Raise with a lesser hand?

[12Motion]

Here is the situation. I have AJ in middle position in a 5 handed no limit hold em game. The under the gun raises (25-50 blinds) it to 175 to go. I call and the flop is AK8. It is heads up and the raised bets 100. Now if this was a limit game I would raise him and see what he did. If he played back I would fold, if he called I would keep betting. But in no limit if I raised his 100 he could raise me all in and I wont be able to call. I could very easily be bluffed off the hand if I give him the oppertunity to raise. How should I play this situation?

I have played with this play a million times and I know he would raise anything better then K9s. This player also tends to bluff raise on any suited queen. So I cannot put him on AK with any certainty. He may have 88, AK, KK, QQ, AQ, Q8 and any other hand that beats me, all the way to A8.

I have gotten into the habit of simply calling it down. I know this is terrible but if I make it another 100, he may just fold, or he might raise me all in. I would rather call 100 three times if I think I have a chance then give him a chance to bluff me out. I am not sure what to do in this spot.

[rampage]

Everyone who reads this has been in exactly the same situation. You call a raiser you don't respect and then find yourself with a difficult hand to play. Then you start to worry about looking weak if you lay the hand down, and stupid if you don't. If the raiser had me covered, I would lay it down. I would hope that if the raiser is bluffing the success would go to his head. Then he might try that again when I held a strong hand or at least one that has some nut outs. If I did play back at him, I would raise. I would be glad to see him fold. I doubt you accomplish much by calling unless your image causes him to fear a trap. Then he might check it down with you. You expected him to under bet the pot on the turn and river if you called the flop. Two more tough decisions. I would not give him a chance to bait me and then bust me. It will be interesting to see how other posters see this. Great post.

[Lurker]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I would rather call 100 three times if I think I have a chance then give him a chance to bluff me out.

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Whatever for?! Don't let your ego get ahold of you. If you fold (DON'T show your hand) and he shows you a bluff, big deal!

[adam74]

Good post - an interesting situation

I think you have a difficult situation not because of any post-flop action but because of how you played it pre-flop. Pre-flop you've either got to reraise him or fold, rather than playing a wait-and-see kind of game. You already know that, if you just call pre-flop, he'll come at you on the flop no matter what its texture. So I think you've either got to take the initiative away from him pre-flop or get away from the hand entirely. If you do reraise pre-flop and he comes back over the top of you, perhaps then you can more accurately put him on a hand better than ace-jack.

If you simply call pre-flop, I think you've then got to be prepared to go after the pot if you flop top pair, on the basis that you think that his pre-flop raise was on something worse than ace-jack.

[RiverOtter]

First thing i would like to know is how much do you and he have in front of you? Second thing i would like to know is if there is a possible flush draw? Third, what does this loose player think of your play? Fourth, is this player bluffable? Fifth, will this player keep betting if suspects you will call or will he slow down? Does he tend to bet his draws and his big hands the same way? You need to consider all of the above facts before you can act. My feeling generally speaking would be to raise and see what he does. You might get bluffed out, but do you want to commit your entire stack on top pair medium kicker? He underbet the flop. Does he do this frequently? You need to pick up some betting patterns on this particular player given his loose raising requirements preflop. Also, the players in the blinds might also be a factor here. Are they fairly tight or do they tend to call this guy out of the blinds? If he thinks he can run over the players in the blinds,his starting hand could be anything. If you raise him and he reraises you all in, i would probably fold to a large bet and call if it was about the size of the pot. Even if you are beat here, you are sending a message to him that you will not let him run over the table, especially if there is not a flush draw.

[12Motion]

This is a tough situation to write about because it is unique to me. I know this player well and I know he is capable if going all in without a better hand then me. For example. I don't remeber what the original situation is so I make a new one that fits.

I hold QT and he holds Q8

the flop comes (Q K 7)

Suites are not a factor. In this situation if I bet into him he would almost for sure raise me. If he is first to act he would always bet this, or maybe check raise it. He likes to bet in set increments. So if he bets 200 he will probably keep betting 200. But if I raised him, will have little trouble tapping me, or going all in. I would have to fold. But I could call him down and win.

This situation comes up all the time, and me and my friend "Pitts" argue about it all the time. After I show him a slightly better hand he says "Why don't you ever raise me!" and I say "Because half the time I do you go all in and I cannot call. So I would rather just let you keep betting and call it all the way."

It's a situation where I have a pretty strong feeling that I am winning but I still cannot call a very large bet because I do not hold top pair. I would much rather call it down cheaply and not risk a re-raise. I don't even know what I am saying anymore... Just tell me what you do when you get into a heads up situation with a very tricky player that you know well.

[Lurker]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
just tell me what you do when you get into a heads up situation with a very tricky player that you know well.

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ROFL! If I knew the answer to this, then I wouldn't need to post here anymore!

[Chr]

A few thoughts:

I miss stacksizes. Its important how deep the stacks are.

First of all I dont like you call a raise with AJ, then flop toppair and dont know what to do against his predictable action. You have got the best flop you realistic can hope for. Your opponent will bet a lot of hands you beat and even raise all-in with garbage.

If you choose to play AJ preflop, this flop demands you raise him. Not just a tiny raise, but something like a potsized bet so he have to consider if he dare reraise.

If you dont like to do that, then dont play AJ against him for a raise. What flop would you then hope for?

An other thing to consider is how he reads you. He even ask why you never reraise him. He know you are scared. You have to change that. Don't put yourself in theese situations where you are in doubt where you are. When you enter a pot with him, be sure you will go all the way with the right flop. And thats apparently not an A high flop with AJ in your hand.

If you have the guts, you can also take advantage of his "knowing your fear" by putting him to difficult decisions, raise him big now and then when you think you might have the best hand or a you have good draw. He will take it serious because he know you fear his all-ins and he know you normally don't reraise him. Always raise him enough to give him oppertunity to fold. You can test his reactions by doing it with monsterhands the first times, if he calls or reraises he will get a lesson, if he folds, you became wiser and can take advantage of this.

When he starts folding its him who don't like the situation.

If you dont like bluffing, then play only pairs and premium hands to his raises. Pairs you can get rid off if you don't hit and the other hands you can play strong with reasonable safty.

It seems you should be able to profit from his all-in reraises - at least for a period of time. If he is that easy to get showing his stack, then just steal it when you know you have the best hand and let the rest go without any callings.

Chr