how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

For example, lets say you have 1000 chips and get AA in BB. Blinds are 10/20. MP raises to 60, you re raise to 200. He calls.

Flop comes A-9-2 rainbow.

You check, he bets 200.

Now what? If you raise, I think theres a good chance he folds(unless he has A-K, A-9, A-2, 9-9, or 2-2 and I think A-K is the only reasonable hand here unless its some idiot playing 9-9). You want to sandbad obviously, but you don't want to let him draw a straigtht or flush, especially in a tournament situation where you don't want a lot of chips. So do you merely call and then bet on the turn? Or do you call and then check raise again on turn? Or do you just raise?

What if I said there were two hearts out there instead of a rainbow? Does that change things? I don't think a good player would've bet that much if he was on a heart draw(I would've checked to get the free card), but who knows with these online players. Does the heart draw make you play it more aggressively.

Thoughts?

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

ill tell you this. he isnt gonna bet out 200 with a flopped set of nines on a board like that. 9 to 1 he is trying to take down the pot there and a reraise isnt getting you anythign. let him bluff again on the turn.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

In this situation, I think I would call and then check raise the turn.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

I agree with the poster above. Call this bet (maybe even pause like you're considering folding). Then check raise the turn.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

I agree he has AK. If he has 99 you will win all his chips. I agree with the other posters to call and then check/raise.

If there are 2 suited cards I would raise the flop and try to take the pot right there. No sense losing all your chips with a good hand to a draw that you let in for cheap. You have put 40% of your stack in already. I probably reraise all in and don't mind a call.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

[ QUOTE ]
I agree he has AK. If he has 99 you will win all his chips. I agree with the other posters to call and then check/raise.

If there are 2 suited cards I would raise the flop and try to take the pot right there. No sense losing all your chips with a good hand to a draw that you let in for cheap. You have put 40% of your stack in already. I probably reraise all in and don't mind a call.

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This post was pretty much how I thought on the hand that inspired this thread(although everyone else also posted good insight).

The exact hand in question:

I have AA in BB. He raises to 60, I re raise to 200. He calls.

Flop comes A-9-2 with two hearts. I check, he bets 300, I raise all in. He calls with J-J [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] and I have him practically drawing dead. I don't know how he made that call, but thats besides the point.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

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I don't know how he made that call

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Me neither but I see those calls and worse every single tourny I play in. It seems to be more and more ridiculous every day. This is why all in isn't so bad because he may see it as a move and call. Then again he was probably some clueless idiot that only saw JJ and felt he deserved to win. At least he didn't spike a Jack [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

It also depends on which cards are suited, and which cards you hold in your hand.

For example, if I have AcAs, and the board is Ad9h2h, I would be much more afraid of the heart draw than if the board was Ah9d2h. People are much, much more likely to have called a raise with a suited ace, then with any other two suited cards.

Rick Diesel

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

i bet out on that board every time about half the pot...maybe a touch more. i want him to fall in love with his position and raise me. that basically PC's him and i can take it down right there. obviously i want him to play back, but i don't mind him folding too much either.

of course, if i had re-raised him holding pocket 10's, i would have bet out as well, then folded to a re-raise.

i don't want the reputation of betting the board as a semi-bluff and slow playing the big hands. it gives my opponents too much info.

cheers!

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

[ QUOTE ]
I have AA in BB. He raises to 60, I re raise to 200. He calls.

Flop comes A-9-2 with two hearts. I check, he bets 300, I raise all in. He calls with J-J and I have him practically drawing dead. I don't know how he made that call, but thats besides the point.

[/ QUOTE ]

Playing with the kids on the short bus again?

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have AA in BB. He raises to 60, I re raise to 200. He calls.

Flop comes A-9-2 with two hearts. I check, he bets 300, I raise all in. He calls with J-J and I have him practically drawing dead. I don't know how he made that call, but thats besides the point.

[/ QUOTE ]

Playing with the kids on the short bus again?

[/ QUOTE ]

If the $215 buy-in quarter million guaranteed is the short bus, then yes.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

You almost have to slowplay here though, because otherwise you get no money. Excluding the actual situation where someone fell in love with their pocket pair. How can someone raise that board without an ace? And since there is only one other ace, chances are better that he called your raise with a pocket pair, and if he's solid/tight he'd only play back at you a small percentage of the time.

I find that most aggressive players will try to pick up that pot on the flop if you check since it isn't scary. A pocket pair like jacks will always bet since if you have queens you might laydown. If the hearts are on the board, sure, bet hard and let him make a big mistake when you are a 70% favorite, it'd be hard for him to fold a pair and a flush draw.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

It's amazing how people with pairs are willing to go all-in after missing a flop.

The other day in a $3 Stars tourney, I was in middle position with Kd 4d. Blinds were at T50/T100, and I had the big stack at my table, over T4,000. One player limped in front of me, I limped in, one player after me raised to $300. The original limper called, I called.

Flop is 2d 3d 6h. First player bets the minimum, I call, player to my left goes all in. The other guy calls and is also all-in.

I think for a minute... I've got 8 outs to make a flush, three more that make a straight. I'm pretty sure that the raiser has a pair of aces, but if I call and lose I still have nearly T3,000 and it's early in the tournament, so I call.

Amazingly, the raiser had a pair of Queens... and the other caller had QJo.

I made my flush, busted both of them, and the raiser then berated me for being stupid enough to call an all-in with "King rags."

Heck, since even pairing my king would have beat him I had not just the 11 outs I though, but 14 outs! With 14 outs and two cards to come, I was better than even money and getting paid 2:1.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

[ QUOTE ]
It's amazing how people with pairs are willing to go all-in after missing a flop.

The other day in a $3 Stars tourney, I was in middle position with Kd 4d. Blinds were at T50/T100, and I had the big stack at my table, over T4,000. One player limped in front of me, I limped in, one player after me raised to $300. The original limper called, I called

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Its amazing how many people thing Kx suited is a hand worth calling a raise with.

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Amazingly, the raiser had a pair of Queens...

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Why is this amazing?

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Heck, since even pairing my king would have beat him I had not just the 11 outs I though, but 14 outs! With 14 outs and two cards to come, I was better than even money and getting paid 2:1.

[/ QUOTE ]

Amazing how many people justify a call with hindsight.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

I agree that this board is not dangerous, but I think the flat call is more threatening on the flop than a small raise. You have correctly concluded that there is no likely draw, so what is he supposed to put you on besides a big Ace at least?

Here's a way I might play it: Check to my opponent on the flop, then min-raise him (in this case 200). There is absolutely no way he will lay down a hand for just 200 more, and he may very well take the size of the raise as a sign of weakness and push. If that happens, great. If not, your raise has pot-committed him, and you can bet out on the flop. A weak player with JJ will call here hoping against hope that you are "bluffing," and you'll certainly get action from stronger hands.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

I'm curious about the converse here. What do you do with JJ and you raise to 60 and are re-raised to 200. Is that a fold right there most of the time?

If anyone calls that... what do you do when you're checked to on the A-high flop?

Thanks...
radii (mainly a ring game player trying to learn more about MTT play)

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

He certainly has pot odds to call on the flop. He's only in big trouble when up against a set. It's like calling a shortstack's allin with AK. Sometimes you are a favorite but most of the time you are a slight underdog.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

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Amazing how many people justify a call with hindsight.

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Even if he only had 11 outs twice, like he though, he had to call the all in here it turned out to be better then he thought. The before the flop play here was questionable, but once he gets that flop he is pretty much in.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

With JJ, I'd have raised to 125 or so. I fold to a reraise. Make the bet big enough so that only better hands raise in the lower levels. I'd fold to a raise.

As for AA... with 2 hearts on the board, I'd check/raise all in as well. With a rainbow flop... I'd give the opponent plenty of rope and let him do my dirty work for me. If he checks through the turn, bet all in on the river.

Re: how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board
 

[ QUOTE ]
With JJ, I'd have raised to 125 or so. I fold to a reraise. Make the bet big enough so that only better hands raise in the lower levels. I'd fold to a raise.

As for AA... with 2 hearts on the board, I'd check/raise all in as well. With a rainbow flop... I'd give the opponent plenty of rope and let him do my dirty work for me. If he checks through the turn, bet all in on the river.

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I agree. I think check raising all in with the flush draw out there is necessary, although why would he bet if he had a flush draw instead of giving himself a free card?? I think there are just a lot of poor players out there. I also agree that you can slowplay this a lot if no hearts draws are out there. Depending upon the opponent, in first position, I'd even consider checking the river, hoping for him to bet.