5/10 AJ in SB

[craze9]

Pokerstars 5/10, I have about 1.2k.

Everyone folds to the cutoff ($650) who seems pretty loose aggressive and bluffs, but I havent played with him that much. He makes it 25 to go. Button folds, I have AdJh in sb and call. BB calls.

Flop: 8h Js 4h

I check intending to checkraise the cutoff who i believe will auto-bet here. BB checks, cutoff fires $80 into the pot. I make it $180 expecting to win it right there. BB folds, cutoff pauses (not sure how useful this is online) and then calls.

Board: [8h Js 4h] [2h]

There is $435 in the pot and cutoff has $445 left.

Comments? Whats your play?

[Matt Flynn]

you are now pot stuck and are going all in no matter what. figure out how best to get the money in when you are ahead (if you're behind he'll call no matter what). e.g., bet $200, or check if he's aggressive. you can afford to give 3:1 odds to 1 or 2 overcards or an underpair of tens or nines, and if he's got a lot of bluff in him it's worth risking a free card to let him hang himself. again, if he has you beat all the money's going in and you're sunk anyway, so you want to maximize the money you get when you are ahead. a lot of people habitually push all in because there's one pot sized bet left. that just serves to blow away many hands that you want to call.

key here is you took away your options with the check-raise when your opponent had such a short stack. not saying it was wrong, but that once you check-raise and get called, you're pretty much committed to going all in, but often you will be beat or tied.

matt

[Justin A]

Bet about $200 now and the rest on the river. Make sure you don't fold out a hand like KJ or QJ. With the pot the way it is you can't fold yourself, so try to get his whole stack if you are ahead.

Justin A

[turnipmonster]

[ QUOTE ]
I make it $180 expecting to win it right there. BB folds

[/ QUOTE ]

this is like the 4th time I've seen someone say something like this recently. I can understand check raising with nothing, expecting to win it right there. but, for the life of me, I cannot fathom why you would checkraise in this situation expecting to take it down.

if you expect to take it down with a bet or raise, that means you are implying your hand is not good if called, and also that folding equity is high. why you would checkraise with top pair under these conditions is beyond me.

--turnipmonster

[craze9]

I don't think the implication is that my hand is not good if called. I said I thought this player would autobet here.

He made a weak raise preflop and could have any hand. If I bet the pot on the flop he folds KQ KT 99 66 AT AQ etc. I checkraise because I'm trying to take advantage of his aggressive play and the fact that he will bet the pot with KToff in this situation.

I don't see whats wrong with this, as I consider it a pretty common tactic against an overaggressive player.

How would you have played the flop? What if you bet and get raised (keeping in mind this raise could easily be a bluff), or just called and then the 3rd heart comes down on the turn?