AQ - 200BB deep vs Villain 170BB deep
 

Villain is 47/9/2.4 over 43 hands. BUT, has a FA of 7. The large stacks made it a little tougher.


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

Button ($15.50)
Hero ($20.15)
BB ($8.25)
UTG ($17.55)
MP ($10.20)
CO ($11.15)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
UTG calls $0.10, <font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $0.6</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, UTG calls $0.45.

Flop: ($1.25) T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">UTG bets $1.2</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $3.6</font>, <font color="#CC3333">UTG raises to $18.2 (All-In)</font>, Hero?

Thoughts?

Re: AQ - 200BB deep vs Villain 170BB deep
 

just fold... the only thing you are ahead of is AJ and a draw. not worth putting your whole stack in here I think. Maybe if I had a read on this guy, but without a read its a clear fold.

Re: AQ - 200BB deep vs Villain 170BB deep
 

Ah, the classic poker mistake of creating a big pot with a relatively small hand. You have TP2K. You're unlikely to improve your hand. You can't really stand up to much heat, but you've got a likely winner. So you...check-raise the flop after betting preflop? Jeebus, why??

My line would be to bet the flop, say $0.90 or so. If I get raised, I'm probably calling down. If I get called I'm going to fire another 2/3rds pot on the turn and maybe 1/2 pot on the river. Alternatively, you could check-call the turn and donkbet the river.

Instead, you take a line of raising big preflop (good choice) and then check-raising the flop. Your line SCREAMS strength. Worse yet, it's very unlikely to fold a stronger hand -- TPTK or better in the hands of a loose player is NOT going away -- but it could easily fold most weaker hands. This push is either a bluff or a monster, and I can't trust it to be a bluff often enough to be a +EV call. I'd fold here.

In the future, beware of revealing a strong hand WHEN you have a strong hand. I'd like this play much better if you had KQ -- at that point, it's a pure bluff, and you either win immediately or fold what is obviously a losing hand. As it stands, your hand has enough showdown value that folding makes you a bit sick to your stomach, but you just can't call the bet.

Note that this play is especially bad considering that you are OOP, drawless, and several streets away from a showdown with a weakly made hand. The reverse implied odds on your hand are astronomical, and by creating an even bigger pot you are setting yourself up for some extremely costly FTOP mistakes on this or a later betting round. Keep the pot small and try to angle for a showdown.

Re: AQ - 200BB deep vs Villain 170BB deep
 

Thanks for the post, and the very long post.

The reason for my check raise was because I thought he might have hit that Ace, and with a flop aggression of 7, which is insanely high I didn't put my opponent on a monster because I saw him play A5 earlier and took down a pot with that.

I definitely understand keeping the pot small in situations like this, but vs this villain, who's aggressive on all streets except for preflop (overly so), I did not give him credit for a hand that beat mine and put him on an Ace.

Only hand I was worried about was A10, because with Aggression numbers that high I would think he would slow down with a monster BIG time trying to disguise the strength of his hand.

VS an Ace, which is what I put him on, I had the odds to call. I called

Villain shows: <font color="white"> A6os </font>

But I completely understand about pot control. Had I check called, or bet flop, the chances of me being in a tough situation would be reduced greatly.

^This is something I have to work on :\

But I wasn't surprised to be ahead here when I called, that's exactly what I was expecting. Keep in mind, this was Villain dependent 100%. Had I not seen his huge AF numbers, I would not have called.