Tricky AA move
 

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (6 handed) converter

saw flop|<font color="#C00000">saw showdown</font>

Button ($11.60)
<font color="#C00000">Hero ($133.70)</font>
<font color="#C00000">BB ($76.10)</font>
UTG ($47.95)
PokerFink ($145.85)
CO ($40)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. CO posts a blind of $1.
UTG calls $1, <font color="#666666">PokerFink folds</font>, CO (poster) checks, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $5</font>, BB calls $4, UTG calls $4, CO folds.

Flop: ($16) 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $10</font>, BB calls $10, UTG folds.

Turn: ($36) 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">BB bets $20</font>, Hero calls $20.

River: ($76) Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $50</font>, BB calls $41.10 (All-In).

Final Pot: $167.10

I thought Hero played this hand very well. Thoughts?

Re: Tricky AA move
 

[ QUOTE ]
I thought Hero played this hand very well. Thoughts?

[/ QUOTE ]

Without some sort of solid read here, I'm not sure I agree. 6c completes both the flush AND the straight, both of which are hands that BB could have been fishing for. He checks, and then cold-calls BB's bet. Maybe he successfully induced a bluff, and maybe BB's telling the truth.

Hero's large bet on the river makes even less sense. About the only thing that hero beats is a bluff. Villain's not folding any straight or flush.

Of course, all this changes if there's a read that we don't know about.

Re: Tricky AA move
 

I thought Hero's play looked a lot like a bluff, which is why I liked it. He could easily have AK, especially AcKx.

As such, I think the villian calls with a lot more than a made hand here. Thoughts?

BTW, Hero was pretty new to the table, so unless he had a prior read on the villian he was playing this in a vacuum. Villian was fairly laggy, so perhaps he did have a prior read.

Re: Tricky AA move
 

[ QUOTE ]
I thought Hero's play looked a lot like a bluff, which is why I liked it. He could easily have AK, especially AcKx.

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Actually, that's precisely why I don't like it. Yes, it looks exactly like a bluff, but he's not representing the nut hand. He's also picking a poor time to bluff, when the board has a lot of draws, and they all came in.

[ QUOTE ]
As such, I think the villian calls with a lot more than a made hand here.

[/ QUOTE ]

To be honest, it's not the river call I'm worried about. It's the 2/3 PSB on the turn, made after hero lead the flop. Most villains would be afraid of a check/raise and will check the turn through, unless they have a decent hand.

If villain was a known lag who'd bet the turn JUST because hero checked, then I like the play. If he's really operating in a vaccuum, then it think he's just spewing.