AJo UTG

[rjc199]

Typical Party 0.5/1. One calling station who is the SB in this hand.

I get AJo UTG. I decide to open-raise to see if it will thin the field. I usually don't open raise with AJo, I don't know whether I should do this more or not at all. It probably depends on how people respond to my raise. I get 1 MP coldcaller and the sb cold calls.

Flop [ T, 7, A ] suits don't matter in this hand.

SB bets into me, this guy is a calling station so I'm not too worried (yet). I raise immediatley behind him. We lose the coldcaller. SB 3-bets (not typical for a calling station). Now becuase of my kicker I'm a little worried so I don't cap. In retrospect I think I did the right move in calling here, but it would give me more information to raise the turn since he will have last action to that raise. If I cap here I don't think I gain as much information (however he will make a decision on the turn to bet or check to me). What is the better play?

Turn [ Q ]

He bets and I call (This is the questionable weak play). I think this was weak, but I was fearing two pair since this guy has been mucho-passive in the past. I have picked up outs with this card, so maybe that is another reason to raise too?

River [ 2 ]

He bets and I call.

Results in another post.

[rjc199]

He had A8o for the very dominated hand.
I won a 10 BB pot /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[lunchmeat]

Don't count on raises thinning the field at the .50/1 tables at Party. I don't think you made any major mistakes (like folding the best hand), but limping pre-flop and capping the flop would be how I would have played it. Since you raised pre-flop, not capping the flop might be the better option though, because there aren't many aces your opponent could reasonably call with that you could beat... But then again, you can't really expect the Party .5/1 tables to play reasonably.

[mauisupaman]

rjc,
I think in a loose low limit game you're happy to get callers with some of your stronger hands and you're not nessecarily trying to thin out the field pre-flop. Take AA or KK for example. The misconception is that you'd rather have fewer people in the pot or have the pot even HU. This is entirely wrong. As Dynasty once pointed out to me having a number of callers in a multiway pot with a holding like AA or KK is a very profitable situation.

On the flop I'd be very inclined to cap the pot after SB re-raises. You don't get information from calling. SB may have caught a set or two pair - fine, but more often than not in this situation you have the better hand so pound the flop.
A hui hou,
Adam

[lil']

Play the man as well as your hand.

A "mucho-passive calling station (poster's words)" bets, then 3 bets your raise. What do you put him on?

Yeah, I know, this time he had A-8o, but most of the time he's beating you.

[JTG51]

Your logic is a little inconsistent here.

First you say:
[ QUOTE ]
Don't count on raises thinning the field at the .50/1 tables at Party.

[/ QUOTE ]
You are implying that players at that level will generally call 2 bets with any hand they would have called 1 bet with (which by the way I think is wrong).


Then you say:
[ QUOTE ]
Since you raised pre-flop, not capping the flop might be the better option though, because there aren't many aces your opponent could reasonably call with that you could beat.

[/ QUOTE ]
Now you are implying that because of the preflop raise this opponent is likely to have only called with a decent hand.

Both statements can't be true.

[Brian]

Hi Ric,

I've had a lot of experience with .5/1 at Party over the past couple of weeks, and I find myself sometimes limping and sometimes folding AJo in EP, and rarely, if ever, raising.

Debates can be found all over the forums about AJo, and I don't think I can add anything that hasn't been said before. But I'll go ahead and give my reasons for the way I play it.

As bad as the players at this level are, I have found that they will generally fold low Aces to a raise, which, with AJo, you obviously don't want to happen. I also believe that, no matter what limits you play, raising with AJo is not going to get out the hands that give you trouble, namely: JJ, QQ, KK, AA, AQ, and AK. In other words, by raising AJ, you may thin the field of competition, but a lot of the hands you are getting to fold, you don't really want to fold. At the same time, since there are so many left to act after you, you could easily be getting yourself 3-bet out of position by a hand that is likely to have you dominated.

However, as my position improves, I will often limp with this hand, and I'll usually raise it. For example, if I am in the cut-off and someone in LP limps, I will almost certainly raise with AJo. There's a possibility that the button or the blinds have one of those aforementioned problem hands, but a lot less likely than if there are still 9 players left to act behind you.

Also, I nearly always fold AJo to a raise, even if I think that the raiser is too loose-aggressive or even a maniac. This hand tends to not be worth the trouble it can get you in to.

-Brian

[lunchmeat]

I think you misunderstood my response. First of all, of course people will play fewer hands for 2 bets than they will for 1. So at Party .50/1 your raise will knock out the worst hands a person will play. But the average player sees the flop with so many weak hands that they'll still play their "good" hands, such as crap like K9 or, as we saw, A8. So sure, a raise will probably cut down the field some, but you won't cut it down enough to make a difference.

My unoriginal assertion that raises won't significantly cut down the field in super loose games may be wrong, but it doesn't contradict the second sentence you quoted. The first quote has to do with the hands opponents will play. The second quote refers to the hands you can read your opponents playing. There is a difference.

So, to rephrase the point I tried to make in the second quote and the sentence that followed it (which put the quoted sentence in context): If you limp with AJ you can read your opponent as having a worse kicker than you much more easily than if you raise pre-flop. Raising far from guarantees that your opponents will only play quality hands, but you can feel a lot more confident that your opponent will be jamming with a hand like A3 instead of AK when you limp.

[Tosh]

[ QUOTE ]
Take AA or KK for example. The misconception is that you'd rather have fewer people in the pot or have the pot even HU.

[/ QUOTE ]

When I hold AA or KK I want people to pay me an extra bet as I have the best hand.

[Ed Miller]

You need to reevaluate your definition of a calling station. Calling stations don't play this way.

[Ian M.]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't think you made any major mistakes (like folding the best hand), but limping pre-flop and capping the flop would be how I would have played it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think limping UTG with AJo is rarely correct in a very loose low limit game, especially if there is any aggression preflop. I think you can either raise to try to get it down to a few number of players, or otherwise fold.

[JTG51]

[ QUOTE ]
So at Party .50/1 your raise will knock out the worst hands a person will play. But the average player sees the flop with so many weak hands that they'll still play their "good" hands, such as crap like K9 or, as we saw, A8.

[/ QUOTE ]

I definitely agree with this. And by the way, isn't this a great argument for raising with AJ before the flop?

[rjc199]

This was the first hand of a "new attitude" for this guy. He was on tilt the rest of the session being alot more aggressive. Previously he was a super calling station having never raised before and limping 90%.