WPT Super Bust Out with AA

[Double Eagle]

This hand happened last night in the WPT Super. My table image was tight agressive and my opponent here was loose agressive. I'd seen him play some middle suited connectors a couple of times, but needless to say I was pretty much blindsided by his play here. Would anyone have layed this down? Any other advice or input appreciated.

PokerStars Game #225134676: Tournament #711405, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2003/12/29 - 00:31:56 (ET)
Table '711405 29' Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: slvrmountn (2640 in chips)
Seat 2: mandrake5 (4665 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 3: dreamers (8880 in chips)
Seat 4: urpimpnes (3235 in chips)
Seat 5: PennyTrader (2355 in chips)
Seat 6: Double Eagle (2525 in chips)
Seat 7: orcslayer (3305 in chips)
Seat 8: TARBABY (3715 in chips)
Seat 9: KrazyKanuck (5850 in chips)
slvrmountn: posts small blind 50
mandrake5: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Double Eagle [Ah Ac]
dreamers: calls 100
urpimpnes: folds
PennyTrader: folds
Double Eagle: raises 300 to 400
orcslayer: folds
TARBABY: folds
KrazyKanuck: folds
slvrmountn: folds
mandrake5: folds
dreamers: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [Jd 2h 6s]
dreamers: checks
Double Eagle: bets 400
dreamers: calls 400
*** TURN *** [Jd 2h 6s] [4d]
dreamers: checks
Double Eagle: bets 700
dreamers: raises 1800 to 2500
Double Eagle: calls 1025 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Jd 2h 6s 4d] [7h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dreamers: shows [5d 3d] (a straight, Three to Seven)
Double Eagle: shows [Ah Ac] (a pair of Aces)
dreamers collected 5200 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5200 | Rake 0
Board [Jd 2h 6s 4d 7h]
Seat 1: slvrmountn (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: mandrake5 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: dreamers showed [5d 3d] and won (5200) with a straight, Three to Seven
Seat 4: urpimpnes folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: PennyTrader folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Double Eagle showed [Ah Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: orcslayer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: TARBABY folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: KrazyKanuck (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

[Bozeman]

The flop bet is not nearly enough; he probably would have called anyway, but then you wouldn't have gotten so much money in drawing dead.

[Scooterdoo]

when I first read your post without looking at dreamers stack size I was thinking how you got screwed. After realizing how big a stack he had I think you blew it by not raising all-in pre-flop. This was the only way to get him to even care about your raise. He had so many chips that he is probably just trying to steal blinds and limp in to see if he can catch something and bust people out every few hands with even complete junk - he did have one gap suited connectors <g>. The T100 call was nothing to him. Your raise also meant nothing to him, and he probably sensed you had a good hand so decided to see if the flop hit him with rags so he can bust you out as you hung on to your hand not suspecting that he hit his hand -- which is what happened! Now the flop only kind of hit him, he only had a gut shot straight draw, but he was probably thinking that since you didn't go all-in you might have overcards and missed your flop so he decided what the hell, the pot was sizable and your bet was weak given the pot size.

The point is that you need to factor in what the opponent is thinking given his position in the tournament. The all-in was critical against this big a stack pre-flop if you want him to throw down junk and even more critical on the flop -- he still might have followed you on the flop, but probably not since he would have put you on a higher pair.

Of course one could argue that you wanted him heads-up not to fold given that you are a heavy favorite against hands he'll fold to your all-in bet. However, I believe it's better to take what you can get with AA assuming there's at least something decent in the pot than let him outdraw you and go broke watching him do it. AA is dangerous because it's hard to fold, better to force the action.

OR... perhaps he's just a total maniac knows nothing about poker, starting hand selection, EV, etc., and just got lucky!

[TimTimSalabim]

I would normally make a pot-sized bet on the flop here, but since that bet would be a sizeable portion of my remaining chips, and also to avoid a big stack playing me instead of his cards, I'd probably move all-in on the flop. Your flop and turn bets indicate possible weakness, so now you don't know if he's bullying you with his turn raise or he actually has a hand, and you have to call. Since you were going to call off your whole stack anyway, better to have just moved in on the flop. Of course, it's easy for me to say that knowing the results. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[curtains]

I dont think its so bad to bet relatively small in this situation. Maybe 400 is a bit small, but I almost surely wouldnt bet the entirepot....id want to bet an amount where my opponent could envision that Id likely fold to a checkraise allin, and if he is an aggressive player....something like 400-600 might have this affect (with only like 2500 in chips, your opponent cant expect you to fold after betting 900 of it on the flop).
This is a very good flop for AA and there are basically no draws whatsoever (save the 53 gutshot draw). Anyway mainly I think sometimes you can gamble and you don't need to protect your hand so badly....I think this is one of these cases. Unfortunately things didnt quite work out. (although Id still have bet slightly more than 400)

If you had more chips Id be more likely to bet larger as you are risking much more by letting the guy stay around cheap to catch a miracle card.