General question about a preflop situation.

[NewMcQueen]

Hey Guys,

I know you must hear this all the time; however, I've got a question regarding my preflop play in a certain situation that occured today. While I'm sure that its tirelessly discussed, I was hoping I could get some input.

My friend and I are having a dispute about how to play Aces before the flop in the PS's .10/.25c NL game, facing a re-raise. Assume everyone has equal stacks($25), and you have no reads. You are UTG+1 with red A's and raise to 4xthe BB. Its folded to LMP who re-raises to 2.50. What should my action be? My theory is that I'm losing value by reraising to say... 5.00 or 6.00 here. My friend suggests that a re-raise is in order because it isn't likely that he's raising lighter than KK or QQ and that he'd rather win the pot right there than to make the call. I think this last part is particula ridiculous. While this may be true (however I'm not certain) I'm still not 100% that he's coming to the flop with me. Anyway, like I said... I know you've all heard this a thousand times so I apologize. Anyhow, I'll look forward to your replys.

[Wu36]

Nothing wrong with doing both sometimes. In this particular situation I 4bet more often than not. The smallish 3bet makes me more inclined to raise here.

[NewMcQueen]

Why? Because he's more likely to have something that will call a 4bet?

[AmonRaa]

I would raise more often than call. One of the reason is because I believe he will often call that 4 bet even though he strongly believes he's behind but he just has to see the flop.

[wslee00]

They *always* call pre-flop

[NewMcQueen]

Ok. Does your answer change at all if the limit were .50/1?

[NewMcQueen]

It has not been my experience that my opponents call my 4 bets... maybe my question should be.. if I expect him to fold when I 4bet shouldn't I be calling? The answer to that question seems obvious. My friend suggesting that he'd rather win the pot right there rather than call seems terrible to me. Like... huge... monumentaly bad reasoning and thinking

[OHFreak]

I'll tend to just call in position (but still raise quite often) and almost always raise OOP.

[Waingro]

The standard answer is that if they fold too much when you 4bet, you should 4bet with more than just AA and KK. Not stop 4betting alltogether. The greatest value from big pairs doesn´t come from "trapping" your opponents post-flop, it comes from getting enough money in pf so that the hand plays itself postflop.

And as have been said above, they don´t fold.

[Check_The_Nuts]

wtf? when did that become standard?

[dashman]

Uhhh he reraised you right.....telling you he has a hand right....and you have the best hand preflop right....why would you not wanna reraise 3-4 bet him, cause then he probably pushes and you call. In this situation Im shoving over his reraise, hes not folding. People on this level will not fold KK, QQ, AK and even JJ, 10-10 and AQs preflop.

[kolotoure]

My default at 25NL would be to 4-bet but I mix in some calls when in position

[Hi5]

When you have AA in a cash game, you're not going to want to second guess yourself too often postflop (even though re-evaluation is always important), so the answer to the question really comes down to who you are playing against. In my preflop thinking, when I have AA, I am normally going to do whatever I think it takes to get all the money in on this hand. Naturally, one does not get the chance to 3-bet preflop at this level that often, so this part is tricky. You want maximum value, in whatever way you can extract it.

If the opponent has been playing like a donkey or is on tilt, go ahead and reraise. If the opponent seems fairly timid (perhaps because he is a multitabler), then you might just call preflop and then lead or check-raise the flop.

Remember that at $25 NL, although you might be attentive and respect the early position raise, not everyone else does.

[Sir Winalot]

Make a pot-sized 4-bet or push. Case closed.