2/5 nl Aces out of the BB

[Chris Dow]

So I've debated this with everyone I know and we can't agree on the best line to take. Here's the situation. 2/5 blinds nlhe live. You have 450 and are in the big blind. A weakish player limps in ep, an aggressive player limps in mp, small blind calls and you look at two black aces. My line here is to raise $20 more to $25. Weakish limper folds (expected since he's limping crap) but the aggressive player fires in a raise of $80 more (he has you covered). Obviously the small blind folds and its up to you. What is your highest ev play given that he is aggressive and just took the lead. Obviously the situation is pretty good since you're going to put in at least $105 of your $450 in preflop with aces. Do you come back with all in slightly overbetting the pot (basically playing extra strong and hoping he reads ya for ak or something)? Do you try to string him along with $120 more and hope he gets stubborn (risking that he might recognize you must have a monster)? Do you go into a slowplay mode in hopes that he will just keep betting as long as you act weak? Thanks for the replys. BTW, if slowplay is suggested I'll add a couple flops and a few scenarios of how to play it. Other than that I think its pretty straightforward since if you go ai or raise again before the flop you'll be ai on any flop imo.

[wontons]

I like the smooth call...this is where your acting skills come into play this is what you do...think about calling adn when putting it in give him a stare like damit man u suck for reraise me..then check anyflop to him and when he bets put the rest of your stack in...true he may get stubborn and call another 120 raise but I prefer the slowplay with AA heads up out of position when his the aggresive bettor.

[Goodie54]

Wontons looks to have it exactly right in my oponion. Call and check raise any flop all in. Hope he didn't suck out.

Peace

Goodie

[TStoneMBD]

i dont like the smooth call. you are out of position and may find the flop is checked through. you could be outdrawn and are guaranteed to lose your stack by your gameplan. id go for the reraise, but the amount i choose will depend on whether i think the villain a nutpeddler, or or lag trying to break your stack. if hes a lag trying to break your stack then raise a small amount, that doesnt give him correct price to crack you. if hes a nutpeddler try to convince him that you want to take down the pot right now.

[vegas]

I agree with TStone.

[SpaceAce]

I don't like smooth calling. I'm not in a big hurry to try and bust someone post-flop with one pair.

SpaceAce

[partygirluk]

I call, then C/R all in on any flop. Should work if he is aggresive.

[whitelime]

I agree. If you smooth call and any paint hits the board, you are in a sticky situation trying to get all-in with one pair. I would either reraise all in, or reraise to $250 depending on the player. If he is a smart player, I would much rather get my stack in as a reraise to $250 allows him to put me squarely on AA, or maybe KK.

[gummy d]

Think i'd make it 300 to go and put the rest in on the flop if he calls. If he folds, you won 90. If not, the hopefully you double through. Making about a 100 dollars without playing a flop is fine by me especially if you only have 450. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[PokerFink]

Against an aggressive opponent like this, I like a smooth call, but ONLY if you are certain he will bet any flop. If he will bet ANY flop, check/raise all-in regardless of what falls. Your stack isn't that big, I like trying a riskier line and going for the double up.

If you think there is any chance of the flop checking through, I like a re-raise. I guess you could go 2-300, and push the flop unless it's really, really ugly.

[radioheadfan]

I think a smooth call indicates too strong a hand for villian. He may take the free turn on the flop if you check it to him and he can't yet beat your high pair.

It all really depends on how smart the villian is. If he's just aggro and doesn't think - meaning he will auto bet any flop for a 0.5 pot - pot bet - then smooth calling and then c/r all in on any flop is clearly the right play. But even here what if three high diamonds flop to your black aces say:

9 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif J /images/graemlins/diamond.gif K /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

Now you may be getting it all in with just slightly the best of it or even drawing close to dead.

If there's a reasonable chance he'll recognize you for a high pair he'll only get the rest in if he think he has you or has a strong enough draw to make it worth his money.

Smooth calling has its merits but I think pushing has the best risk/reward ratio of all the possible plays. Maybe not highest EV, but definitely high risk/reward. If you're lucky he'll put you on QQ and call you with his AK. Or maybe he'll put you on something like a scared JJ and call with QQ. Simply put, by smooth calling you open yourself up to making mistakes later in the hand. By pushing you face no such danger.

[Chris Dow]

[ QUOTE ]
Simply put, by smooth calling you open yourself up to making mistakes later in the hand. By pushing you face no such danger.

[/ QUOTE ]

Precisely and I think this is pretty obvious, I mean I certainly realized it during the hand. The question however was EV. For the posters who have replied so far I'll tell you that I feel he is autobetting any flop if I check, so as some have mentioned, I smooth called. He didn't just bet half the pot when I called him, he pushed all in which equates to 350 into like 220. What sort of boards do I call and what do I fold with (Am I, from an EV perspective "allowed" to fold any boards and risk making that huge mistke)? Also you guys are slightly over emphasizing his hand requirements, one of you did say AK which is possible I suppose but the hand I figured him for was much more along the lines of 99-JJ and in fact he has one of those hands. Knowing he has one of those hands does the preflop line change at all? I certainly think that most of you will recognize that for him to go further preflop could be hard, even for the most maniacal, but there are quite a few flops which he will not give up the lead on, and I think any flop he's going to fire at if I check. Anyway appreciate the comments, please analyze further from the flop on and keep in mind that the play I'm trying to make here is the highest EV play, not just shoving it in over the top with aces because I know that prevents me from ever making a mistake. Thanks!

[Goodie54]

You should check raise all in on ANY flop. At no point is it even a consideration to fold with the information you gave on this player. If he sucks out, so be it.

Peace

Goodie

If EV is the question lets try it simple.
You put him on medium to high pair.
if you push you make 80$ per bet.
if you smooth call and he bets every flop and you push: 16% that he made trips and you lose 450, if he has an overpair, what happens in lets say 25% he calls your all in and you win 450+limps in 91%. or he folds and you win an amount around 1,5*pot to 2*pot because of his flop bet in 100 -25 -16=59%.
-> ev of +170 in 59%, ev of 470 in 22,75%, ev of -450 in 2,25% and an ev of -450 16% and this is around -> 125$ per bet.

So if you are sure he has a pair tens ot nines around and believe my maths, that have some minor errors like don't take care of the case when you flop both trips ..., and thinking he does what i say with this flops you have better EV calling and check/pushing the flop. /images/graemlins/cool.gif