how bad is this preflop play?

[holdthis]

Party Poker 0.50/1 Hold'em (10 handed)

This table is your typical ultra-loose party table with over half of the players seeing the flop each hand. They will pay you off all the way to the river with anything.

Preflop: Hero is Button with A/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif.
<font color="CC3333">UTG raises</font>, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, <font color="CC3333">CO 3-bets</font>, Hero calls, SB folds, BB calls, UTG calls, UTG+2 calls.

Miller recommends playing Axs for a raise from late position. Is this an acceptable call to make since I have the button even though it may be capped? If the flop doesn't hit me big time, I have no trouble releasing this postflop.

[mistrpug]

To answer your question, very bad.

Read SSH more carefully. Preflop late position loose game against a raise and a re-raise, play AA-TT, AKs-AJs, KQs and AK (chart on p.83).

Putting 3-4 bets in with Axs even on the button is a horrible play.

[crockett]

You aren't calling a raise.

Your calling a re-raise...big difference.

[Nottom]

Very bad.

[Entity]

U, G, L, Y, it ain't got no alibi. It's ugly.

Rob

[flair1239]

I would not do this. If you had 3-5 limpers in front of you, you should consider raising. The reason being that there is a chance your A still might be good, you would be building a big pot that would lock people in if you made your flush, and there would be a possibility of seeing the turn for free in the event you flopped a backdoor draw.

Cold calling a 3-bet is just not good here. The UTG raise shows some strength by itself. There is a good chance that you are dominated by a better Ace. So if you do not get your flush or flush draw and an A does flop, you most likely will still be behind, and if your not you could not really play this aggressively with any confidence.

The 3-bet by the CO should eliminate any thoughts of calling, the rerasing hands against a UTGraise are pretty limited (IMO) AA, KK, QQ, AKs, and maybe AK or AQs (if you know the raiser has loose standards.

I think you should chuck this. You will get plenty of favorable situations to play this in the future. No need to force it.

[PokerBob]

IMHO the call is good if there are at least 3 others who coldcalled the origianl raiser before the CO 3-bet. Then I'd cap that mofo. In the situation you were in, I'd have mucked without a 2nd thought. Are you disciplined enough to get away from it if the flop comes AK3r?

[Quercus]

This is a good case showing why its important to understand the principles that go into making the charts rather than just trying to memorize them.

The raise UTG is an indication of strength and has to be given credit, even on loose tables. The re-raise is an even stronger signal. Since a large proportion of strong hands involve an ace and high kicker, you can take it to the bank that you are dominated.

The chance of hitting the flush are (roughly):

On the flop: 0.8%
By the river: 6.5%

Suited cards are good because flushes generally hold up and happen just often enough to matter to your bankroll. But, because they are rare, you generally need to have some other quality to your hand to make playing them +EV. Other redeeming qualities include:

* connectors. Adds the chance of a straight to the chance of a flush.
* ace or king + high kicker. Adds a chance that you can win with high pair in addition to flush draw. (In this particular situation, I'd be looking at AKs and AQs as possibilities)

Another general principle you can use is that big preflop pots should be avoided unless you have a big hand. To get big, the pot has to be raised. The hand most likely to win that pot is that strongest hand going in. If you believe you have that hand, you should bet/raise. If you believe its likely that someone else has it, you should generally fold. The strongest hand has the highest +EV and there might be room for the second best hand to also have +EV. Everyone else is sucking -EV over the long haul. That's why playing against two raises is the domain of premium hands only. Everything else is just gamb00ling.

[MagicRat]

.

[holdthis]

[ QUOTE ]
Are you disciplined enough to get away from it if the flop comes AK3r?

[/ QUOTE ]

Absolutely. I knew the ace itself wasn't good. I was playing this as a drawing hand knowing that if I hit, my opponents would call down to the river with anything--pocket 2s, ace high, etc.