$2 NLHE 6-max: AA on middle card flop

[Casey55]

pokerstars, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker


UTG: $2.53 (127 bb)
MP: $2.10 (105 bb)
CO: $4.07 (204 bb)
BU: $2.51 (126 bb)
SB: $2.00 (100 bb)
BB (Hero): $4.02 (201 bb)


Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BB with A♣ A♦
3 players fold, BTN calls $0.02, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.10, BTN calls $0.08


Flop: ($0.21) 9♠ 7♣ 4♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.06, Hero raises to $0.18, BTN calls $0.12


Turn: ($0.57) 5♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.14, Hero calls $0.14


River: ($0.85) T♥ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

I thought the board was better for villains range so I decided to check, I was going to check call but half way through changed my mind and went for check raise, what do you think here , should we not check-raise because villain has nut advantage? should we just c-bet flop for larger sizing? I thought there could be very many bad turn cards and decided to raise for protection/value. How do you play this ?

wasn't quite sure how to perceive villains small turn bet, but I thought the 5s was a good card for his range,

 

[eetenor]

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Hand delivered by Upswing Poker


UTG: $2.53 (127 bb)
MP: $2.10 (105 bb)
CO: $4.07 (204 bb)
BU: $2.51 (126 bb)
SB: $2.00 (100 bb)
BB (Hero): $4.02 (201 bb)


Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BB with A♣ A♦
3 players fold, BTN calls $0.02, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.10, BTN calls $0.08


Flop: ($0.21) 9♠ 7♣ 4♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.06, Hero raises to $0.18, BTN calls $0.12


Turn: ($0.57) 5♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.14, Hero calls $0.14


River: ($0.85) T♥ (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

I thought the board was better for villains range so I decided to check, I was going to check call but half way through changed my mind and went for check raise, what do you think here , should we not check-raise because villain has nut advantage? should we just c-bet flop for larger sizing? I thought there could be very many bad turn cards and decided to raise for protection/value. How do you play this ?

wasn't quite sure how to perceive villains small turn bet, but I thought the 5s was a good card for his range,

Thank you for posting.

We seldom want to give up control of a pot after making a large preflop raise and getting this type of board. A BTN limper is not an aggro player so we need not fear getting bluffed off of our hand. The V checking river is a great example of this.

The study points here:

What player type is this V? All the actions in this hand suggest standard passive player.

Range our V before we see the flop-what does this V call 5x on the button?

How does that range interact with this board?

How do we get the most value from that range played by a passive player or calling station most frequently?


Hope this helps

 

[300HPGOD]

I like the pre flop raise and sizing. I dont get the check the flop play after 3 betting (especially on a board like this) but if you did this maybe knowing villain was super agg (Not sure if they are or arent but just naming a scenario where checking here makes sense) then I'm okay with it but in general I would just bet out here as most villains at 2 NL are not folding their one pair hands here but could possible check behind with them since you 3 bet pre.

On the turn we check after check raising and if I was villain in this hand with a one pair hand I would be treading lightly so I am not sure why you think checking is best here hoping that villain values themself. Villain does bet and goes small but you then only call which makes little sense to me given there are 3 spades out there and you want to get more that 1/4th pot value from villains one pair hands or now potential flush draws. If they re raise us here then we have a decision to make but at that point it would be a raise of raise after we check raised and 3 bet pre so there would be little or no bluffs in that range.

As played on the river you check again and Im not sure why here either. All one pair hands the villain could have had just saw an overcard hit the board and are likely to check back. Only pure bluffs (which are few here) and hands that beat ours will bet this river unless you know villain is spewy. We are counting on them to bluff here and I dont think it happens enough so I would definitely bet the river as played. I would go smaller trying to get a crying call just because we did 3 bet and check raise already meaning we probably cant get away with betting large here hoping its interpreted as a bluff. Id go around 35-40 cents and hope villain has a one pair hand they think still be good 1/4th of the time.

 

[tt124f]

We could call turn and go for a small bet OTR, but since most players do not show too much aggression w/ medium hand, we could go for a raise to extract more from flush draw and pair+draw type of hands. OTR I think bet w/ an intention to fold will be better.

 

[Hermus]

On low to middle flops that hit the pre-flop caller a little bit better than the pre-flop raiser total betting frequency is indeed lower. In those circumstances we check overcards without a flush draw or good blockers, marginal made hands like pocket pairs < flop high card, and total junk.

Even though the pre-flop caller is more likely to hit (a draw to) the nuts the pre-flop raiser still has range advantage with all the overpairs. As such, c-betting for a large sizing (somewhere between 60-80%) with all the overpairs or better, balanced with almost all or all flush draws is a fairly easy strategy to approach equilibrium.

Against aggressive maniacs or regs it's sometimes good to check your best hands so I don't dislike the check-raise here. Especially because you unblock the major drawing hands that they're likely to make a calling mistake with. That is all villain dependent though and against most of the microstakes player pool, there's less incentive to trap and more incentive to value bet even with your best hands. Defaulting to c-bet 100% of value combo's and only check-raising as the pre-flop caller is at the very least easier to remember and maybe even better against the majority of the playerpool.

 

[zuker]

well played. turn off agression from flop. there is decent amount of stronger hands villain has (trips, flashes)

 

[Casey55]

Thank you everyone for the great replies.

 

[mktpppr]

P: raise to 4x is enough, 5x is too big.

F: no need to get fancy, just bet your strong hands. Bet bigger to 75-100% pot for max pressure on draws.

Why do you say villain has "nut advantage"? We have range advantage, eg we have all sets in our range, and villain shouldn't be limp/calling pocket pairs from BU.

As played (check), I guess check/raise is better than check/call.

T: as played, I guess check/call vs small bet on bad turn. Nothing about how we played hand postflop makes sense now, so just get to showdown as cheaply as possible.

R: fine, we're check/folding.

 

[lanelosee100]

inba cash game with no spade and one pair only i dont recommend giving your opponent a free card. continue agression