[MrWookie47]

I called down in this hand, but I think it was wrong. I think it may even be a larger that 1 BB mistake. Here's why I think that way.

On page 239 of TOP, Sklansky writes, "When an opponent bets in a situation where he is sure you're going to call, he is not bluffing." Pax, in this situation, knew I was going to call him down. 2+2ers are incapable of folding any pair here against an aggressive player who "might be trying to fold them." They'll even call down with respectable A's. They might fold KQ or AT, but AK is probably getting shown down, certainly A7 and 99. If he had AK, he should be thinking about getting to showdown rather than trying to fold me. The only hands I'll fold are the ones that are drawing to 3 outs. A check/raise is very -EV for AK in this spot. What hands is it +EV for? Well, it's +EV for hands that are a favorite to win against my range given that I call. Pax could have me nailed down pretty tightly to 66-TT, A7 or AQ at this point, maybe AKo if I'm a wimp. Just about anything else is capping preflop or isn't raising and betting that flop. I'm certainly not calling with anything worse than those. So, what does Pax have? TT-AA, obviously. There is certainly a chance he's making a mistake, but 1 time in 4.5? Unlikely. He both has to have AK/AQ at the expense of AA-TT AND be playing them badly. I was destined by the cards to lose money on this hand, but I lost almost 2 BB more than I needed to (almost 2, because there's a chance he's playing badly).