checkraised on the turn with AA

[duckhook]

I am playing 20/40 live in Brantford Ontario. UTG seems to be a solid player but I have little experience playing against him. This hand occured 2 weeks ago but for some reason I keep thinking about it.

UTG raises and I 3 bet with AA (suits irrelevent). All fold and UTG calls.

FLOP come KK2 rainbow. UTG Checks, I Bet, UTG Calls

Turn is a 6. UTG checks, I bet, UTG raises and I call.

River is a J. UTG bets and I call.

Do other people check this turn or 3 bet (fold to a 4 bet) to the check raise? I assume no one folds when check raised.

I am wondering if playing this hand differently will help me in the long run.

Thanks, duckhook

[ILOVEPOKER929]

Given your read or lack or read I should say, I am never folding to this turn checkraise. I would call down as you did. Against better players I may check behind on the turn and call the river.

[jfk]

Being that a presumably solid unknown is going to expect you to call all the way to the river with the sort of hand with which you'd three bet preflop, I'd be inclined to fold to the turn check raise.

I assume he is unfamiliar with your play so the likelihood of his pulling a move when he knows you have a premium holding is reduced.

He played the hand exactly how he should if he's holding AK or KQ. If he had position on you he'd probably let you bet the hand the whole way and wait for a river raise. He's clearly not putting you on AK, which makes the most sense if he's holding a K.

If he's holding any of the smaller pocket pairs (from QQ down) his action makes little sense at all. There are plenty of times when an opponent may be putting your overpair to the test, but this doesn't seem to be one of them. It also wouldn't figure that he's buying a river showdown with QQ or similar. If he doesn't hold a K he certainly has to think that your three bets range makes it reasonable that you hold one. His river bet diminishes the possibility that he's holding another pocket pair.

Calling is not neccessarily a bad decision if you think it will prevent others from taking shots at you, but you can't be expecting to win this hand. I would be disinclined to invest another two bets to find out I was dragging along a two outer.

[onegymrat]

Hi duck,

This would be very difficult for me to fold. For your turn fold to be correct, you would absolutely need to be very sure that you are behind. Granted, villain could actually have a monster with 22 or 66 as well as a king, but the chances of you being ahead is tremendous. The only way I would check the turn is probably if I was confident that he would fold to my turn bet.

I would have played your hand the same way. I actually don't like his river bet, but I'm calling (and raising if I sense weakness). When I get cr'd without the king in these situations, they normally do not bet the river, so I am not sure what to make of your opponent.

[jay b.]

I could probably give you a good turn line if you knew this player's name, feel free to PM if you do.

[duckhook]

Thanks for all the comments.

I guess I just have to accept that somtimes AA looses to AK and I will probably play this hand the same way in the future.

I went golfing today and unfortunatly lived up to my moniker.

Duckhook

[siegfriedandroy]

you have to call down unless you KNOW he is super nitty.

[siegfriedandroy]

why are you checking against good players?

[ILOVEPOKER929]

[ QUOTE ]
why are you checking against good players?

[/ QUOTE ]

Against a good aggressive player who checkraises this turn with the optimal frequency of bluffs, kx hands, and other made hands, I am never betting this turn, I will always check behind and call the river.

[jfk]

[ QUOTE ]
Against a good aggressive player who checkraises this turn with the optimal frequency of bluffs, kx hands, and other made hands, I am never betting this turn, I will always check behind and call the river.[ QUOTE ]


...this is a reasonable line as well. The flop call should set off alarm bells. Either he has a smaller pocket pair or he's going to pop you with the king on the turn. The trickier the opponent the more likely I would be to check the turn and call the river (as you suggest). Against a standard opponent, I'm more likely to bet hoping that they're going to call down with their own two outer (or fold). Plus I'd be comfortable in a pot this size in mucking pocket aces to the turn raise. In other words I can't come up with a good argument against checking behind on the turn. You don't fear overcards and there are no redraws described. I'm way ahead or way behind.

OP,

Since it sounds like he had a king yet you've decided to play the hand the same way the next time, will you explain your thought process for the original call down and why you think you should stay with it.

Had the board shown paired 88 for example and he hit you with a turn raise, that would be grounds for suspicion. In your scenario UTG screamed, "I have a king".

There were no apparent redraws if he was making a move. With just 7BB in the pot at that time and with your possibly holding the hand he's representing, I would think it highly unlikely that he would chose that moment for a bluff.

For those who advocate calling down, I would ask why in a pot of 7BB (which will grow to 10BB) are you willing to invest two more BB? Do you feel his bluffing frequency is high enough to make this move profitable for him? Moreover, are any of you making that move in that pot with his other likely range of hands which don't include a king?

Lastly, if you're interested, Brier & Ciaffone's "Middle Limit Hold "Em" have a chapter on handling turn raises.