Ace/Rag, But a Great Board

Still at work, so no hand history. Please comment on all streets. What, if anything, did I do right or wrong?

Villain is a LAG. He is 50/6/3 through about 120 hands. He is in MP with $140, I am in the SB with $86. Party Poker $100 NL, .5 and 1 blinds.

I get dealt A /images/graemlins/diamond.gif8 /images/graemlins/club.gif. Folds to villain, who limps, co limps, I raise to $6, BB folds, villain calls, co folds. Heads up, ~$14 in the pot.

Flop: A /images/graemlins/heart.gif2 /images/graemlins/spade.gif9 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif I bet $10, villain calls. ~$34 in pot.

Turn: 2 /images/graemlins/club.gif I check, villain checks.

River: A /images/graemlins/spade.gif I check (figuring we are going to chop), villain bets $40, I call.

Again, all comments on all streets welcome. The reason I posted this hand is because the villain here absolutely berated me in the chatbox after this hand for calling on the river, and it got me second-guessing myself to the point where I left the table soon after. The river looked like a no-brainer call to me. Am I an idiot?

[yvesaint]

No, I probably check-call here too. But $40 is scary, depending on reads, I might fold, but never to a LAG.

[MINETZ]

wow, with those stats on him, im all in.

[SydPokerFan]

Fold Pre-Flop

[DoomSlice]

I don't get it... what's wrong with calling with Aces over Deuces.

[kyro]

I would fold because it's obvious villain has 22.

NO I WOULDN'T [censored] FOLD HERE.

[trumpman84]

Am I reading this wrong here or don't we have the 3rd nuts behind 22 and A9.

[Voltron87]

folding the river is not an option. ts an easy easy call.

i really like checking the turn, and the check on the river.

nh

[ QUOTE ]
I don't get it... what's wrong with calling with Aces over Deuces.

[/ QUOTE ]

See, this is exactly what I was thinking--how could I not call here. But Villain was so emphatic in calling me an effing idiot afterward that I thought maybe I had missed something, or maybe everybody would just assume he had A9 or 22. Villain was a pretty insane LAG, but even considering the source he got me thinking maybe I had made a mistake. It was like having somebody tell you emphatically, repeatedly and with complete sincerity that the grass is red. You get like, "well, it looks green to me, but..." Like I said in the original post, I was certain this was a no-brainer call, and then villain got in my head afterward.

Anyway, thanks for the comments. Villain turned over J9 and mhig.

[Dommer]

Am I the only one who doesn't like the raise out of the SB with A8 off? For myself I think I'd just get into more trouble than it's worth at the 6 max games, but I don't think I'm too hot in the post flop department.

SydPokerFan said the same thing, so you are not alone for sure. My rationale was that villain, a LAG, had limped, so I presumptively had a better hand, and the other caller was a pretty non-descript player who had declined the opportunity to raise a lone limper ahead of him, so I couldn't credit him with a better hand, either. That left the BB as the only unknown, and I was prepared to easily toss away A/rag in the face of stiff opposition. But I think folding preflop is definitely a sound alternative.

[Dommer]

I find myself thinking the exact same logic as you did there and the only thing that deters me is the fact that he is a lag. I've tried raising in the exact same situation but what generally seems to happen is I miss the flop or hit it weakly (j83 for example) and the lag steals it away from me. I pretty much know he's going to call with whatever trash he has pre-flop and I'm only 33% to hit on the flop. Most lags will call just about any continuation bet, and on top of that my hand can't really stand any heat even if I hit, so the odds are in his favor and I fold.

Mostly just typing all that out to see if anyone has a different opinion, not really disagreeing with why you raised, just saying why I don't /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[awarunn]

Man, if you folded your full boat here that would be sooo weak. Don't worry about getting berated in the chat box. Turn that **** off if it ends up getting to you. Don't leave the table because you've now got him playing some ego game where he's going to really trryyyy to outplay you and therefore end up paying you off. You completely outplayed him here. Nice play.
p.s. When the A hits on the river I don't think you're chopping here...his check on the turn was scared. Your check on the river sucked that bluff out of him...I really like how you played this hand.

And like I said, You make valid points. FWIW, I will fold A8 more often than I raise with it, and I usually have to be in the SB to consider limping, which I think is the least good of the three options.

This guy only had a PFR of 6, so it was possible he had AJ or ATs or something--I would have folded to a post-flop raise more than likely. But when he just called and checked behind on the turn, I figured worst case he had a weak ace, too.

Frankly, raising with A8 is somewhat unusual for me--it is very situational/player determinate, and it is probably why I let the villain here psyche me out of being comfortable with my play on this hand.

[amoeba]

river is easy call and I like your flop and turn play but I don't like preflop raise.

there are lots of flops you will hate play OOP.

[Escotme]

Why did he berate you? Did he say that you shouldn't have called or that you should have raised on the river?

Regardless, the fact of the matter is that you've gotten into his head and there's a great chance that he will tilt or try to make it personal with you. This is a perfect situation for you to take all his dough. Wait for a strong hand and play it half-weak. With a loose cannon LAG, he will most likely come over the top with something marginal to get his bruised ego back. The last thing you want to do is leave the table.

[wtfsvi]

Well played postflop. A8o is about the last semi-playable hand I'm raising into limpers out of the SB with though.

[UOPokerPlayer]

Looks fine, but I'd put a blocker on the river. If he's really aggro, a passive line is probably better on the flop and turn to get a non-ace to donate some money. I'm not even sure i'd call the river. It matters how good villian is, if i'm in that position and beat a dry ace i bet about the same amount. If he's really bad he could be doing this with a hand that loses to an ace. Third nuts though, takes a lot to fold it. What am i talking about, it's a call 100% of the time.

edit: don't like the pf at all. Completing is ok, but raising is no good.

[Petteri]

I do not like your pre-flop play. A8o out of position is not worth a raise.

Rest of the hand is played well. You must call river against LAG, there is no other option. Check-call line on river is superior against very aggressive player who bets more hands than he calls.

[ethan]

You only have $30 more after your river call, are you sure he has A9/22 often enough (and so few other calling hands) that a river check-raise is bad? People hate folding when they're getting 5:1 and your opponent here looks like he might be the sort to pay you off with 89/77/etc.

I'm a little iffy on preflop but it's close, I like the flop and turn, and I like the river check. I don't mind the river call, but I think I probably put the rest in too. You certainly shouldn't consider folding the river.

?? You mean second nuts? Aces full of twos, right? Only better is Aces full of nines. A pp of 22 would only give you Twos full of Aces??

Correct me if I'm on my head here

I agree, only thing I might consider different is preflop, postflop you didn't miss a beat in my book.

[ethan]

board is AA922, so pocket 22 has quads

Yup, I was on my head. I stand corrected.