How far should aggression carry you?

[sublyme]

I was in a home game about a week or two back, and after some bad play here and there, I eventually found myself the big stack. Thus, I decided to start playing aggressive, and although I traditionally dislike JT, I decided to raise pre-flop with it, and only got one caller, the second highest stack. Flop came Q78. I spotted that I was on a gut shot straight here, and decided to bet aggressively so I wouldn't get sucked out. I forget what I bet, but it was a decent amount. She sat there and thought about it, and then re-raised me. Now traditionally this would be a folding situation for me, as I was drawing with really only 4 outs, but I decided to test the waters; I honestly didn't feel she had a firm piece of that flop, and I had a feeling she was just trying to induce me to fold. I didn't want to throw away chips, so after she re-raised me I quickly said "re-raise you all-in".

She sat there and thought about it for a good while, while I stacked chips I had won from a previous hand. I'm not sure if I provided a tell or not, or perhaps she was tired of playing, but she called me. I flipped my shitty JT, no pair, and she flipped K8, so she had a pair of 8's. At this point I was pretty pissed at myself. Then came the turn, a T. Awesome, I thought, I hit a pair and if I can just hang in there I'll win this.

No such luck. River card came a King, giving her Kings and Eights.

So, folks, I understand that playing this hand was a poor choice, let alone going as far as I did with it. But was my aggression justified? How would you have played it? And should I take a less aggressive stance in the future? Aggression usually works out rather well for me, but I just had a tough time that night.

[sublyme]

bump

[Tilt]

I dont like the play to begin with. I dont mind raising JT for deception, but I am not a fan of what is essentially Brunson-esque betting out with a gutshot.

But when she plays back at you, you have to let it go. If you suspect she is just bluffing back at you, you can reraise, but all-in is unnecessary. Not only is it just too much to risk, its sometimes more likely to get called. All-in says "I dont want to be called". It is also just too tempting for bad players to call.

You might get more fold equity from a smaller reraise and then firing another bullet on the turn. When the turn flipped a T and if you had fired then, she probably would have folded her 8.

[schwza]

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I was in a home game about a week or two back, and after some bad play here and there, I eventually found myself the big stack. Thus, I decided to start playing aggressive

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this is a misconception that many people have about cash games. in tournaments, this can be logical. in a cash game, there is no such thing as "bullying the smaller stacks" - it's just "doubling the small stacks up." (unless you believe that b/c of some weird psychology thing the players didn't want to play against a bigger stack).

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although I traditionally dislike JT, I decided to raise pre-flop with it

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if you're going to screw around with this kind of hand (which i don't necc. think is a bad idea), do it on the cutoff or button. it's much easier to play these marginal hands in position (or just steal the blinds). however, given the action on this hand, it looks like this game is loose enough that you don't need to do this. stick to playing big cards and wait to make a decent hand (top pair, decent kicker) to committ chips.

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so after she re-raised me I quickly said "re-raise you all-in".


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this is something doyle talks about in s/s, and i always thought it was a very bad idea in a low stakes/loose game. i would only make this kind of play against someone who i thought would lay down AQ here (read: i basically never would).

also, you need to post stack sizes. if your reraise on the flop is too small relative to the pot, you'll never get a fold here.

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But was my aggression justified?

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not against this opponent. she's way too loose to try this kind of stunt on.

[shadyfin]

You always got to know your players - it reminds me of a hand about 2 years ago that taught me a lesson.

AhKh on the button, I raise and only the BB calls. Completely miss the flop of Qd-Js-5c, but I bet it strong, get called - turn is 7d, bet the pot, get called - river is 6c and I move in about 1.5 * the pot. Get called and I'm shown pocket fours!! At first I'm like "How can he call with undercards to the entire board!", what bad play. What I should have asked myself was, how can I bet/bluff at a guy that would call me with an underpair!

[JohnG]

For me, aggression is never the focus. It's just something that happens naturally as a by product of making good decisions.