40-80 AQ hand

[jba]

I think I actually remember this hand and was surprised you didn't raise preflop. it was a good game, but if I remember correctly most pots at the time were raised preflop, so we know the limpers didn't have very good hands. You have a very big hand against those 3 limpers, and the big blind was calling with any two. That's a lot of money you can get in with by far the best of it.

[AragornX151]

lol Dave, forget it. If I ever need to drop down to small stakes limit poker again, I'll PM you for a loan.

jba, I doubt you remember because I didn't show my hand; I bet river which was another Q and the lone turn caller folded. It was early on, so I did not yet have a line on what kind of weak game it was (lots of passivity preflop or plenty of raising), which was another factor.

I suppose raising pre and still planning to c/f flops that miss entirely is fine too, but it's not my preferred line. Sure, I'm almost assuredly not against AK, but I'm likely against a small pair, and an assortment of other types of hands. Raising here increases variance dramatically, and in that kind of game, I DO NOT need that to maximize my equity. That's my feeling on it, anyway. I'd rather raise with KQs than AQo there.

Which guy were you?

[AragornX151]

BTW, one more thing I like about completing with AQ there is it completely disguises my hand. If I'm against QK-QT on that board, nobody will give me AQ, and I'll get tons of action.

[benwood]

Aragorn,I believe that you are correct about the right way to handle the AQ in this position & would like to hear views about this from other posters.

Same with AK?

[AragornX151]

I often will complete with AKo here too. I think the positives (pot control, deception, ease of getting away cheaply) are more numerous than just trying to get more money into the pot preflop with a big hand. That's not the only reason to raise. I'll occasionally raise AK here, but not very often.

I'll almost always raise AKs, though.

[The DaveR]

[ QUOTE ]
lol Dave, forget it. If I ever need to drop down to small stakes limit poker again, I'll PM you for a loan.

[/ QUOTE ]

Whatever that means.


[ QUOTE ]
Raising here increases variance dramatically, and in that kind of game, I DO NOT need that to maximize my equity. That's my feeling on it, anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol

[emerson]

[ QUOTE ]
Curious to hear thoughts on all streets, and see how most of you guys would play it.

Soft 40-80 game at Foxwoods this weekend. New to table, but I could already tell it wasn't a tough crowd. A few decent players at best. I'm dealt A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] in the sb. Three limpers, I complete, bb checks.

Flop Q95, two hearts. I check, a MP guy bets, CO raises, I make it 120, two folds, they both call.

Turn 3 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. I lead.

Thoughts? Standard?

[/ QUOTE ]

I like your line. Not raising preflop has magnified the error of callers on the flop. Raising with AQ offsuit is a move to limit the number of players preflop. There is no reason to think you limit the field with a raise here. All it does is give your opponents 11 to 1 to call a bet on the flop, making staying with almost anything correct.

Your lead bet on the turn is important in case someone is holding on with just one big heart. You can't give them a free river. It is hard for the second guy to call if he doesn't have a strong hand and doesn't know whether a raise is coming.

[The DaveR]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Curious to hear thoughts on all streets, and see how most of you guys would play it.

Soft 40-80 game at Foxwoods this weekend. New to table, but I could already tell it wasn't a tough crowd. A few decent players at best. I'm dealt A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] in the sb. Three limpers, I complete, bb checks.

Flop Q95, two hearts. I check, a MP guy bets, CO raises, I make it 120, two folds, they both call.

Turn 3 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. I lead.

Thoughts? Standard?

[/ QUOTE ]

I like your line. Not raising preflop has magnified the error of callers on the flop. Raising with AQ offsuit is a move to limit the number of players preflop. There is no reason to think you limit the field with a raise here. All it does is give your opponents 11 to 1 to call a bet on the flop, making staying with almost anything correct.

Your lead bet on the turn is important in case someone is holding on with just one big heart. You can't give them a free river. It is hard for the second guy to call if he doesn't have a strong hand and doesn't know whether a raise is coming.

[/ QUOTE ]

Welcome to Stick a Fork in Midstakes Day.

[The DaveR]

emerson, Since you deleted your reply, here's my reply:

[ QUOTE ]



[ QUOTE ]
Raising here increases variance dramatically, and in that kind of game, I DO NOT need that to maximize my equity. That's my feeling on it, anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol

[/ QUOTE ]

Dave, I assume you, like everyone, has Holdem Poker for Advance Players. If you have the 21st Centruy addition look at page 161.

[/ QUOTE ]

S&M were not thinking about any Foxwoods game when they wrote HEPFAP. I'm pretty sure the games they describe don't exist anymore.

[AragornX151]

S & M are discussing loose games with poor, passive play postflop. That's exactly what the 40-80 game at Foxwoods was. The players often called on the flop with middle pair type hands. That example actually fits the game in question to a T. I hadn't remembered this quote from the book, but it's basically my thought process on this hand in a nutshell.