Curtains 2: Ever cautious with AA

[sofere]

How do you not bet out on that flop? It looks like this entire hand was played scared of a set.

PartyPoker, Big Blind is t30 (8 handed) Converter on pregopoker.com (http://www.pregopoker.com/hhconv/convert)

CO (t1760)
MP2 (t900)
MP1 (t415)
UTG+1 (t980)
UTG (t970)
BB (t960)
SB (t1840)
Hero (t2175)

Preflop: Hero is in Button with A/images/graemlins/diamond.gif A/images/graemlins/club.gif
<font color="gray">UTG folds</font>, <font color="gray">UTG+1 folds</font>, <font color="gray">MP1 folds</font>, <font color="gray">MP2 folds</font>, <font color="gray">CO folds</font>, <font color="red">Hero raises t80</font>, SB calls t65, <font color="gray">BB folds</font>

Flop: (t190) 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 7/images/graemlins/spade.gif 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t190) 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 7/images/graemlins/spade.gif 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif (2 players)
SB checks, <font color="red">Hero bets t75</font>, SB calls t75

River: (t340) 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 7/images/graemlins/spade.gif 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif Q/images/graemlins/club.gif (2 players)
<font color="red">SB bets t150</font>, Hero calls t150

[Sykes]

Or it looks like he got the max off AQ.

[tshort]

[ QUOTE ]
How do you not bet out on that flop? It looks like this entire hand was played scared of a set.

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree. I think Curtain's isn't afraid of seeing a turn card here in an attempt to extract more value on the turn than on the flop. Overs or mid-pocket pairs such as 99/TT are far more likely than a set.

A read on the player to better define his range might clear up why he played it this way. Regardless of the read, I think checking the flop is a good play.

[bones]

[ QUOTE ]
I disagree. I think Curtain's isn't afraid of seeing a turn card here in an attempt to extract more value on the turn than on the flop. Overs or mid-pocket pairs such as 99/TT are far more likely than a set.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can almost guarantee that if curtains thought villian had 88-TT he'd bet this flop every time in hopes that he'd get checkraised. If he put them on a midpair, the last thing he'd want is for a K or Q to peel on the turn and scare his action away.

[curtains]

No action on this hand! For what its worth I like checking behind on the turn here, unorthodox as it may seem..Im no longer playing the hand for its value because if all the chips get in the pot at any point, Im usually in big trouble. Meanwhile I don't mind calling a few bets in a small pot.

[microbet]

I'll give some more action. I don't check behind on the flop.

[curtains]

Yes microbet, I think very few people do. I just don't see a lot of great cahnces to extract value from my hand, especially given the huge stack sizes involved and the very deep stacks. One thing thats for sure is Im almost completely unwilling to get all my chips in the pot later in the hand without an ace coming. If I bet something like 150 now and my opponent checkraises to 450, I have no choice but to committ all of my chips if I want to continue (Calling is kind of annoying). Now suddenly if my opponent flopped something I have gone from a huge 2100 chips to 300 chips immediately. Meanwhile I'm hoping they will somehow decide to call all 1700 of their chips with something like TT, which they often would have reraised with preflop anyway.

My chip position is so good and its so hard to get any serious value from my hand in this situation, that I prefer to play it slowly and hope to win a small pot, instead of risk getting involved in a big pot, or having to fold my hand at some point. If my opponent had 900 chips I bet the flop of course and I'm willing to move allin no problem.

My main point is that once the flop comes I'm no longer expecting to win a giant pot with just one pair, AA. Instead I shift my goals and try to get a smallish bet here or there and win a small to medium size pot without ever risking a large portion of my chips. This is a rare situation that usually happens just when I have a huge stack early and my opponent does as well.

[microbet]

That makes a lot of sense. Probably the biggest difference I've seen moving up any levels at all is how much harder it is to get paid off with AA or KK in the $109s than it was in the $55s. I'm sure finding ways to win small/medium pots, rather than constantly pushing people out of very small pots is important.

[microbet]

I'm making almost exactly the same $ with AA in the $109s as the $55s. /images/graemlins/blush.gif

[curtains]

btw when I said "once the flop comes", I meant "once this flop comes". Its a particularly annoying flop.

[curtains]

Hey OP, where are the results /images/graemlins/smile.gif I forget exactly what he had. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

If you had raise AKo preflop, do you bet this flop?

If so, then not betting this flop with AA is a mistake. If you don't bet flops like this with AA but you do with AK, then I'd check-raise you at least half the time. For continuation bets to work, you have to bet good hands, too.

For what its worth, I like betting the flop, like I would most hand I raised, but would mix it up between checking

If I had raised 77, 55, 44, 68o, or 23s, I'd also bet the flop.

But I'm not crushing the 109's yet...

[curtains]

No I check behind with AK too most of the time. I don't c-bet so often with a missed AK, especially on a board like this. I do bet AK on these boards sometimes, but I check a lot also.