I'm playing a 480xBB pot with AA, 100NL deep

[ludo72]

Villain in this hand is a LAG, 45/17/4.33 after 300 hands, who is very aggressive and plays quite well post-flop. My table image is kinda LAGgy too; around 25/15 if Villain is using PT.

We've played a few pots together this far. He has 3-bet me pre-flop a few times, raised my c-bet a few times and so on. Just a few hands ago I raised pre-flop with 45s, got one caller and he 3-bet. I decided to take a flop and maybe keep him honest with the right type of flop because I didn't think he'd need a premium hand to do this. I flopped an OESD but didn't hit and the third guy in the pot ruined my plan of taking the pot away. After the hand the third guy who won the pot asked Villain what he had and I chimed in telling he had nothing, to which Villain replied that he had AQ.

This leads me to believe that Villain knows that I suspect that he 3-bets me pre-flop with less than premium holdings. In the hand below Villains pre-flop re-raise was instant, and this makes me to think he has a very big hand this time.

saw flop|<font color="#C00000">saw showdown</font>

Button ($253.43)
SB ($91.50)
<font color="#C00000">BB ($242.43)</font>
UTG ($59.35)
MP ($84.79)
<font color="#C00000">Hero ($257.12)</font>

Preflop: Hero is CO with A/images/graemlins/spade.gif, A/images/graemlins/heart.gif. SB posts a blind of $0.50.
<font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $4</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">BB raises to $11</font>, Hero calls $8.

Flop: ($24.50) 7/images/graemlins/spade.gif, T/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 5/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">BB bets $23</font>, Hero calls $23.

Turn: ($70.50) Q/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">BB bets $67</font>, Hero calls $67.

River: ($204.50) Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
BB calls $140.43 (All-In), Hero calls $140.43.

Final Pot: $485.36

Comments on all streets appreciated.

[Hattifnatt]

After BBs reraise, make it something like 45 preflop.

[Vavavoom]

I re-raise PF and then push flop....

U are up against KK or QQ IMO....and one of them has u beaten on the turn.........

Why did u not raise the flop ???


For some reason after looking at this hand again...I have a feeling its AA vs AA...

[rwanger]

Looks good to me.

If you think he has a big hand, I'd eliminate QQ and TT...he played it too strong. KK or JJ sounds good.

You got all your money in with presumably the best hand, and there was no way to avoid getting stacked here if he had you beat (unless he had AQ).

[kongo_totte]

You gotta 3-bet this PF. There are several reasons. A) You are too deep to mess around. B) Villians re-raise does not define his hand since he is doing this with alot of holding. C) Most importantly, he might figure you for a re-steal and push marginal holdings.

You have to raise at some point during this hand. I probably make a good sized raise pre-flop. If not, I put a big raise in on the flop. You have no idea what his holdings are with the way you played it, a raise early on allows you to narrow his range. He might have just backed into trip queens to crack your aces. Hopefully he shows you KK and your hand is good.

[ludo72]

Here's my thinking through the hand:

Pre-flop I didn't want to make it too easy for him to read my hand which is why I called. I think he knows I don't need a premium hand to call his 3-bets and I can use this to my advantage because my read tells me his handrange is a lot narrower than he thinks mine is.

The flop looked pretty innocent even though TT is a hand he could have. My original plan was to either raise the flop or the turn and since he was so eager into putting money in the pot I decided to wait and let the pot grow, making it harder for him to get away. Like I said, he was really aggressive post-flop, like a steamroller, so getting money in the pot was not a problem.

The turn card was not as pretty as I was hoping for. One of the two most likely hands he could have had just made a set so I started thinking this as a WA/WB situation. I almost raised but then thought he might get away from KK if I did, so I just called.

If my original read was right, the river was a good card for me, because it made it less likely for Villain to have QQ. I was a tad worried about AQ but my gut told me this was not part of his handrange. I called expecting to see either TT or KK.

Makes sense?

[scdavis0]

I think the problem is that you are betting a lot of money that give his pre flop action his hand range is {JJ-AA}.

I think you'll see a hand like 55 or 77 here more often than you think.

[Big_Jim]

Does villian really get THIS out of line?

This is a huge pot, he can't really be semi-bluffing, and similarly, you can't be drawing.

He then fires two pot sized bets on the flop and turn, and then follows through when a "blank" hit the river....

I suppose KK is possible, but are there any other hands that you think he would think are good that you beat? Is he really capable of a 3 barrell bluff on a drawless board for 240BBs?

[ansky451]

So then what do you differently

[Big_Jim]

I re-raise PF.

[swolfe]

i don't mind the PF call. i raise the flop...make it look like a re-re-steal.

[Riverman]

Playing this deep and with a wide range for him, you must 3-bet this preflop.

You called on every single street- this is not a good sign. I think there is a good chance you won this hand, but you have done nothing to narrow his range which means you are guessing. guessing=calling=generally bad

[scdavis0]

I'd go ahead and bomb it pre flop.. you want to get as much money in as possible when you hold the current nuts when have 3 additional streets of betting and deep money

i'd make it about $45 and shrug if he folded

[VarlosZ]

I think calling preflop is ok in the right situation. This hand looks like a reraise to me, but I don't think calling is horrible.

If you do call, however, you must take advantage of the deception gained by raising big on the flop (to at least $75 or so). Only against a total aggro-maniac who backs down from counter-aggression could calling on all four streets be correct.

[Woolygimp]

I think this hand was butchered, 3-bet around $45. If called push the flop.

[Leptyne]

AA wants to get all the money pre-flop. Against a particularly agro player OOP who you think is determined to get all his money in anyway this trapping play is the same as getting it all-in pre-flop. Not the same, but the results are the same. Bet-call, bet-call, all-in-call. Raising pre-flop may have given him a chance to get away. Calling lets him think he's good. You're not folding and all you want is to get all your money in. I think you trapped him nicely. Results are not important. You'll win most of these, but you won't win them all.

[Exitonly]

er.. i dont think i like 3 betting PF, but i'm used to tournaments. I'd be trying to get all his money in, and unless he has KK, maybe QQ he's not going to get it in. I'd be raising that flop though, and calling a push.

So maybe i'm setting myself up for disaster, but i think i'm setting him up more.... maybe.

[MTBlue]

If he's three betting you frequently. You need to expand his hand range. This also means that your normal WA/WB situation when he also has an overpair is no longer true. How sick would you be if you let 98o crack your aces b/c you never raised? Against someone this aggressive the appropriate action is to reraise preflop then bomb the flop. Not b/c this is the optimal way to play Aces but b/c it sets up opportunities down the line for you to resteal and forces the villain to make tough decisions. This line is an offensive strategy whereas you the calling line is essentially a defensive play (protecting yourself from being bluffed). Do you have any read on the villain that says he'll play a 480BB pot with only one pair? One of the secrets to be a successful lag is to play small or medium sized pots with one pair then when you have two pair or better play a big pot. People tend not to believe you have it when you are splashing around all the time.

[ludo72]

About Villains handrange. This was maybe the fourth time he had 3-bet me pre-flop total during the 150 hand session. While I highly doubt it has always been either AA, KK, QQ or AK, he probably isn't doing this with any two cards he'd normally open-raise with. I think it's very questionable he'd do it with 55 or 77, especially when I gave him a clear hint just two hands ago that I'm not giving his pre-flop 3-bets much respect.

When he insta 3-bet me pre-flop in this hand, I got the feeling that he was very excited that he had finally created the needed meta game conditions in order to win a big pot from me with the hand he had. Basically this is my read which is also part of the hand and which I think some of you are overlooking. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm just resulsts oriented, because KK is what he had.

I think the pre-flop call is fine and I really like it more than 4-betting because I know a lot more about his hand than he knows about mine. If this wasn't the case I'd probably 4-bet, but this time I think calling is just fine. On the flop I should've probably raised. I'm not sure if he gets away from QQ at this point, but with KK he's probably going down nonetheless.

Thanks for all the responses.

[scdavis0]

i have no idea how this guy 'plays well post flop'

there ain't a damn hand someone can call with there that doesn't beat KK

[ludo72]

[ QUOTE ]
i have no idea how this guy 'plays well post flop'

there ain't a damn hand someone can call with there that doesn't beat KK

[/ QUOTE ]

That was just my first impression of his play; he was not amazing but played decent. I have to agree that he played his kings awfully in this hand.