A6s from the blinds

[mxer7734]

How are you supposed to play small-mid pair from the blinds. It seems like everytime I catch top pair someone outdraws me or already has me beat. What am I doing wrong?

Party Poker 0.50/1 Hold'em (8 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 6/images/graemlins/heart.gif, A/images/graemlins/heart.gif.
<font color="#666666">4 folds</font>, CO calls, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, Hero completes, BB checks.

Flop: (3 SB) 6/images/graemlins/club.gif, 3/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 2/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, BB calls, CO calls.

Turn: (3 BB) Q/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, BB calls, CO calls.

River: (6 BB) 9/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, BB folds, CO calls.

Final Pot: 8 BB

[bozlax]

I don't think you really did anything "wrong." It's short-handed so a mid-pair might be best.

In this particular case, I'd probably try for a check-raise on the flop to get rid of BB. If BB bets out and CO calls, then call to see if the turn improves your hand, and if not jump and pull the rip cord. You're in a marginal situation and just about any card that doesn't help you is going to hurt you. If not for the BDNFD and BDSD this would be a muck on the flop.

[J. Stew]

Then what would we do when the flop gets checked thru . . . do we lead the turn when the Q comes planning on folding to a raise? Do we check the flop 'cause our hand is marginal and plan on folding to a bet? What if the c/o is known to try to steal when flops get checked thru . . . do we not even think about calling down/reraising cause the pot is small and our hand is marginal at best?

[deepsquat]

I think C/R the flop here is wrong. Its 3 handed, hero has a marginal hand which is probably best at the moment, giving a free card would suck here imo. There is no pfr so i think there is a good chance this will get checked through.

fwiw- i prob play the same and hope villain is on a SD.

[thesharpie]

No reads? The only street debatable is the river IMO, with no reads. I would only go for a check raise on the flop with a decent read it wouldn't get checked through.

[ArturiusX]

I keep betting no matter what the card and expect to not see a showdown.

[jrz1972]

With CO open-limping, I raise PF, bet the flop, and bet the turn.

[jrz1972]

On a lark, I tried filtering my PT database to see how ace-rag plays out of the SB. I used my .5/1 6-max stats since this situation (one late open-limper) occurs there fairly frequently and you might consider playing these sorts of hands out of the SB.

I have about 27,000 hands total in that database. Overall, A8 and below, suited or unsuited, is a 0.06 BB loser for me per hand out of the SB (441 hands). However, when I raise from the SB with these hands, I am winning 0.22 BB per hand (89 hands). Obviously some of those raises are blind-vs-blind confrontations, but a lot of them are exactly the situation described in the OP.

Small samples, obviously, but those results argue strongly in favor of raising in these spots.

[bozlax]

[ QUOTE ]
Then what would we do when the flop gets checked thru . . . do we lead the turn when the Q comes planning on folding to a raise? Do we check the flop 'cause our hand is marginal and plan on folding to a bet? What if the c/o is known to try to steal when flops get checked thru . . . do we not even think about calling down/reraising cause the pot is small and our hand is marginal at best?

[/ QUOTE ]

Since it's short-handed, IF YOU HAVE A READ on one of the players that he'll take a shot on the turn without anything, then I'd pop the turn, especially if the third guy has already bailed out.

Basically, this hand is only going to hurt you if you put money in against an unknown or in a multiway pot.

[bozlax]

Yeah, looking at it again this morning, this is a definite preflop raise. CO open-limped, so he gets to respect, and I'd really like to have BB out of the hand in case I flop a 6.

I think I would check/fold the river. My thought is that the opponent is playing with a small pair that beats my 66 and he has already withstood my turn bet (which was meant to force him out). Therefore, he's not folding to 1 more bet on the river

[adsman]

[ QUOTE ]
If not for the BDNFD and BDSD this would be a muck on the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please tell me that you're joking. Raise preflop. Bet the whole way.