a hand has got me thinking

[TakeMeToTheRiver]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't particularly like check-raising the flop heads-up in this pot either unless there were severe metagame considerations that led me to do it (like I'd played 10 similar hands against this guy in the past week and yada yada yada...)

The reason is that I think check-raising the flop basically makes it possible for Brett to play the hand perfectly because check-raising is almost like turning your hand face up on the felt.

[/ QUOTE ]

But I think this is precisely the case here. This is a regular game that has a fairly consistent set of participants -- several of them 2+2ers. If I check-raised with A9o here, I might also check-raise with a powerful drawing hand like K4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] or two pair (A2s). While I would not necessarily check-raise any of these hands against a relatively unknown good player, I think you must do that with some frequency against a player who knows you well. Your logic is correct if the only hand that you would check-raise here is a moderate strength Ace.

In Brett's position and against unknowns I would be wary with any Ace other than AK. During my recent Vegas trip, I have found that many mid-limit players will call with AK from the blinds (particularly if they are not suited and particularly against an EP raiser) rather than reraise. If Brett has an AQ/AJ type hand, he can be in a world of hurt against a cold-calling AK in the blinds who checkraises.