AA against TAG

[OrigamiSensei]

I was reviewing fab on this one. My original comments were as follows:

The real question is does he have a set of nines or is it a good flush draw? If it’s a flush draw you really need to raise here to get your money in while you have the equity advantage. If he has the set he’ll probably cap it and you can tread lightly. I see instead you called. Since you only called the flop I think you need to bet the turn to prevent giving away a free card. I see you checked. This may be a good hand to post to the micro forum.

I also recommended the flop 3-bet although in hindsight I narrowed the hand read on villain too much. Likewise though I called for a turn lead I did so for an inadequate reason. He should be betting the turn for value and if he gets raised again he can call down. Although the OP implies otherwise I didn't have any problems with the river - it's an obvious bet.

[Big Folder]

did he just pull the free card play on you?

You should reraise this flop. Its not very dangerous unless he's cold-calling with 54. He could have a set sure, but I wouldn't give him credit for that simply because he raised.

You have a very strong holding on this flop. You should reraise for value.

Then bet the turn.

Then bet the river.

[fabadam]

In retrospect this is indeed an easy 3-bet on the flop, something I should do a lot more anyway -- I tend to believe too much that flop raises are a monster, when they could just as easy be done on lots of hands I beat.

The same goes for the turn, which is just continuing the same error.

(Villain showed down 88)

[Poker Plan]

Grunch:-

Someone was after a free card and you gave it to them.

3 bet that flop and tell them who the daddy is.
Lead out on the turn and see if Mr Villain still likes his hand.


Edited to add:-
Post-Grunch: Just read that villain showed 88. So he's testing the water and trying to shift you off hand- as soon as you take the passive line from here- it becomes dangerous.

Justlike the centre section of a chess board, the flop is the area where the power struggle is fought. You really need to be in control of the hand to the end.

[Absolution]

That's an easy 3-bet on the flop. The other streets would play differently if you did that. Think about the hands that a guy would cold call with at this level and how they relate to this board. I can't think of many times I would just slowplay here. Maybe if it was a paired board and he was donking me I might wait for the turn or river, but this board is too coordinated to just call. There are so many hands he could be raising here for a free card (not that he should take the free card, but the K might have scared him.) Give him a chance to overplay a draw. I would keep the aggression in this hand. At least you played in tempo.