Lousy flop for JJ--Now what?

[DougBrennan]

This situation comes up more often than I would like, and I'm never quite sure how to handle it.

UB multi-table, about 70 left of of 160, blinds at 75/150, I'm in MP with a slightly below-average stack of 1900. Relevant opponent is LP with 3000 or so and is moderately aggressive, but not a maniac. If anyone's paying attention, I should have a pretty tight table image.

I am dealt JJ. Fold to me, I make pot-sized bet of 525, my standard in this game, and all fold to LP who calls. Two to the flop.

Flop: A 9 4 rainbow.

Here's my quandry, and really the A could be a K or even Q and my problem would remain the same. If I make any kind of bet I'm getting pretty close to pot-committed, and I don't think I want to be, at least not without more info. But if I check, I know Opponent will bet, regardless of whether the flop hit him or not, and then I won't know if I'm good or not.

How do any of you folks handle this type of situation? Do I need to go all-in pre-flop to play JJ in this situation? Can I only play post-flop if the jacks are an overpair or make a set?

My usual method is to bet the flop like it hit me, get raised all-in, call and then go home to the paired Aces, or Kings. Seems to me there ought to be a better solution, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Thanks for any help.

[MuckMuck]

Tough situation which I hate myself. But I think the way you play this in your position(1375 left with the blind 75/150) is to decide if you want to battle low stacked or not? If you think you have enough chips to be comfortable with then you can check and let it go to a good size bet. If not commit yourself to the pot and hope he doesnt have you beat. Once again it's a real difficult situation but I think you play this hand according to your chip position.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

If you really mean it when you say he will bet every time you check to him, then you shouldn't bet. You should check, and then either fold or call. Betting has no value, since he will call when you're beat, and fold when you're ahead. Well, it does have the value of not letting him suck out on you, but that's not much upside here. If he could have QQ and would fold it, that's another reason to bet. Again, not a good one, as he appears unlikely to have QQ (or KK).

As to whether you call or fold, depends upon what you know about this opponent. If you know he'll bet everytime you check, then you must have some clue as to what he would've called with preflop.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)