Back To Basics. Annoyingly simple preflop question.

[Grisgra]

After the 100BB downswing I just had the last two days (mostly from 30/60 and 40/80, a little 20/40 mixed in there), I feel like a 1/2 newb. So why resist it? Time to start posting simple newbie questions and work from there.

Aggressive 5-handed 30/60 game (which you're in because even though the table overall is 30/20, the guys two and three to my left are pretty tight and predictable, ~25/13 players).

You're in the CO. UTG (very aggressive guy, PokerHud has his stats as 35/30, seems like a good player, not a maniac) raises. You have ATs. Reraise, call, or fold?

On that note, what's the minimum you need to pop it to three bets?

My thoughts after I get some responses.

[Wynton]

Not sure whether my experience has much revelance to those games, but at 5/10, against an uber-aggressive player, I'd tend to fold A10s. I would reraise with AQo or AQs, but not sure how I feel about AJ. Against that guy, I'd feel much more comfortable reraising with a pocket pair.

Now let's hear if that's too weak.

[waffle]

my guess.

3b: AJo+ ATs+ KQo KQs 66+

[wackjob]

3-bet just about always. I will 3-bet here with A10s KQs, 66+ and fold the rest.

[Lmn55d]

with tight guys to my left I would reraise A9s+ and ATo+ against that player.

[Wynton]

Are you guys raising with those hands against anyone, or the opponent Grisgra described in particular? Against a random opponent, I'd 3-bet with AJo and A10s, but seems like I should be more circumspect here.

And against random player, I'd reraise with 77+ and KQs, but fold KQo and other pairs.

[Lmn55d]

why would you reduce your 3betting range against a player who raises 30% of his hands? In the games I've seen the average player raises far less than this. It is true that a better player will make less mistakes postflop and an aggressive player will confront you with tougher decisions. However, your 3bet is also likely to generate more folding equity against a good player than a random player. I don't think the negatives I describe above offset the increased equity edge you have against this specific player's opening range, which is why I think you should be 3betting with more hands, not less. Also there's some obvious metagame advantages to 3betting him a lot (namely that he will fold more hands allowing you to play more and take the initiative more often by opening)

[einbert]

Against a player who plays 35/30 five-handed, I'm definitely reraising here.

My minimum to reraise here:
A9s, ATo, KQs, KQo, 77+

Even though he's "extremely aggressive after the flop" he's out of position, and his range is extremely wide from the HJ. If the other players at the table were loose instead of tight I might coldcall KQo or KJs here. Since he's so great after the flop I'm going to try to take every opportunity to take advantage of his extremely loose preflop raising standards. No matter how good he is, out of position against better hands with initiative he's going to be losing money.

I also totally agree with Lmn55d here. I'm reraising here liberally because I want the chance to open pots with hands I would have to fold to his open raise.

[Wynton]

By no means am I claiming that it's right to narrow your range here. I really don't know. But the truth is that against a very aggressive opponent, I feel reluctant to get overly involved with some questionable hands, particularly ones that are capable of being dominated.

I assume that the ultra aggressive pf style means he's going to contest hands vigorously on the flop and turn too, but perhaps that's an incorrect assumption.

[Lmn55d]

nah I definitely see where you're coming from. Aggro opponents are tough. But here you have position which is pretty sweet. I'd narrow my 3betting range if I was in sb.

Another interesting thing to consider is his capping range. If he's adapts to our frequent 3bets and caps more lightly, this is gonna give him back the initiative. Also his average capping hand is gonna be significantly stronger than our hand (even if he sometimes caps JTs he's always capping AA, etc). So if it's someone who caps lightly I can see an argument for a reduction of your 3betting range.