AA 3rd hand into tournament. How would YOU play it?

[sekrah]

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My thinking on this may be a bit skewed because I'm a relatively new player and have been playing in freeroll tournaments only so far, but here's my thinking at each stage:

Pre-flop: With pocket aces I'm usually just calling this early in the tournament. Lots of fish haven't been eliminated, and slowplaying seems to work very well. I'm willing to risk someone getting lucky with a drawing hand in return for the chance of taking someone's whole stack.

Flop: I'm worried about those 2 6's. Someone could easily have 76, 65, A6 or even K6 (in the freerolls anyway). The only hands that you have beat that I think would make sense for him are something like AQ, KQ, QJ or QT (from a loose player - possible since you probably have no reads yet).

Turn: Not sure I can read much into his bet since it could just be a probe bet, but his call makes me think its even more likely he's got 3 6's...or even made a full house with the 5.

River: Another card that could have made a full house for him. I've got to think his most likely holdings are AQ, 76, or 65. That said, I think you're committed to the pot and need to call.

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Very bad advice here.. OP, do not let it enter your mind.

[zoobird]

Hey - I gave fair warning in my first sentence. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

If you could comment on which specific parts are especially bad, I'd definitely appreciate the chance to improve my game.

[yvesaint]

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Hey - I gave fair warning in my first sentence. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

If you could comment on which specific parts are especially bad, I'd definitely appreciate the chance to improve my game.

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Do not limp Aces, especially during the first few levels of a tournament.

[sekrah]

Only limp in with Aces when you are UTG at a table filled with LAG's (Loose-Aggressive) who've been raising alot of pots preflop.

Raising is exactly the reason you eliminate hands like 5-6, 6-7, 6-8, 6-anything.


They called 3.5 BB preflop. I might have raise a little more than 50 actually.. In the early stages people are more likely to make liberal calls.. and already with one limper, I probably make it 75 to go (5 BB).

I wouldn't worry about those sixes.. Your opponent calling that bet on the flop certaintly tells me he has something.. The likely hood of it being a 6 is far lower than the Queen. A-Q, K-Q, Q-J are very realistic possibilities this early in a tournament that a weak or loose player might be holding. You can't run scared everytime the board pairs or you won't get far.

The fact that he led out on the turn, tells me that he doesn't have a 6 or a set. The bet on the turn tells me he has the queen.

The only other possibility, if it's a very loose player, who likes to steal pots, is two random hearts, maybe A-K or A-J hearts and he thinks you're bluffing, or he's setting up a bluff. If he's still holding a 6 or a set of queens (very unlikely) or if he made a set of 5s on the turn, its very unlikely he's betting into you here. He would more than likely check raise or check-call, then bet the river.


This is why you MUST, push all in on the turn. The simple 500 raise won't get it done. Push him all in and make him call of his stack with either the heart draw, or the A-Q, K-Q, Q-J.

Don't let him get to the river without being all in. Him slowplaying Kings or something is also another possibility at this level.

[zoobird]

For arguments sake, let's say the previous two hands were an all-in showdown where the winner pushed with Q6 preflop, and another preflop push that nobody called from another player...so we know we have one maniac and possibly a 2nd one. Assuming both of those players are yet to act, it would still be bad idea to limp w/aces in this situation?

[ZBTHorton]

If they called all-ins or pushed with Q6..that's even more reason to raise. Do you see why?

[zoobird]

I see why that would be reason to raise with KK or QQ, but not with AA. Granted, the more players who are in the pot, the more chance the flop will hit somebody, but I would think I'm compensated for that by the fact that if the flop has any high cards in it somebody with top pair may now be willing go all-in against my aces.

[tshak]

By not raising AA you're passing up a chance to get your chips in with a huge amount of equity. You've got opponents paying dearly as huge dogs (see also: The Fundamental Therom of Poker). If you limp you run the risk of letting the blinds and loose limpers break you with some freak two pair. Are you really capable of folding AA on a board that reads 952? Because the BB played 95o for free and has you hammered. I highly suggest you read Super/System's section on playing AA and KK. I jam AA up 4-5x each time when I open, and I'll overbet the pot if I have limpers before me and half the table ahead of me. What I'm looking for it to take the pot right there, uncontested, or for someone to put me on a steal and play back at me. I do however limp UTG and UTG+1 ~10% of the time. And when I do I play them slow unimproved. It's only a pair afterall.

[MrMoo]

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Only limp in with Aces when you are UTG at a table filled with LAG's (Loose-Aggressive) who've been raising alot of pots preflop.

Raising is exactly the reason you eliminate hands like 5-6, 6-7, 6-8, 6-anything.

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Agreed

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They called 3.5 BB preflop. I might have raise a little more than 50 actually.. In the early stages people are more likely to make liberal calls.. and already with one limper, I probably make it 75 to go (5 BB).

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Agree again. Because so many people like to limp early in the tournaments my usual bet is about 5x BB here. Considering I've already got one limper, I'm likely to make it even more. I think that was probably my biggest mistake on the hand.

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I wouldn't worry about those sixes.. Your opponent calling that bet on the flop certaintly tells me he has something.. The likely hood of it being a 6 is far lower than the Queen. A-Q, K-Q, Q-J are very realistic possibilities this early in a tournament that a weak or loose player might be holding. You can't run scared everytime the board pairs or you won't get far.

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Agree again. I really doubt he has the 6 here. I think AQ is less likely as I hold two aces but still a possability. QJ is also possible but without any reads I have to assume that this is a logical player who would be smart enough to fold that. If he has QQ I'm screwed regardless and I'm going broke so I'm not worried about that. All the above are possabilities but I think the most likely hand here is KQ.

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The fact that he led out on the turn, tells me that he doesn't have a 6 or a set. The bet on the turn tells me he has the queen.

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Agree yet again. I think he wanted to find out where he was. At this point, I know I have the best hand.

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The only other possibility, if it's a very loose player, who likes to steal pots, is two random hearts, maybe A-K or A-J hearts and he thinks you're bluffing, or he's setting up a bluff. If he's still holding a 6 or a set of queens (very unlikely) or if he made a set of 5s on the turn, its very unlikely he's betting into you here. He would more than likely check raise or check-call, then bet the river.

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Absolutely but at this point without any reads I'd say he's got KQ the majority of the time. Also possible would be AQ, QJ, Q10, KK, AA, JJ, and maybe even 1010. Also he could still be chasing a club draw.


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This is why you MUST, push all in on the turn. The simple 500 raise won't get it done. Push him all in and make him call of his stack with either the heart draw, or the A-Q, K-Q, Q-J.

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This is the only part I disagree. And I'm not even sure I'm right here. This is in my opinion the interesting part of the hand. I don't like a push. I think my bet size is good enough to drag Qx along but enough to chase out the flush draws. Granted I could likely take it down with a push here but I think I have a better chance of getting his entire stack with this bet. I think (maybe wrongly) that in the long run I'll milk more from players in situations like these if I avoid pushing and simply milk their stack a little at a time.

P.S. Forgot to add, VERY impressive hand analysis.