How would you play this hand?

[TheArtist]

You are in BB, and everyone folds to Button who raise, you have A6off, and you called.

Flop: Rainbow A, rag, rag,

Button bet the flop?

How would you play this hand from here to river?

TheArtist

[Bob T.]

If the button is really aggressive, probably call, call, call.

If he is passive and predictable, fold, actually, maybe fold preflop.

If he is somewhere in between, I might checkraise either the turn, or the flop.

[PokerPrince]

Ok, assuming the SB has folded, and you're HU with Button, I would strongly consider 3-betting preflop. Your typical steal raise will/can consist of many holdings ranging from another AceRag down to a J9o and even worse. This reraise from you shows a lot of power and can possibly move a better hand off with a flop bet. Now there are some players where you would definately fold this hand to their raise. Those are the type who, regardless of position, only raise with quality hands. I once saw a guy muck AQs on the button and say, "Ahhh chop it up fellas". But against your typical steal-raising putz, you'll be reraising with the best hand a good deal of the time.

Now, taking your calling route, here's how I would play it. Holding top pair, I don't want to blow my wad and blast out with a checkraise(this screams ACE!). This is likely to scare off a player holding QQ or JJ. I simply check and call the flop and turn, providing my kicker doesn't hit. On the river, I now bet out. The key is not to go to war with a hand that is either way ahead or way behind. If your opponent is betting QQ all the way, he's likely to call that river bet with a sigh. If he's got a better Ace, he won't likely raise as he'll fear you hit a set or better. IF he does raise, I fold without much hesitation.

As you can see with this method, you win the most amount possible if you hold the best hand all the way, and lose the least amount if you're behind. Texture of the board also plays a signifigant role here as well.

PokerPrince