AQo hand

[Diplomat]

15-30, 6-max. Folded to me on the button, I raise with AQo, both black. The small blind, who has been very aggressive in his re-stealing (usually with very weak hands and small pairs) three-bets. I cap.

The flop is 478, with two diamonds. Checked around.

The turn is the queen of diamonds. Check/bet/call.

The river is a black Ten. Check/bet/call.

I thought this was interesting because it's the first time in a long while I've checked the flop heads' up after capping pre-flop (possibly the first time ever). What does the forum think of this play? I think the rest of the hand is pretty standard.

-Diplomat

[Coilean]

I think you played it fine. Heads up against overaggressive players, I'm usually looking to see a showdown with a big ace, and don't really want to pay much to get there unless I connect with the board. If you're going to get check raised on the flop a lot by both better and worse hands (i.e., the check raise doesn't tell you much about his hand), then nothing seems wrong to me with just checking, especially if it might get him to bluff off some chips on the turn and/or river when he doesn't have anything.

[mike l.]

"What does the forum think of this play?"

heads up w/ position? not much.

either you deceide youre likely ahead or you decide that you arent. if you put him on something AQ has pretty beat why not charge him to get there on the turn and charge him to checkraise you on the flop w/ a worse hand as well. even if he paired up on the flop, he'll have to be pretty tough and fearless to stand a 3 bet by you on the flop. looks like youre getting to the river on this one one way or another, why let him tag along w/ a chance to take a pot that's YOURS?

[Diplomat]

Hi Mike,

I had a few things bouncing in my head. Coliean mentioned one -- a checkraise tells me very little. This opponent would probably 4-bet me without hesitating with a hand as weak as bottom pair, ace kicker. Or he might checkraise the turn.

But I did want to tie him into the hand if he had trash. But I wanted him to pay to draw to his trash. But I did not want him to throw away his hand if he is drawing thin.

So I checked, thinking I was taking control of the hand that way. Then, the decision is back on him -- "is one pair good? Am I being slowplayed? Why the heck would he cap with pre-flop, and then check the flop? Hrrm."

What do you think of the pre-flop cap? What if the hand was not online, so there was no cap heads' up? (meaning he could have made it five bets)

-Diplomat

[mike l.]

the cap was great. even if it was no cap (live game) it was a great 4 bet. i would 4 bet with it. there are some guys i would 6 bet with it against shorthanded with position. make em suffer!

as for all that other stuff: youre overthinking things. youre heads up w/ position. he is loose and deserves to lose all his money to you. bet your hand like it's the winner.

i remember an AQ hand i posted from a big game i played in earlier this year. i slowed down with it after i was raised on the non-scary flop (by another AQ that ended up taking down my $1600+ pot). snakehead replied and told me i was a pussy and that i shouldve played it much faster. i think about that sometimes when im sitting in a game and playing well, but letting myself get bullied out of some bets. fuuck that shiit, bet your big Aces hard.

[anatta]

One advantage to checking the flop headsup here is that it confuses the hell out of your opponent. You said so yourself that you may have never done it. Almost always your opponent will check the turn again wondering "what's up?"

This is great when he has a pair that he would push aggressively. Your preflop cap may have slowed him down, but maybe not. Since he would 3-bet preflop with a small pair or weak hands and the flop came low, I would think there is a good chance that he has a pair, especially by the river. You are going to showdown here no matter what so you set yourself up to lose the minimum if the turn was a blank. That is, you could bet the turn and he would call, and check behind on the end.

One of the reasons to bet the flop here with your unimproved AK/AQ is so you can bet the turn and get a free showdown. By crossing him up with a check, you can accomplish the same thing. Obviously, most every time you are going to bet the flop, but I think occasionally a change-up is good too.

[Diplomat]

[ QUOTE ]
he is loose and deserves to lose all his money to you.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like that part. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Thanks for the response Mike. I still think I like the check, but I can certianly see the point you are making. I think I'd be more inclined to go to war post-flop with an opponent who might have a half-decent holding (a couple of face cards) and can fold a hand, rather than this fella. He was just flat loose-aggressive in steal situations.

Another topic is the pre-flop cap...I was trying to think of the differences between b+m and online, and I think capping betting in a b+m game is more of a sign of power than online...simply because when you 4-bet in a live game, you more or less are saying you are unafraid of a 5-bet. Thoughts?

I agree with you, in either case (b+m or online) I'd 4-bet pre-flop.

-Diplomat

[Diplomat]

Hi Anatta,

Thanks for the post. One of the biggest reasons I checked the flop was to confuse him, and secondly to limit his options. I may have given a free card to him, and that's why I was not sure my check was correct. Then again I might have needed a free card.

Your last point about seeing a cheap showdown by betting the flop -- possibly. If he just calls the flop. If he checkraises, or bets at any point, it will get expensive.

-Diplomat