A common situation vs. an unknown

[AZplaya]

I think most decent players are able to figure out the best line to take when they have a read/stats/both on a Villian. I personally find the most difficult decisions to be against an unknown player. There are many on this forum who advocate assuming an unknown is a donk until proven otherwise. Still equally as many prefer to wait until a read is established before making assumptions about an opponents play. The purpose of this post is to look at the pro's and con's of each school of thought. I hope to generate discussion from posters as to whether it's best to assume our opponents are fish or to wait for a specific read. I present the following scenario to generate this discussion. For this hand assume full stacks.

Hero has just sat down at a Party NL$100 6max table. Hero waits for BB, post, and is kindly dealt A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] for his first hand. Folded around to CO who covers, CO raises to $4. Unfortunatley hero has no stats, notes, or reads on this opponent. Folded to Hero, Hero makes it $15, CO calls. Pot is now ~$30. Flop comes down: Q [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]J [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]6 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Hero leads for $25, CO raises to $75, Hero???

Push or fold, and why?

[TurdFerguson]

In the heat of the moment I probably grumble to myself, and push here most of the time (by my count, it's only $10 more after the call anyway). We're worried about two hands here (QQ and JJ) that crush us. We're hoping to God to see AQ, AJ, AK or KK, or a big bluff.

Without a strong read, I don't see how we get away from this unless we put Villain squarely on QQ or JJ -- I think we need a read to make this laydown much more than we need a read to push.

Other thoughts?

[Wools]

Playing against unknowns is always tricky, and even moreso when OOP.

My general strategy against unknowns is to get to showdown as cheaply as possible when I dont "know" I'm ahead. I tend to sacrafice some value to avoid taking bet/fold lines since I have no reads on how villain plays. Getting to showdown with made, but not overly strong hands is important because you have a decent chance of being best and you'll get to see what he's showing down with and develop a primitive read.

[Misanthrope]

look at the unknowns name. if its something like bettingJoe or HelmuthJr push. If its 311JK or Rakeback fold.

[deaders]

[ QUOTE ]
look at the unknowns name. if its something like bettingJoe or HelmuthJr push. If its 311JK or Rakeback fold.

[/ QUOTE ]

How much do people really read into someone's name? I hope a lot of people see it that way because my name on party should generate some action.

[carnivalhobo]

unknown -> all in