Two AQ hands for review
 

Pacific Poker, $100 no-limit buy in. Blinds $.5, $1.

Doing these mostly from memory since Pacific has a lousy hand history...

First hand: Hero A [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], middle position about 80$, full table of 10 people.
First three players limp in for 1$, I raised to $8.
Folds to Button who calls (he has about $100), SB and BB both fold and all the limpers fold. Button is average on looseness and agressiveness. I've seen him call decent raises with any A, any 2 face, and any 2 suited connectors but willing to lay down his true junk.

Flop: 9 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img],T [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img],J [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] My take with this flop is I'm up against either AA, KK, maybe QQ or KQ. I have 4 to the nut flush, need a K for the nut straight, an 8 gives me a winning straight against any hand without a Q and an A gives me top pair against anything but AA. Bottom line, I'm probably behind right now but I have at least 8 outs and likely 15. I lead out for $10, he re-raised to $25 at which point I pushed as a semi-bluff if he didn't have AA or KQ. He called.
Turn and river were no help and he showed KK to take the hand. I'd been folding to re-raises most of the night so I discounted the re-raise knowing I had so many outs. After seeing the KK I figured I had 15 solid outs (not including QQ turn/river) If I'd a been in his position, I'd a thought I was up against AA after the all-in and probably laid it down (Hole?)

2nd hand:
Hero with $120, played very few hands and shown good cards when he gets to a showdown. SB is very loose-aggressive seeing the flop with just about anything (worst was a 93 suited) and bets everything hard.
Hero again in middle position with A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], no limpers so I raise to $5, folds around to SB who calls, BB folds.
Flop: Q [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img],9 : [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]:,3 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] Knowing he could have anything I bet out the pot and he raises it to $25. I called.
Turn: A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] At this point I figure him for at most a pair or Ax o so I push, he calls.
River: 5 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
SB shows 2 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 4 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] for the winning straight. Bet more on the flop? One of those you chalk up to a fish that you hope you can get back later?

In my latest streak my worst beat was AK suited, to AJ. After hitting the A on the flop I bet out little over the pot on the flop, and pushed on the turn only to loose to runner-runner spades (4 spades on the board and he had the A spades).

Overbetting? Too aggressive? Seems when I have the nuts I never get any action.

Re: Two AQ hands for review
 

[ QUOTE ]
I've seen him call decent raises with any A, any 2 face, and any 2 suited connectors but willing to lay down his true junk.

Flop: 9 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img],T [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img],J [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] My take with this flop is I'm up against either AA, KK, maybe QQ or KQ.

[/ QUOTE ]

Huh? You can narrow your read on him just by seeing the flop? What type of pattern mapper have you got over there?

Re: Two AQ hands for review
 

a bad one or I'd be winning more and not posting this question here.

Re: Two AQ hands for review
 

Unless this game is uber-tight, I don't like your overaggression with AQ out of position, but let's get a little interesting than robotic "bet X with YY in Z position" mumbo-jumbo.

I like your flop play in the first hand. He played you pretty well and the only hand you can expect a call from preflop that you could beat was QQ.

v. QQ= 15 outs
v. KK, JJ, TT, and AA= 12 outs
v. KK w/Kh= 11 outs

In actuality, you wanted him to have KK if he was gonna call. The only hands that you can expect to get an $8 call from preflop that even a loose player would fold here would be 77-22 and AT. AJ is probably the best of the bad that you'll get. Maybe an AK.

My point is that you have a great draw. This is ring. You both made good bets/calls besides his weak preflop action.

What I don't like is your:
[ QUOTE ]
If I'd a been [holding KK] in his position, I'd a thought I was up against AA after the all-in and probably laid it down... played very few hands and shown good cards when he gets to a showdown

[/ QUOTE ]

You're giving your opponents a lot of credit minus your evidence. Just because you are playing doesn't mean that people are going to respect your bets. Now, if you've effectively bullied them using a selective aggression, then you have evidence to believe that you can pick an every spot or two to fire some bullets.

Table image is only an image if your opponents see it, not if you see it.

Re: Two AQ hands for review
 

Thanks Alex. I just started playing last year and managed to make a 25% ROI playing 30$ sit-and-go tourneys and an occastional multi-table (414 total after April when I started tracking). Pacific just added no-limit ring games and thought I'd do better but like you pointed out, table image doesn't count unless they see it. With the sit-and-go's, usually the fish are the first ones gone unless they get really lucky and since I keep notes on every hand by the time we get to the money I have a pretty good handle on what people are playing and the good ones have watched me so they know how tight I've been playing. With the ring games it doesn't seem to matter if I limp in 50% of the hands or I go 4 times around the table, I get the same (or no) action. Guess that's the big thing, and also by the time you get to the money in the sit-and-go's there's a chip differential (sometimes huge) where-as with the rings, if you bust out you can just buy back in.

Besides taking a break, watching some more ring games, any recommendations on a good ring book to read? Seems like I give up to re-raises too often unless I have the nuts. i.e. my ring game is pretty weak and I'm having a harder time putting people on hands.

-Geng

Re: Two AQ hands for review
 

Your instincts (reads) are your main weakness, just keep playing. In the meantime, be more selective with your raising hands.

EXAMPLE:
In full ring, you don't wanna be raising with AQ because you'll have problems playing it. These two hands, I thought you played well from the flop and beyond, but you're rushing it a bit.

The NL book that might do the best for you would be Cloutier/McEnvoy's Championship PL and NL Hold 'em and Daugherty/McEnvoy's NL Texas Hold 'em. Both will show you to be selectively aggressive in big bet poker and Cloutier/McEnvoy is a book that I constantly re-read because I love the way that he thinks about the game.

Read Daniel Negreanu's Card Player articles. They're on the Card Player website. Just hunt through the archives. Remember that his instincts are almost flawless and everything he does should not be done. I think that you should definitely analyze the way that he analyzes the game. It'll help you ten-fold.

But until you feel really confident in your reads, your flop/turn/river play is gonna suffer from raising preflop with AQ, AJ, KQ, 99, and the like. Keep combin' through the forums.

I moderate a forum ( http://www.pokerforums.org ). Check it out and keep browsing here. I just joined this forum, but I've been browsing it for almost a year. There a ton of helpful reading material here.

Re: Two AQ hands for review
 

Thanks, read Cloutier and McEvoy when I started the sit-and-go's will re-read it 20 more times from a ring-mentality standpoint. I've also added a new favorites =)

-Geng

Re: Two AQ hands for review
 

I like both hands, but I'm a shorthanded player, so I'm always opening with AQ.

Edit: Just to clarify, I rarely call a raise or reraise with AQ, unless it comes from a maniac.