$22 Stars, 88 UTG, faces river decision

[schwza]

this makes me more likely to believe that villain c/r's the flop a-i with a flush draw. i think it's more of a fold on the river.

He went all-in on the river both times. He loks to be on tilt. This hand is read dependant, i wouldn't call a player who does that for the first time, but if he plays like that, it may be a good call. I'm not sure.

The Call of 350 on the flop should mean a Q or a set, you don't call a pot size bet if you are chasing (shouldn't). However, a check-call looks like a draw (should reraise) unless he has QJ or Q10 and doesn't like his kicker.

I would fold, I think, but it would be a good spot to win some money.

About the Pre-flop raise. This is a spot were you can limp and go for a set (I would call a raise if I had the implied odds) or raise and try to take it down on the flop (you will likely be first to act so it will be hard to play but UTG you show strengh by raising and betting so you will only be called by good hands.

Do you raise AJs UTG? Same thinking... Also, There's more than 36 combos a head of you. I consider AK a better hand and AQs also.

[schwza]

villain pushed the flop last hand.

These days, if the blinds are big enough to be worth stealing, I rarely limp. I usually start stealing @ the 25/50 level. If it's good enough to play, it's good enough to raise. Meaning, if it's 10/20 level (blinds aren't worth stealing), I'll probably limp UTG w/ 88 or AJ type hand (although I'm more inclined to just fold AJ/KQ early in tourneys in EP). Plus, I usualy won't get stacked when I have 88 and I like to give myself as many opportunities to get "lucky" as I can get. If it's a marginal decision between folding and raising preflop, I'll probably choose to raise.