NL50 Too eager with AA?

[kitaristi0]

No read on villain. Table views me as a maniac, having won the last 2 pots in a row without showing down a hand (hey, what can you do when you get JJ,KK and AA in a row.)

Is there any value in calling and moving on the turn here? Because of my image I figure he has to think there's a good chance I'm just a donk looking to gambool it up, making ESPN-esque über bluffs, and thus will call me with a mediocre hand.

I wasn't too worried about the set, just a gut feeling. But I think a set would either slowplay here or raise more than the minimum.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

UTG+1 ($40.85)
MP1 ($19.50)
MP2 ($49.55)
MP3 ($19.50)
CO ($41.80)
Hero ($70.45)
SB ($57.50)
BB ($12.35)
UTG ($97.30)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
UTG calls $0.50, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, MP2 calls $0.50, MP3 calls $0.50, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $3</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, UTG calls $2.50, MP2 calls $2.50, MP3 calls $2.50.

Flop: ($12.75) K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(4 players)</font>
UTG checks, MP2 checks, MP3 checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $10</font>, <font color="#CC3333">UTG raises to $20</font>, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $67.45</font>

I assume he folded. I dont mind this. Maybe a little over eager but its a $32 pot without a showdown... and thats never a bad thing. Is it possible to get more out of him? Yeah maybe - except he might fold any reraise and you definitely dont want to give him another card. Either that or he has a set of 9s and you're toast anyway.

I agree. If UTG thinks you are a total maniac he isn't going to raise you here with a set, he'll let you hang yourself. I think your line is fine, and I think you can get called by a tilting donk with TPGK here. If he doesn't have a set yet, the next card might give him one, so my money is going in either way. I'm very aggressive with AA though and have trouble folding them with an uncoordinated board.

Also, note to self: if a maniac is raising lots of pots, you might want to wait until his air gets caught before you go calling him down. This happened to me the other day - a maniac was raising every third or fourth pot and getting it all-in once every 10-12 hands preflop. He did it to me when I had AKs, I called like a tilting donk and was showed the nuts.

[beavens]

I like the play, I would've done the same. My guess is that he's got Kx - but not 2 pair or a set. No scary draws on the board, so a push seems good to me.

[Leptyne]

Generally I want to make sure the villain is pot committed before I give him a chance to get away. Since you have position and it doesn't look like there's any danger of giving a free card I'd call the flop raise then put him all-in on the turn. Since he's the raiser he now has the action and should bet into you on the turn which commits.

[ QUOTE ]
Generally I want to make sure the villain is pot committed before I give him a chance to get away. Since you have position and it doesn't look like there's any danger of giving a free card I'd call the flop raise then put him all-in on the turn. Since he's the raiser he now has the action and should bet into you on the turn which commits.

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I have to disagree here... there is a huge danger to giving a free card. AA uninproved is a pretty vulnerable holding. Assume he has Kx. There are 5 outs right there, not accounting for backdoor draws. Chances are you are either beat or he is folding and nothing that happens is going to change that... unless you give him more information. You cant give him a card here.

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t doesn't look like there's any danger of giving a free card

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I disagree with this - I think a likely holding for UTG is a high pocket pair, and you won't ever see it coming if the turn gives him a set. You're putting your money in either way, so put it in now while you have the FE. As DS says in SSHE, there's half of a buyin in that pot, get it right now if you can.

[Spekkio]

You are either way ahead or way behind here. If you push now, you win the minimum possible and lose the maximum possible. Let's say, for example, Villain has AKo. Although it would be hard to put you on AA, the board is dry and he may actually get away from his pair of kings. Yet there are only two cards in the deck that can give him the winning hand: one of the remaining two kings.

Let's look at it another way: Villain has 99. He raises you because he thinks you hit the flop with AK or KQ, or ppAA. You push back right into him, he calls, and you are drawing to two outs. Not good.

The line you SHOULD take in this situation, considering the nature of the board, is to call him down and attempt to get as cheap a showdown as possible. In this way, you can also get AK or KQ to bet into you again. If he has a set, he's likely to check the turn to let you bet into him, but you're not going to fall for that. Of course, the big asterisk here is you can't be married to your ppA. If he starts going buck-wild on you when he's normally a passive player, for example, he probably has you beat.

To emphasize, on this dry board I put villain on KQ, AK, 99, or 33. You have to use a read to find out how he plays TPTK vs. a set (the raise to me says TPTK though). If you aren't sure, you should call him down in an effort to get a cheap showdown. If you are sure, call against AK and fold against the sets. There is a small chance he has QQ or JJ, but would he limp with those hands, and then raise the PFR'er on the flop? Only if he's smart enough to know you'll lay down AK to heat, and most $50NL players won't. So I doubt that he has QQ-TT.

You can't play so afraid of the turn/river that you just push it all-in to prevent someone from "drawing" to a two-outer.

[kitaristi0]

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I think you can get called by a tilting donk with TPGK here

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You called it. Villain calls, shows KQs and MHIG.

But I must say that Spekkio does make a good argument, and I might actually prefer his line to the one I took.

[subzero]

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...Table views me as a maniac, having won the last 2 pots in a row without showing down a hand (hey, what can you do when you get JJ,KK and AA in a row.)

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I don't think this is enough to make you look like a maniac.

I think this is read dependent. Is he making a move on you? Is he check-minraising with a monster? Maybe he puts you on QQ and he has AK? In the absence of reads (which happens a lot online), I play carefully with stacks this big. I think a skilled player can get away from this hand or lose the minimum if villain has a set. This looks like a WA/WB situation (as someone pointed out). You're giving huge implied odds by moving in on this flop. If he's way behind it's an easy fold for him. If he's way ahead, he calls quickly and stacks you. I think arguments can be made to check behind on this drawless flop, control the pot, and play some poker (you have position). Even if he has AK or QQ, it's not likely that he's going to improve to a better hand than yours.