the same.

Amen. It's +EV all the way around. If you win, you're the prohibitive favorite to win the whole thing. You've got at least five or six players with this look on their faces...

If you lose, you've saved a huge amount of time, which you can use to play somewhere else and recoup. I'd rather go out the first hand, than 4th, esp with AA.

(Actually, this has happened to me. I had AA, he had KK, flopped the third K, and I was one and done. Didn't bother me at all, actually. Luck keeps 'em coming back for more.)

Win win, all the way around.

EDIT: Another guy folded QQ, which made this hand really stand out. As we all know, it's rigged.