[Buzz]

rr2000 - Good question. Let’s look at each betting round.

1st betting round. I think you generally should play A2HH (bare ace deuce with two high cards). At this point you’re not playing for half the pot. You’re hoping for a scooper. When you hold A2HH, the flop you really want to see is top full house, but flops with top trips, nut straight draws, and at least two playable low cards are also playable. For example, when you hold Ac2cTsQh, the flop you really want to see is AAQ, but flops like QcJc8h, AA8, QQ8, TT8, KJ8, and 987 are also very playable. There also are some combination flops that are playable.

Although it may appear there are more high flops than low flops, it will turn out that with Ac2cTsQh, there are more flops where you will catch the nut low draw than flops where you catch a high fit. With the nut low draw, your justification for staying in the hand after the flop will seemingly be your nut low draw, but actually you should still hoping to scoop with a high only hand. (At least that’s my thinking).

2nd betting round. Flop was 7s6s6h. You wanted to see AAQ, but instead you got a flop where you caught the nut low draw. That’s the norm for playing Ac2cTsQh. If the flop had been 9c7s6h you would have at least had a chance for a back-door draw to a flush for a possible scooper, but the way it is you have no realistic chance for high. If you continue playing, you are only playing for the low half the pot.

When someone bets or raises after a flop of 7s6s6h you can’t tell if one of your opponents has a two-way hand with a six plus ace-deuce or not. Perhaps the person who has raised has a hand like Ah4h6cKc., or perhaps Ah2h6cKc - or perhaps something else. There are lots of reasonable possibilities and many of them include A2XX. Thus you very well may be quartered or sixthed here, even when you do make the nut low. In addition, an ace or a deuce on the turn or river will kill your hand.

Putting it all together, I think you fold Ac2cTsQh to a double bet on the second betting round. From the big blind, I think you check and call a single bet if it looks like there will be no raise after you have called.

3rd betting round. Turn was Jc, making the board 7s6s6hJc. If you played correctly on the 2nd betting round, you are not still in the hand if there was a raise on the 2nd betting round.

As an aside, note the importance of being in either early or late position here to stay out of trouble. If you had been in mid position, if someone in front of you bet, if you called from mid position, then if someone in late position raised, and if the person who originally bet only called, you would be almost forced to call the raise. In this case you would still be in the hand after a raise on the 2nd betting round.

Assuming you played correctly on the second betting round, the reasoning on the third betting round is similar to the reasoning on the second betting round. I think you fold Ac2cTsQh to a double bet on the third betting round.

Generalizing, I think you are getting favorable odds to limp to a single bet but not a double bet on either the second or third betting round. If you’re going to play Ac2cTsQh from the big blind after a flop of 7s6s6h and a turn of Jc, then I think you check and call a single bet but check and fold to a double bet on either the second or third betting round.

You also would not be wrong if you folded Ac2cTsQh to a single bet after a flop of 7s6s6h. It’s a marginal (break-even) situation. The reason for continuing in marginal situations is to enhance your table image. You expect to break even on marginal flop fits over the course of a year, but by playing these marginal flop fits you tend to increase your profit when you have a nice fit with the flop. If you play too tight you may not get much action when you really want it.

Just my opinion.

Buzz