What to do with a possibly dominated Ace.25nl

[senorquinn]

What do you do in this situation? Do you just call? If so what do you do when he bets the turn when its a blank? Is there arguments for a raise? Not much is known about villain.

Poker Room skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.15/$0.25
4 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $23.75
Button: $19.25
SB: $116.05
HERO: $25.00

Pre-flop: (4 players) HERO is BB with T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
2 folds, <font color="#cc0000">SB raises to $1.15</font>, HERO calls.

Flop: J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] ($2.30, 2 players)
<font color="#cc0000">SB bets $1</font>,Hero??

[MrWooster]

I think calling PF here is not great - if you think SB is stealing a lot then you could 3-bet. As played I would raise the flop up to $3.50 but would probably fold to a shove.

[jjb108]

Call. You're only getting called by a better hand if you raise in most cases. 1/2 pot turn for value vs. random pp if checked to. Expect villain to fold.

[Milky]

No point in raising... worse hands fold, better hands call/3bet. Just call here. If the turn comes a club I'm calling no matter what (not raising) and if it's anything else I'm most likely calling but it depends on villain.

Also, I may 3bet this pf since you're probably ahead of his range and it says "I'm not going to let you steal my blind".

[senorquinn]

Why would you raise the flop? Obviously value is not the right answer as your only called by better hands. Is it for protection vs the flush draw? Keep in mind we hold the Ac so that eliminates a lot of possible flush draws.

[iheartponeez]

Raising for protection is only a good idea if:
a) The bet is ridiculously weak, like those guys that minbet.
or
b) You're reasonably convinced you have the best hand (and want to protect it from anyone improving over you).

If you don't have an inkling whether your hand is best or not, then you're not really sure if you're protecting or value-betting against yourself. So just chill on it. Plus, as you mentioned, there's both less flush draws for him to have (though BvB makes any suited cards a little more likely), and you have a redraw.

And, yes, if you raise and get called or 3-bet, you're looking at a bad spot. Raising definitely forces him to stop giving you money with bad hands, and start taking yours with good ones.

[senorquinn]

So it makes sense why raising is a bad idea. If you call do you call the turn bet as well? Then do you fold to further aggression on the river its unlikely that you are facing a worse hand?

I am thinking that folding this preflop or 3 betting if his steals are getting out of hand is the best plan. The problem is if you hit your ace how do you know where you stand?