AAxx theory question

[ipp147]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

You have AAxx (assume the xx are uncoordinated cards that miss the flop)

Villain raises (villain is semi decent - ie not a Party low limit idiot). He can semi bluff, check raise, bet/3bet etc, he won't call you down light. He doesn't neccesarily put you on AA after your raise.

You reraise and he calls. 2 to the flop and you got between 15-25% of your stack in preflop - he has you covered.

I hope thats clear, now my questions,

1. You are OOP. Can you give me some examples of flops you would not lead at. What sort of texture etc?

2. You are in position and he checks. What sort of flop texture are you checking behind with here?


If somethings not clear please let me know and I will attempt to reword. If you don't reraise with AA72 for example then let me know as well.

Thanks.

Given that you are in position, I probably would have just called the pre-flop raise here. This is for a couple of reasons: 1) Our villian is much less likely to put us on our hand, which logically moves on to 2) thus giving me more bluffing opportunities on the flop.

As far as it was played: All we can guess about the villians hand is that it is relatively well coordinated. Given that he is liable to bluff-raise any 1/4 to 1/2 pot bet and that he would likely check any made hand into me, I think I would probably take a free card off on the flop, assuming I got no help there. While some may see this as weak, it just may get our villian thinking about other hands that we might have.

For me, I think the real decision will be the turn.

[joewatch]

I don't think any reasonable player would reraise with AAxx OOP in this example. Only reraise when you can get at least 75% of your stack in. Then push the rest on the flop no matter what.

[BluffTHIS!]

It doesn't pay to reraise with junky unsuited aces usually because your opponents will know what you have and punish you when you don't hit a set. Regarding what kind of flops to not lead at with aces, I would not usually do so without a flush draw when there are two straight cards 6 or higher and with 0 or 1 gap, nor with any two broadway cards that did not hit my sidecards. It is true that if you don't and he has nothing you are just letting him either catch on the turn or bluff you, but overplaying aces when you can't get allin on the flop is a sure way to lose lots of money. Those kind of situations are especially the reason not to reraise with junky aces or even with good ones sometimes when you are OOP with deep money and know you can't get it headsup of buy the button. And FWIW, when I have a deep stack I fold AA72o in early position on an aggressive table where I am virtually certain the pot will be raised because I know I can find better hands and spots.

[ipp147]

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Those kind of situations are especially the reason not to reraise with junky aces or even with good ones sometimes when you are OOP with deep money and know you can't get it headsup of buy the button. And FWIW, when I have a deep stack I fold AA72o in early position on an aggressive table where I am virtually certain the pot will be raised because I know I can find better hands and spots.

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Thanks for this. What about in position. If you are sure a reraise will get it heads-up.

Is it similar flops you will check behind on?

[BluffTHIS!]

Even in position I wouldn't raise with junky aces for the reasons given. However, if headsup and I hadn't raised with them and then if checked to, I would bet most boards that weren't very draw heavy because then you are representing a set or big draw yourself and aren't nearly as likely to be checkraised by tricky players who put you on AA.

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Thanks for this. What about in position. If you are sure a reraise will get it heads-up.

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How much do you like to gamble? By reraising in any position with a deep stack you are giving away a lot of information, making it more likely that you would win the small pot and lose the big pot. Especially in lower-limit games, reraising is sending up a gigantic flag that says, "I have A-A-x-x, try and out-flop me!" Any time that your opponent knows more about your hand than you do about theirs, you are at a disadvantage.