AA on the button

Visiting some friends up in the Bay Area and San Jose this weekend, and went to Bay 101. Playing in a loose-passive 15-30 and I pick up AcAd on the button. 3 limpers, I raise, blinds both call.


Flop:


Qc6c6d


Check to MP(quiet guy that cant win a pot to save his life) who bets, I raise, SB folds, BB cold calls 2 bets, MP calls.


Turn:


Qc6c6d4h


Checked to me, I check.


River:


Qc6c6d4hKs


BB(LAG Asian man) bets out, MP calls, I raise, BB thinks for a little and calls, MP folds.


Comments appreciated.


DN

well this is expertly played.


what happened here is the warning signals went off when the bb called two cold on the flop. he could very well have a 6 of course.


on the turn you dont want to give a free card to a flush draw but at the same time you dont want to be checkraised by a 6. so you give the free card knowing you may be able to make up the bet on the river and also that you may just be saving money in advance if someone does happen to make a flush on the river. it's close between betting and checking, but you decide to minimize risk here and check and that's fine 3 handed.


now on the river that K may have hit someone, someone may have KQ which you would love, and bb may still have a 6. but the secret is this: most players are timid and they really back off when they run into a river raise. they generally expect you to be raising with something better than aces up. if this were commerce 40-80 youd surely get smacked down with a 3 bet on the river by any 6 including 62s, as well as some worse hands like AK, 99, whatever, but since these players are likely more timid you are able to value raise with no risk of being reraised by a worse hand. this way you only lose 2 bets instead of 3 if you had been checkraised on the turn and decided to pay off. and you get to the river still.


and you get to see the happy surprise on their faces when you turn over AA and they table 86o and they were sure you had Qs or Ks full. it's like watching a stupid little ignorant child being served a piece of birthday cake.


well played.

Hi Nuts:


You have what I call a discontinuity here. Your check on the turn shows that you are somewhat concerned with being against a six. It will also encourage someone to bet into you with no hand on the river. So, with that being the case, you shouldn't be raising on the end.


Best wishes,

mason

In the absence of a reliable tell I'd say your turn check doesn't jive with the river raise. It's as if a football coach decided to run the ball on third down and five, toward the center of the field, to get lined up for a field goal attempt. And then instead of kicking the field goal on fourth down and four, he ran the ball again, going for the first down.


Tommy

I'm happy that I read Mason and your responses before posting mine. My initial response was: Huh?


I like Mason's discontinuity response.


Vince

When LAG Asian bets out on the river my read is likely to be one of the following:


a) That sure is a bold bluff with a busted nut flush draw

b) He sure does think he loves that K with QK

c) He's annoyed he didn't get to check-raise me on the turn


Unless I'm really sure about b), I just call.

LAG turned over 56o and took it down. I think you are all correct and an overcall was in order. For some reason, I just thought he had KQ or AKc and got a little anxious. I was more worried about MP having a 6 looking for the check-raise on the turn. Either way, it cost an extra bet. Thanks for the responses.


DN

Here's the bigger problem in my opinion.


This time, your river raise just cost you one extra bet. However, what do you do when LAG 3-bets and MP folds?


Do you call and now pay off 3 bets on the river to trip sixes?


How often will LAG 3-bet a busted draw here, confident you don't have a 6 and pretty sure you're not on QQ or KK based on your turn check?


How often will LAG 3-bet here with AK, putting you on AQ, or 3-bet with KQ, putting you on AQ?


I don't get down to Bay101 (AJs most of the time and some Lucky Chances), but there are definitely plenty of 15-30 players here tricky and aggressive enough to 3-bet in all of those situations.

The answer to all of your questions is never. So I am confident that I will not lose an extra bet here. When I say LAG here, I just mean that he was looser and more aggressive than the rest of the table, but the table was very passive as a whole.


DN

I had keyed in on LAG Asian and missed that you described the table as loose passive in your initial post. While I still think you should just call due to the points in my initial post, I agree the "other problem" is less of a worry here because of the table texture.


However, as a Bay Area regular, I still find it amusing how quickly a loose passive table can turn super aggressive in the span of 30 minutes on weekends without any change in players. Usually, this has a lot to do with that last cocktail or Cabernet a couple of players just finished...

"Either way, it cost an extra bet"


true but it cost one less bet than if you had bet the turn. you see why?

The Bay Area games definitely have a different feel to them than the LA games. For one thing, rarely do you see someone go crazy on the dealer. I still want to check out the San Jose clubs when they have the 2am-6am restriction(i hear they are close to being closed down for good!). Still, in terms of game choice, you can't beat LA.


DN

ive had my wife give me the 2am-6am restriction but dont know what that means in terms of a card room. are they closed from 2am-6am?

Yup....just IMAGINE the action this creates from stuck and unstuck alike just gettin their last licks in around midnight. San Jose card rooms will go under if the mayor can pass this. Sucks for all the SJ poker players, thats for sure.


DN