how to play a flopped set of aces with no danger on the board

[jwvdcw]

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I have AA in BB. He raises to 60, I re raise to 200. He calls.

Flop comes A-9-2 with two hearts. I check, he bets 300, I raise all in. He calls with J-J and I have him practically drawing dead. I don't know how he made that call, but thats besides the point.

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Playing with the kids on the short bus again?

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If the $215 buy-in quarter million guaranteed is the short bus, then yes.

[donny5k]

You almost have to slowplay here though, because otherwise you get no money. Excluding the actual situation where someone fell in love with their pocket pair. How can someone raise that board without an ace? And since there is only one other ace, chances are better that he called your raise with a pocket pair, and if he's solid/tight he'd only play back at you a small percentage of the time.

I find that most aggressive players will try to pick up that pot on the flop if you check since it isn't scary. A pocket pair like jacks will always bet since if you have queens you might laydown. If the hearts are on the board, sure, bet hard and let him make a big mistake when you are a 70% favorite, it'd be hard for him to fold a pair and a flush draw.

[TeeVeeDude]

It's amazing how people with pairs are willing to go all-in after missing a flop.

The other day in a $3 Stars tourney, I was in middle position with Kd 4d. Blinds were at T50/T100, and I had the big stack at my table, over T4,000. One player limped in front of me, I limped in, one player after me raised to $300. The original limper called, I called.

Flop is 2d 3d 6h. First player bets the minimum, I call, player to my left goes all in. The other guy calls and is also all-in.

I think for a minute... I've got 8 outs to make a flush, three more that make a straight. I'm pretty sure that the raiser has a pair of aces, but if I call and lose I still have nearly T3,000 and it's early in the tournament, so I call.

Amazingly, the raiser had a pair of Queens... and the other caller had QJo.

I made my flush, busted both of them, and the raiser then berated me for being stupid enough to call an all-in with "King rags."

Heck, since even pairing my king would have beat him I had not just the 11 outs I though, but 14 outs! With 14 outs and two cards to come, I was better than even money and getting paid 2:1.

[Whitey]

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It's amazing how people with pairs are willing to go all-in after missing a flop.

The other day in a $3 Stars tourney, I was in middle position with Kd 4d. Blinds were at T50/T100, and I had the big stack at my table, over T4,000. One player limped in front of me, I limped in, one player after me raised to $300. The original limper called, I called

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Its amazing how many people thing Kx suited is a hand worth calling a raise with.

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Amazingly, the raiser had a pair of Queens...

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Why is this amazing?

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Heck, since even pairing my king would have beat him I had not just the 11 outs I though, but 14 outs! With 14 outs and two cards to come, I was better than even money and getting paid 2:1.

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Amazing how many people justify a call with hindsight.

[kevyk]

I agree that this board is not dangerous, but I think the flat call is more threatening on the flop than a small raise. You have correctly concluded that there is no likely draw, so what is he supposed to put you on besides a big Ace at least?

Here's a way I might play it: Check to my opponent on the flop, then min-raise him (in this case 200). There is absolutely no way he will lay down a hand for just 200 more, and he may very well take the size of the raise as a sign of weakness and push. If that happens, great. If not, your raise has pot-committed him, and you can bet out on the flop. A weak player with JJ will call here hoping against hope that you are "bluffing," and you'll certainly get action from stronger hands.

[radii]

I'm curious about the converse here. What do you do with JJ and you raise to 60 and are re-raised to 200. Is that a fold right there most of the time?

If anyone calls that... what do you do when you're checked to on the A-high flop?

Thanks...
radii (mainly a ring game player trying to learn more about MTT play)

[donny5k]

He certainly has pot odds to call on the flop. He's only in big trouble when up against a set. It's like calling a shortstack's allin with AK. Sometimes you are a favorite but most of the time you are a slight underdog.

[Grivan]

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Amazing how many people justify a call with hindsight.

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Even if he only had 11 outs twice, like he though, he had to call the all in here it turned out to be better then he thought. The before the flop play here was questionable, but once he gets that flop he is pretty much in.

[ZootMurph]

With JJ, I'd have raised to 125 or so. I fold to a reraise. Make the bet big enough so that only better hands raise in the lower levels. I'd fold to a raise.

As for AA... with 2 hearts on the board, I'd check/raise all in as well. With a rainbow flop... I'd give the opponent plenty of rope and let him do my dirty work for me. If he checks through the turn, bet all in on the river.

[jwvdcw]

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With JJ, I'd have raised to 125 or so. I fold to a reraise. Make the bet big enough so that only better hands raise in the lower levels. I'd fold to a raise.

As for AA... with 2 hearts on the board, I'd check/raise all in as well. With a rainbow flop... I'd give the opponent plenty of rope and let him do my dirty work for me. If he checks through the turn, bet all in on the river.

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I agree. I think check raising all in with the flush draw out there is necessary, although why would he bet if he had a flush draw instead of giving himself a free card?? I think there are just a lot of poor players out there. I also agree that you can slowplay this a lot if no hearts draws are out there. Depending upon the opponent, in first position, I'd even consider checking the river, hoping for him to bet.