Playing against the weak lead

[B Mando]

When someone makes a weak bet into you on a crazy flop(like AKJ or KKQ) and you have position do you usually raise on the flop or do you call on the flop and see how the player reacts on the turn.

This is all assuming you have got part of the flop and you are up against an average opponent who you consider to be a little worse than yourself.

I know this is a really open-ended question but a situation came up today that got me thinking about playing this weak bet when you have position.

My opponent opens the pot from middle position for 8 when the blinds are 1-2 and I call on the button with Q9c. My opponent is a solid,tight, and aggresive player who I have played with on a number of occasions. The flop comes down AAQ. My opponent takes a little while longer than usual to bet his hand and something smells fishy. Not necessarily a bad fishy. A fishy like...he could have flopped a huge hand or he could be very concerned about how that flop sucks for JJ or KK or something. Anywoo...He bets out 8 on the flop. I raise to 22. He re-raises like 36 more or some silly BS and I fold. He obvouisly had it. We each had over 150 behind us to start the hand.

Now...back to the question at hand. Do you call on the flop and see if he slows down on the turn, OR do you raise on the flop. I have always been raising on the flop if I have felt weakness in my opponents bet but I dont think that calling on the flop and seeing how my opponent reacts on the turn is a terrible idea. Assume that this player will not continue a to bluff into this pot past the turn. The only reason why I really hate just calling on the flop is because what if my opponent makes another weakish bet again on the turn? Then it becomes more expensive to find out where I am at if I decide to raise the turn, and I dont like the idea of calling bets on the flop and turn if I feel my opponent could easily have a hand that I could get him off of. I think calling on the turn also makes it much easier for my opponent to just call my bet on the river with a second best hand.

I know this is a very open-ended question and a read-dependent play but I was just thinking about how other players handle this situation...

[Reef]

disclaimer: This is from my experience at NL25 6-max

I think with a raise, you can tell immediately where you're at. Against the weak lead and you raise:

1) they just call - I then put them on a draw.
2) they had weak holdings and fold.
3) they have a monster and reraise.

[tek]

Depending on the specific opponent, a weak lead or a minraise could be a trap. You raise and they reraise big.

Calling a weak lead is safe if you are drawing. But if you have the best hand or a monster, you should pretend to "fall" for the trap.