B&M - How to play AA when you get $75 when you loose

[shark6]

At Canterbury Park on Wednesday afternoons you get $75 when you loose with AA at showdown. The games are typical B&M loose table with 5-6 to a flop, tons of PF cold-calling raises and tons of calling with any chance of winning ragardless of pot sizes. You get $75 if you loose with AA at showdown.

How do you play AA at 3/6 to 6/12? Do you slowplay or play normal?

[sleech]

90% I raise/reraise from any position.
10% I limp hoping to reraise from early position.

[BenA]

Wow, that's a great deal, especially at lower limits! I say just play normal, except be inclined to call a couple more bets on later streets even if you are sure you are dead. I want to get it to showdown no matter what, and as long as I'm not putting more than 75$ of dead money in the pot, I ain't folding.

I assume you are thinking of ways to avoid folding everyone out, but if you fold everyone, it means you probabaly would have won at showdown anyways, meaning you wouldn't get that cracked aces money. I think that slowplaying just for those rare situations where someone would have easily folded but you let them hit a miracle card and ironically make yourself money don't make up for lost EV of just normal AA equity.

[bozlax]

Why are you worried about losing with AA? The times you win your profit off this hand at these tables is going to more than make up for your losses plus $75 each time.

Let's see, you've got AA and raise it preflop with 6 players to the flop. That's 6BB in the pot on the flop. At 3/6, that's $36, $30 of it profit for you; at 6/12, double those numbers. So, just on the flop you've already made up at least close to half the $75 just by playing normally.

[belloc]

Play normal; you'll make more on average this way. Especially in the bigger games: if you're changing the way you play AA in a 6/12 game to chase a $75 bonus, you should immediately cash in your chips and go into the next room and try for that big slots jackpot.

[BenA]

[ QUOTE ]
90% I raise/reraise from any position.
10% I limp hoping to reraise from early position.

[/ QUOTE ]

On second thought, I like the limp-reraise from early position approach more than usual as sleech suggests. This allows a lot more limpers in to possibly 'beat you,' or if you unfortunately win [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] builds a bigger pot. At 3/6 this is very relevant, where even if its capped every street, you lose exactly 72$, meaning you could show a 3$ profit when you lose and win a gigantic pot when you win. And at 6/12, this is gonna be so rare to lose $144 that pot building and letting in more players sometimes is still a great idea. (more players doesn't hurt AA usually anyways) Oh, is the cap 4 or 5?

[SixForty]

The only adjustment that I think I would make is to call down a little bit thinner than I normally would. You pretty much always want to take them to showdown. (Unless it cost you $100 to do so when you konw you are losing!)

But basically, you don't want to give up value from all the hands that you will win just by trying to let others out draw you cheaply. AA will win far more than it's fair share, so make sure that you maximize the times that you win. I still think that's the most EV play.

But one thing I would do, is to call down even if there's 4 to a straight on board. Normally you can muck them right there, because the times you win are just too small to continue. But now, the times you win, you take the whole pot. And the times you lose, you get $75 in "insurance money" So calling down on a 4 straight or 4 flush board is still okay, if you expect to make more that what it costs to call down.

Other than that, I don't think I'd play much differently. I may LRR occassionally from EP, if I think it will get me more action, but I'd occassionally do that anyway! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Just now I wouldn't have to worry so much about losing to the BB's 94o flopping 2 pair! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[BenA]

[ QUOTE ]
Why are you worried about losing with AA? The times you win your profit off this hand at these tables is going to more than make up for your losses plus $75 each time.



[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think he's worried about losing, just wondering if any adjustments could be made to take advantage of it, which mainly involves NOT folding.

[shark6]

[ QUOTE ]
Let's see, you've got AA and raise it preflop with 6 players to the flop. That's 6BB in the pot on the flop. At 3/6, that's $36, $30 of it profit for you

[/ QUOTE ]

FYI, your equity against 5 other players with random hands is 50% pre-flop.

I think slow playing has no value. I'd also say play normally since you're not likely to fold out anyone that had 1 pair after the flop anyway, especially since the pots get so big with so many callers and they call to the end anyway hoping to hit.

I just thought it was strange that everyone at the 3/6 table never bet or raised with AA and then hoped to lose on the river.

[ QUOTE ]
Wow, that's a great deal

[/ QUOTE ]

This is also true in a non-intuitive way in that you also win pots that you may have folded had AA raised. I happend to pick up a pot with T6s in the BB when UTG didn't raise and I flopped 2-pair. So ya, this is really good deal multiple ways.

Also FYI, Turtle Lake in NW Wisconsin has this same deal, except they pay $100 for losing with AA at showdown.

[cpk]

I think only one thing changes--when the Aces-cracked promotion pays more than your average pot equity, then you are more interested in building the pot than you are winning it. So therefore you forgo plays that protect your hand (as the promotion protects your hand for you), and you emphasize plays that build the pot.

ETA: Oh, obviously, pay off bets even when you're very obviously beaten. Even at 6/12, $75 will compensate having to pay $24 or even $36 to show down your aces.

ETA2: I just remembered one other thing--if it's multiway, raise on the big streets even if you're pretty sure you're beaten (but not if you're REALLY sure you're beaten). Build that freaking pot!