How much vomit?

[David Ottosen]

I am playing 15-30 and am in the SB ($10). Its folded to the player to the right of the cutoff who open raises. Cutoff and button fold and I have AJo. BB is playing very tight and I don't expect him to call whether I raise or call. I call and BB folds.

Flop: A-9-5 rainbow

I check and call.

Turn 7

I check and call.

River A

I check and call.

How much vomit does my play induce?

[Boris]

I think you played it fine. You're either way ahead or way behind. Chances are you're way behind as the only hand you really have beaten is A-10 and the bad guy has shown strength 4 times.

[deadbart]

In the aggressive online games I play in, the raise 2 off the button is more likely to be a semi-steal than a real hand. Thus I would probably put some action in somewhere. But the way you played it is fine in a lot of games, IMO.

One of the great joys of making large pairs (Q or better) is that you can play them like this and do just fine. It's almost like you don't have to think about them at all against very aggressive players.

Pre-flop, I think a reraise is the best plan. THis is because the raiser will often flop 6 outs against you, and you want him to fold them quickly - on the flop. you also want the BB out as often as possble given that your hand is not a monster.

The BB being very tight increses the chances that the opener is raising with a mediocre hand.

Once you decide not to reraise, you played it fine. Also, if you had reraised preflop and get raised at any point, going to check-and-call is the best plan.

Hope this helps.

[skp]

Well played except that I would probably bet the river because normally, the other guy won't bet here if he has any kind of hand but he'll call with all kinds of hands. Also, he won't raise on the river even with AK (but he certainly would on the flop or turn). About the only time a river checkcall is better than a river bet is when the other guy has absolutely zip and will fold to a bet but will try a bluff if you check.

One other thing: This rope-a-dope strategy, while very effective, must not be overused for obvious reasons.

So, no vomit induced at all unless you played your hand that way because you were scared of a bigger Ace in which case get out the air sickness bags. In this spot, when you flop an Ace, the chief consideration is how to milk your opponent to the maximum. The fact that I have a Jack kicker is just a bonus...I would approach the hand with the same attitude with a deuce as my kicker.

[PokerBabe(aka)]

Dave, I disagree with the other posters. You are heads up vs. a possible steal and you have top pair, decent kicker. Why not bet? /forums/images/icons/confused.gif Are you wearing a skirt for Halloween? /forums/images/icons/grin.gif LGPG, Babe

[Matt Flynn]

Totally pukeless here.

I like your flop and turn play for any weak ace in the blinds aganist a preflop raiser when an ace hits, especially when shorthanded. If you show strength early, you lose the later bluff/weaker pair bets for sure and will lose more money to a better hand.

On the river it's tougher. For me it'd depend on the aggression of the player. If he plays the river well I'd bet into him; otherwise I'd be check-raising.

Ni' hand.

Matt

[mikelow]

Is this a troll? balt 999 redux?

What's your skirt size? /forums/images/icons/smirk.gif

[astroglide]

i think the only truly debatable thing is whether or not to bet out on the river. i probably would have.

AK won't raise the river? Although this may be true for some players, it's certainly nowhere near a blanket statement. I'd be expecting a raise from AK from the vast majority of players I play with. It's not a reason not to bet, but you'll be finding yourself paying off a double bet a non-negligible proportion of the time there.

[Ray Zee]

there ar lots of ways to play and its okay to do this sometimes, but here he probably had an ace so you werent going to lose him. but suppose he had a pair, if you at least check raised him on 4th street he may have folded and you wouldnt get a bet on the river anyway. but if he hit two pair you would really regret it. plus if you dont play this kind of hand hard, when you do play a hand hard, they will know you have to have a monster or a bluff. you have a big hand in this spot and it worth pushing it somewhat.

[David Ottosen]

He had 33 and I won.

[mikelow]

still should be fit for the bikini for not raising on the end--but he would have folded on the end anyway. /forums/images/icons/shocked.gif

[skp]

It's near a correct blanket statement for many players although you are right in that there are certainly some players who will raise on the end with AK. I suppose it depends on your own experience in these situations. But there is no doubt that turn raises (with a good hand but not the nuts) are way more common than river raises in every hold 'em game in the country.