With deep stacks, I always fold top pair!

[BigPoppa]

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Name a hand that he can have that he could have gotten to the river with.

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AJ, A10, A9, etc.....especially if he had the Ace of Clubs.

[A_PLUS]

My problem with your line (and I don't think you are necessarily wrong), is that it really comes down to a preflop read.

Lets say, for arguements sake that the guy in the middle decided to call a raise with a decent hand, say A9s. At what point in this hand, do you think that his line doesn't fit this hand?

I don't know, I dont think weaker aces are as rare as you are assuming. Regardless, this would be a borderline call, but a call I would probably make.

[THEOSU]

In thinking this over, I'm amazed at the number of players here who are saying, essentially, "All you beat is a bluff. He could be bluffing. Call."

It's true. It could be a bluff. It could be a simply horribly played AJ. Let's assume, for a second, that villain is competent (not always the safest assumption, of course) - that's just an awful couple of cards on the turn/river.

The more I read this hand and the arguments therein, I like how you played it, Ansky, and I'm a big fan of the disciplined fold. I don't know if I'd be able to make this fold, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be laid down.