Bodog 100NL 6 max

My image is pretty loose, and the villain won a huge pot against me earlier when he slowplayed his AA to my AK when i missed and tried to bluff...he hasnt shown many hands down besides that

Hero has around 350
Villain has 200 in the SB

MP limps for 1, Hero raises to 4 on the button with AA, SB calls, MP calls.

Flop (13)
K 9 2 rainbow

checked to me, I bet 10, SB calls, MP folds

Turn (33)
2 (still rainbow)

villian checks, hero checks

River (33)
5

villian bets 30, hero?


Should i raise or just call here....and if i raise, how much and what do we do if he pushes? Also, what do you think about the check on the turn?

Check on the turn is ok, because you're giving him a chance to bet the river. I think you're good here, go ahead and make a raise to 70-80. He probably has a king and thiniks he's good, doubt he has a 2.

I hate the Check on the Turn. You're just asking for trouble. As played, I bet the River. You're not against a set. you may have let him catch up w a cheap 2 pair. If he pushes, I call because he likely has a K and is not putting you on aces.

I dont think you read the board right....it was K 9 2 2 after the turn so there is no 2 pair that can beat me...and hes first to act on the river so i cant bet out...and rdtedm, what would you do if i raise to 75 and he pushes for around 155 more

You are corect I did not read the post correctly, however I still don't like the check. I do not put him on the set. You are playing very passive.

As far as the River play, if he pushes, we make the call.

You have to ask yourself what you were trying to accomplish on the turn there. If you want to extract value from a king, which you should want, then you need to bet the turn. Raising the river is not the ideal way to punish kings because it encourages folds from hands we're beating and action from fullhouses.

If you do raise the river and he shoves, you cannot call, as he's not doing that with any sort of hand you're beating. Maybe if he's an idiot and believes K9 is ahead of AA on this board, but that's about it. As played I call the river knowing that most villains will fold to a raise with just kings and deuces.

I don't actually mind checking the turn. Most likely, either he's drawing to 2 outs or we're drawing to 2 outs. Giving a free card isn't the end of the world, and it also keeps the pot manageable. Now that he bet out a healthy amount we will call - were he to check then we could value bet.

Maybe I play this passively, but I just call the river as played. As Trystero said, you cannot call a river shove by the villian, and he has already paid you off for Aces up if you're winning. Raising gets you into a situation where you may commit the rest of your stack with Aces against what could be a well concealed boat or quads (twos or nines full). There isn't much of a point to raising the river here as he didn't play it strong enough to have a good enough King to call with, and raising can get you in some trouble if he has a sick hand (which seems to happen to me a lot when I have aces ).

I think raising here is what gets most players in a heap of trouble with overplaying aces. If he jams to your raise of 70-80, you have to ask yourself if you can honestly fold your hand. If you think you can, than I guess thats fine. However, if you doubt it, don't even bother. Just be happy to win a small pot with Aces rather than to lose a huge one

Umm...bet the turn? I don't hate the turn check...but we're potentially losing a lot of value. He already thinks we bluff, so let's get paid off with that image. As played, calling the river is standard, but I suppose we can raise if we're willing to fold to a push.

Am I the only one here that thinks raising this river with the idea of folding to a push as horrible?

If you raise, you have to raise at least to like $75, but I'd raise, if I do raise, to like $90...and I'm only raising if I'm willing to call all in.

Otherwise, just call if you can't take the heat of a three bet all in on that board, with AA.

- Jordan

I don't like raising this river at all, but if I do it then it's with a good read on villain. I may think he's a donkey and will pay me off with a hand like KQ. Or he's a chronic bluffer and I will minraise, hoping that he comes over the top with perceived FE. With no read, though, raising this river cannot be +EV. Basically, Jordan's right that if you aren't prepared to call a push then flat call here. Know what could happen beforehand.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this hand is totally butchered.

Preflop is standard. The bet on the flop is fine. After that, everything falls apart.

The ONLY hand that I'm worried about losing to is 99 here. If the villain has KK, he'd probably reraise preflop. If he has 55 or any other full house, well, good for him cause he's gonna win a big pot.

Why are you checking the turn? The villain almost always has KQ, KJ, KT, even K9 could slowplay that flop. He could have even floated with a middle pair like TT or 88. The turn is an amazing card for you. If he called your bet on the flop, it stands to reason he'll call another on the turn. With the board being as dry as it is, your hand is incredibly strong and aces don't look this strong that often. You have a big hand so build a big pot. If you've been bluffing and been caught, he's likely to call you down with a weaker hand, so now that you have a monster, there's no reason to stop betting it.

When you check the turn, now you make your hand look very weak and you don't know why he's betting the river. Does he think you're weak and is betting KJ hoping you'll call with TT? Does he have 99 and knows that he needs to get some value for his hand? Does he have JT and knows that he can't win a showdown? You don't know!

You made your hand look really weak and you got him to bet. Great! NOW RAISE HIM!! You did set a trap didn't you? I mean, on that board, if someone has AA beaten, then they will often get my chips since I think the only legit way that happens is if they have 99. The fact that I've been loose and caught bluffing means that they could play back at me/pay me off with a lot of weaker hands, making it almost impossible to get away from mine.

This isn't a dangerous board. AA is going to the best hand here >80% of the time in my estimation. If you're going to take the line that you took, you need to raise his river bet to like $75 or $80 with the intention of calling a push.

What hand must villain put us on? We were just caught bluffing. If we raise here, I'd be almost certain that he'd pay it off with KJ or KQ.

I think your estimation of what is -EV is way off. If we're only likely to lose to 99 at a showdown, it would take a very strong read to PREVENT me from raising here, since he will have a tough decision with any hand that has a K in it since our hand looks really weak by the way we played it.

Looking back on it, AK, I think you're right. This board's just not scary for AA. Actually I don't think I've ever seen AA this strong on the river without hitting a set or filling up.

As played, I'd usually raise this river. No way he puts you on AA, and if he has any K he will probably pay you off.

I was arguing that...people who say "raise, but fold to a push" should just call then. If you raise, but in the back of your mind are saying, well if he pushes, I'll just fold...then you should just call.

But I think the right play is to raise and call a push; however for those that are afraid or whatever it is, calling is their best option.

- Jordan

Also, this is 6 max. The range of hands he'll call a raise with is a little wider due to that as well.

Alright i think its time for the results...

Villain bets out 30 on the river, Hero raised to 75, Villain calls and shows 72 of hearts...yes, he called a raise from the SB with 72, called a pot sized bet on the flop with bottom pair, and just called my raise on the river with his trips...good for him



I spent a long time thinking about the hand and how it could have played out differently....in 95% of the situations im good here i think, but i do agree that betting the turn would have gotten a lot more value out of any K and possibly a 9 with the image i had...thanks for the help

Not a bad strategy discussion, but I think we have to say BBFIDTS in any hand posted where AA gets sucked out on by 72.

ha im not looking for your sympathy acid...ive just been in this situation a million times before and i need to learn how to get the most value out of it when im way ahead, this helped me so thanks

I think with the way the hand was played you just call. I'm guessing you checked the turn to make him either bluff the river or value bet a weakish hand. So if you raise him on the river he has to give you credit for a big hand and shouldn't be calling you without a pretty good king. So I really don't see raising the river to have a lot of value unless he makes weak calls, in which case you should be betting the turn.


oops I guess I was a little late, at least he was soooooted