NL Home Game

We play a little home game not too far from the city:


.50/1 in the blinds stack sizes range from 50-600. I have the big stack @ 600 and the New player (NP) has a smaller one of about 75.


We are 5 handed. UTG, I make a raise to $2 with AsTc. All fold to NP in the small who calls and the BB calls. Flop comes AcQs2s.


NP bets out $2, BB folds, I raise it $12. NP says I'll go all in.


I don't know much about the player as it is the first time he sat in the game.


Limited Info: Fairly decent but far from good player. Likes to raise Aces out of the blind (has done it with AK AJ A6) I watched him try to trap people about 5 times in the past hour with str8 or better to no avail (actually showed down and made no money.)


So I am not sure what to do here. I'd like to give him a bigger Ace, but as I said I saw him raise/reraise out of the blinds with hte ace/face ect. I was very inclined to give him spades maybe even JsTs for the gutter too, but I just dont' know how sophisticated he. So I am left with a few other things I can think of:


22 (After thought: but I rule this out as I played him later on and he played a small set with a similar flop with very small raises again trying to be tricky and trapping.)


Q2 suited. Just flopped out.


Anyway, I just decided the pot wasn't big enough and that I could get the money with less risk with patience and more info later on. So it was a quick fold.


With such limited info anyone put him on something else? Anyone think a call was in order?

Hi Pete,


First of all, I do not like your raise preflop. I would not even call with ATo in a NL HE game UTG. Unless the other players are quite horrible, do not raise and reraise enough and let you off easy if you are outflopped.


On the flop, your raise is ok, but with the NP reraising you here a little more than the pot, it is an easy fold.

There are many hands he can have that beat you, and there are a few where you might be a very small favourite. But why take the chance here?

If you have him beat, he plays badly enough that you will get all his money when you do not have to make a tough call.


I guess he could have Q2s, which was a horrible call preflop out of position, or he could have A2 for top and bottom pairs.


Anyway, easy fold. Wait for better hands. Maybe even let him rob you a lot. Then take his whole stack with one hand.


Cheers, Stephan

Steph:

I agree with you AT is less than premium. However, we were 5 handed and the players are terrible --thus I think AT played corrected wins more than its share.

As for the play, I agree as I did just let it go and thumped with later when he misplayed a set (via severely underbetting) and allowed me to catch a bigger set on him.

I also thank you for the A2 consideration... but again I am not sure.

Thanks.

-Speed

"fairly decent but far from good player" - probably has Ax spades, but could have 22 or A2. Given that his stack isn't too big, if you trust your read that he doesn't have you outkicked, I'd be tempted to call him down, but a case can certainly be made for folding too. If he were pushing in with a larger stack it would be easier to muck.

Can't have A spades. I have it. Otherwise I agree 100% with you and call him thinking I got him kicked.


As it turns out it was just a matter of time.


Thanks for the reply.

Thought you said you had AcTc. Now I'm wondering why you didn't muck utg pre-flop. Anyway, yes, muck, and glad it worked out.