I don't know how play this situation.

[maddo]

Hi. I've been in the following type of situation a few times recently and I just don't know what to do. How do you play this?

Let's say it's mid-stage of $10 online tournament, blinds are 200/400, I am UTG and have 20xBB. I pick up a big pair (not aces), say QQ, and raise 3xBB. All fold to button who has equal chips. For simplicity, I don't know anything about him. He calls, and blinds fold.

Pot=1800

Flop comes A-rag-rag, rainbow.

Now what? Should I bet here? How much?

I check, and the button make a small bet.

Now what? Should I be raising? Calling?

I call the small bet thinking he has an ace but hoping to make a set (obviously not much chance of that).

Turn comes another undercard.

I check again, and button make a bigger (but not huge) bet. He has to be betting an ace, right?

I fold thinking if I call this bet I may have to call another one on the river.

But then I'm thinking that he pushed me off the best hand.

Does this illustrate why position if so important?

Any recommendations?

Cheers.

[nuclear500]

You can't check unless you are almost assured he has an Ace, in which case if he bets, you have to fold unless you plan to c/r. You've thought yourself out of the hand. Calling looks like desparation.

Fire 3/4 pot, he may have a weak Ace and isn't sure, hence the smallish bet. If you're called you're done with the hand.

[Chief911]

Unless you have some great read as to the tightness of the BB, you HAVE to bet out here. You were the preflop raiser. A bet here will take down the pot atleast 70% of the time.

Nick

[hurlyburly]

I like to c/r here, and release if he comes back over. This usually is enough to kill action for a weak ace, or confirm a strong hand.

I get too confused by betting and being cold called, then making a continuation bet on the turn that once again just gets cold called. It's disastrous to do that and then check/fold the river.

I've tried both tactics in the low-limit and find that the "any-ace" types will underbet and release more often to a c/r. If they call the c/r, check/fold. You'll find better spots.

[GtrHtr]

probing bet, 1/3 to 1/2 the pot. If you get reraised then you know the score.

[mshalen]

The above replies are all good methods. If you are so afraid of an A hitting the flop then why not raise your come in bet from 3BB to 4 or 5BB? The odds of an A hitting the flop can easily be looked up (i have no idea of what the exact odds are). Once you know the odds of a scare card (would you react the same way to a K?) coming on the flop you may feel react differently.

[suited_ace]

Nick said it all, you have to bet here. This is called a continuation bet because you were the original raiser and your continuing your aggression on the flop. You should bet 1/2 to 3/4 of the pot here, depending on how scary is the board and what's the read on your opponent. If he doesn't have an A or even if he has an A with a weak kicker, he'll be thinking twice before calling (or raising) your bet. He has a difficult decision to make, and this can only help you.

Remember that you might be affraid of the A on the board, but that A might be a scary card for him as well.

Note: someone said that you should make a probe bet, but since you're the original raiser, your bet is not a probe. Your opponent's small bet is a probe. Probe bets are usually ~1/3 of the pot.

[willie]

utg come in for a bigger raise or limp/look to reraise

if it's limped all the way in multiway and an ace flops, proceed with caution, possibly even check/fold.


when you raise it to 5x utg and get a caller

proceed as if there is no ace on the flop.

throw a bet out that looks like ak, many times you'll take it down then and there. By checking and calling a bet you're allowing the person with position to take the lead. you must maintain the lead until you figure yourself to be beaten. throw out a 2/3rds pot bet on the flopa nd shut it down if you're called/don't spike a set on the turn. It's tough but it's my standard like.

many times you'll take it down regardless that an ace flopped.

[hurlyburly]

Thanks Chief,

I just tried this instead of my c/r when I caught QQ in the BB and reraised an EP raiser and took one down. Hoping to get 99 more shots today for an adequate sample size :P

[Kronon]

You HAVE to bet after the flop here. And it have to be a reasonable sized bet (atleast 75% of the pot). If he reraises you, fold and be done with it. But checking means you just gives up the pot, and QQ is much to good for that.

If the other guy have a hand like AT, he might even fold to a strong bet here. He will porbably fold with any pp, or any ace with kicker lower than 10. In other words, you will win the pot her unless our opponent have AA, AK, AQ, AJ and possible AT or KK.

This is the easy part. The hard part is when he calls, and a card below Q comes on the turn. Now what? The safe play here is to check-and-fold, but if you feel like gambling an all-in here could also do the trick (representing AK).

[suited_ace]

[ QUOTE ]
You HAVE to bet after the flop here. And it have to be a reasonable sized bet (atleast 75% of the pot).

[/ QUOTE ]

On a A-rags-rainbow board you can achieve the same purpose with 50% of the pot. If the board was A-Q-5, two clubs, THEN you should bet about 3/4 of the pot.

You want to achieve a goal using the least amount of chips possible. If you're beat, you'll save yourself a few chips. In the long run those chips make a difference.