10-20 AQ hand

[M.B.E.]

Just for fun, here's a hand where I played wrong on every single street, but won a huge pot anyway.

A super-maniac is UTG and live-straddles. The next player raises. I am next with AQo and make it four bets. It's folded around to the small blind who caps it at five bets. Everyone calls. Five of us see the flop with 25 small bets in the pot.

For the benefit of SKP (and other Vancouver players who may be lurking), the small blind was Cowboy, BB was Brian, straddler was Tin, and I don't know the name of the other guy (who was on my immediate right and preflop raised first).

FLOP: Q-8-5 (suits irrelevant)

I have top pair, top kicker. SB bets out, BB raises, straddler calls, preflop raiser calls, I call, SB three-bets, BB calls, straddler caps at four bets and we all call. Still five of us contesting a 22.5-big-bet pot.

TURN: Q-8-5-8

I am last to act and everyone else checks. I am thinking that someone could easily have Q8 and be planning a checkraise (particularly the big blind). Also I might be beat by AA, KK, QQ, or A8 -- any one of these are plausible holdings for one or more of my opponents. For some reason I bet anyway. My first three opponents call and the other guy folds. Four of us see the river with 26.5 bets in the pot.

RIVER: Q-8-5-8-5

Checked to me, and I check. I win with AQ. Small blind said he had KQ and I still have no clue what the BB and straddler had. QT? JJ? A draw like J9 or 76?

There is an argument for my betting the river: I could have deduced that my hand was probably best when no one checkraised the turn, and I probably would have picked up two more big bets. Also there was a slim chance that the small blind would have folded KK or AA when the board double-paired on the river -- another reason for me to bet.

Afterwards I was thinking about my preflop play of four-betting a straddler and EP raiser. The guy on my right (the EP raiser) was unknown to me, but seemed to be a solid player. I asked him if he had had AK in that hand, and he said yes, he had AsKs giving him a backdoor flush draw on the flop. From now on I'm going to fold AQo preflop against a straddle and solid EP raiser.

There's a slim chance the small blind will fold AA or KK there? My math skills are a little fuzzy, but I think the probability of that is the limit of slim as it tends to 0. But I think you have to bet it as a value bet.

[M.B.E.]

I'd estimate that if the small blind had held KK or AA, there would be a 5% chance he'd fold it on the river if I bet. (The other players in the hand would certainly call with KK or AA.)

[Penguin]

MBE - I agree with your play of reraising, unless you know the raiser would not adjust his play for a straddle. With the straddle in there, the raiser could (should?) be raising with a wide variety of hands.

As well, assuming you have a tight image, your 4 bet should stand a good chance of elimating the rest of the field, leaving you on the button with AQ vs a straddler and someone who may have been trying to isolate the straddler.

[skp]

I think that the turn bet is a gimme. Even these guys know to just bet out a strong hand on the turn when the pot gets huge like this. They all checked meaning that you are likely in the lead. Now, a bet here from ain't getting nobody out. I mean, 22 will call, A2 will call, T9 will call, AA will call etc etc. Maybe, a guy with a 5 folds figuring that he may be drawing dead but that's about it. But that turn bet fetches you 4 or 5 turn calls and the odds of you ending up with the best hand are pretty good. I would estimate that there are 14 bad river cards for you if you bet and they all all call. Pretty good value bet on the turn.

While I also think that you have a value bet on the river, it's not as important as betting the turn here.

As for folding AQ preflop, well I agree that you ought to fold against a solid AQ raiser. This is Fenney's AQ test with a wrinkle thrown in by virtue of the live straddle. But that wrinkle makes it even worse to call. The straddler ain't going away. Plus, the pot is now so big that you have to hit as you are likely going to be called all the way to the river even if it's just you, the straddler and the UTG raiser.

Of course, if there is a straddle and a loose raise, then by all means play on with your AQ (although we could argue whether it's better to 4 bet or call). I prefer to call as that gives your hand a little more mystery postflop. Notice that 4 betting is not likely to reduce the number of opponents much more than just smoothcalling. I mean, a guy willing to call 3 bets would call 4 also.