Muck them Aces

A 10-20 hand from this weekend that had two items of interest for me.


I'm in the best seat at the table--a Loose Aggressive to my right, and an (extremely) Tight Passive Predictable to my left.


Pick up red aces in mid position. LA brings it in for a raise, I make it 3 bets, and the TPP caps it. All fold to the button (a knowledgable player--with some gamble in her) who calls. LA and I also call.


17 small bets in the pot. 4 of us see the flop of Tc 9d 6c. LA checks, I check, TPP bets, and all call.


Turn is the 7c. LA bets into the field of 3.

I took a quick peek to see if one of my red aces was a club, then folded.


So, what do you think? Looking back, betting out on the flop may have been the best play. I had two of the other hands pretty well figured by the turn fold, though.


The two items of interest:


1. I had never before seen a completely "cold call" of four bets. May be a daily thing in California, but we just don't do that here in the Midwest. The lady knew what she was doing, and thought "all the big cards were out".


2. This was the earliest that I had released pocket aces before---and for just one bet.


Results below.

Remaining action went:

Turn--LA bet, I fold, both call.

River--red 2--LA bet, both call.


LA had Kc Qc for the winning flush


TPP had black Aces. Would have bet on that.


Button had 9h 8h for a straight. Medium suited connectors is the only thing that made any sense to me. I still wouldn't cold call 4 bets---but she thought everyone else had all the A's K's and big cards.


IS there a hand (other than AA) that anyone WOULD cold call a 4 bet cap on?

I can understand folding when the flush came if you had a really good read on the LPP but why didn't you check raise the flop? What were you afraid of with that flop? What were you hoping for?

"IS there a hand (other than AA) that anyone WOULD cold call a 4 bet cap on?"


I'll just about always play KK for 4 bets. I'd also consider playing any pocket pair if there figures to be enough multi-way action.


Even though it turned out you were right (this time), I don't like that you never gave your aces a chance. Next time this same strategy might prove very costly.

Any two big cards, any big pair should be played very aggressively against a single or two opponents (in this case). You played well until the flop, you should have gone either for a checkraise or come out with a bet. You simply cannot check and call with that hand.


If you think that LA had the striaght card then folding is ok, if not and if you consider him as a tricky player i would call in a heartbeat.


Oh by the way one more thing, memorize your cards because when three cards of one suit come up and a player peeks at his cards thats a tell representing that he has only one more card of that suit (in your case)...


I hope i helped,

-MJ

"I took a quick peek to see if one of my red aces was a club, then folded"


Good line. My eyes are bad, but when they're both red (or black) they're easy to remember. I also peak back in these situations. It's usually nervous disgust, knowing I'm going to have fold the damn aces (usually after having lost with them the only other time I got them that week). . .


"This was the earliest that I had released pocket aces before---and for just one bet"


I can remember perhaps a dozen hands where I released aces on the turn for one bet. (All right, I can't really remember them, but I'm sure I've done it at least that many times.) Most of the situations were exactly as you describe: a turn card that makes a 4-flush or 4-straight (or both) and I would be drawing dead into a completed hand.

Of course, it's not really one bet, there's already been action (and lots of it) on prior rounds.


"I had never before seen a completely "cold call" of four bets"


Me neither. With only 7 players other than the blinds, you'd need at least 4 of the first 6 to play to begin with. This probably happens (in my game) only about twice an hour to begin with. Then you'd need a capped pot. Pretty rare, even in California.

17 bets preflop. So, you have to do what it takes to improve your chances of winning the pot i.e. as opposed to winning extra bets. Here, you have one player to your right and two to your left. Furthermore, I gather that you have put the TPP to your left on a big overpair. So, you ought to bet the flop to see if she raises and whether that raise will knock out the other two players. If the other two coldcall, you may want to see what the turn brings rather than 3 bet on the flop. If it's a blank, I would bet again and hope TPP raises it again. On the other hand, if I read TPP as a player who would not raise on the turn even with KK, I would switch gears and go for the checkraise on the turn in order to build the pot i.e. if you can't get her to help you clear the field, at least get her to help you build the pot.


On your hand, call me a payoff machine but I would call the turn bet (given your description of the bettor). I would fold if someone behind raised (as the pot is protected from a bluff or semibluff raise but not so much a semibluff bet).


And ya, there are lots of hands that I might call 4 bets cold with depending on who the 3 and 4 bettors are.

I would have bet the flop in an attempt to make the capper raise and thin the field. The fold on the turn was fine.


Gotta love those cold calls of 4 bets. The last time I saw someone cold call 4 bets, he had KT, which wound up defeating my aces /images/smile.gif


Chris