Something to think about - AQo

[StellarWind]

10/20 6-max (6-handed)

Hero is UTG with A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

Preflop: Hero raises, Cutoff coldcalls.

Cutoff is a 45/20 LAG and not too bright.

Flop (5.5 SB): 9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 8 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 2 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets, Cutoff raises, Hero 3-bets, Cutoff calls

Hero turns an ace and lives happily ever after [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] ...

Back to the flop [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]. That 3-bet is certainly not like me. Some sort of momentary impulse control problem on my part [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]. Maybe I need to take it up with Dr. Al.

But then I thought about my standard strategy. Remember I'm the UTG player:

AA-88, A9s: usually 3-bet, occasionally smoothcall and checkraise turn.

77, AK-AT, KQ, KJ, KTs, QJs: call and become passive.

What am I doing here? Is it possible to be more transparent?

How do you guys handle this and similar raised flops? There is almost no gray area here. My hand is either overpowering or just overcards, with almost no possibility of a good draw or an in-between made hand.

[Lmn55d]

[ QUOTE ]
45/20 LAG and not too bright.

[/ QUOTE ]

Having a nontransparent, balanced strategy is not important against all players. If you are playing against someone who is not observant and could not play properly against your range even if he knew what it was, it doesn't really matter if your play is transparent. A transparent strategy only hurts you if you are playing against a good, observant player for an extended period.

You say you call the flop raise sometimes with overpairs and checkraise the turn. This is good and balances the times when you call the flop raise and check/call or check/fold the turn with overcards. I guess you are looking for more balance than that. You could call the flop raise and checkrasie the turn with overs or 3bet the flop like you did here. However, since you are playing against players who are not playing close to optimally against your current strategy, this is not necessary and is highly -EV. Plays like that actually tend to make your poor-playing opponents' strategies more correct. Remember these are guys that call down with anything and always try to knock you off your hand. The way to exploit this strategy is to value bet/raise them to death and don't bluff. Check/calling in spots like this ensures that you see a showdown and will induce them to bluff the turn and the river almost always if they have a hand that lacks showdown value.

Overall, I hate the flop 3bet and don't think it does anything good when out of position. If you think your hand is showdown worthy against villain's range, check/call your way to showdown and let him continue to bluff/semibluff. You also prevent yourself from getting knocked off the best hand. If he is capable of raising the flop with JT, A5, or QT, he sure as hell is capable of capping the flop with it or raising the turn.

[wheelz]

i probably do the flop smoothcall turn c/r line a bit more than most, but what else can you do? he's probably not folding better hands, and he's not going to be bluffing here all that often. if he raises after you miss, so be it. if he raises after you hit, you'll get paid off. you don't need to win every pot, but saving bets in the pots you're not going to win will certainly add up.