NL 100: AQ on AT9 flop

whangarei · #1 08-01-2007, 06:01 AM

Appreciate thoughts on all streets:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

saw flop|saw showdown

Hero ($97)
Button ($144.35)
SB ($141.90)
BB ($100)
UTG ($143.45)

Preflop: Hero is MP with Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
1 fold, Hero raises to $4, Button calls $4, 2 folds.

Flop: ($9.50) A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets $9, Button raises to $20, Hero raises to $93

Sciolist · #2 08-01-2007, 06:04 AM

Preflop is fine obviously.
Flop cbet is fine.

Your reraise is not fine. You just turned your hand into a bluff: You are called by better hands and all worse hands fold. What're you hoping he has? AJ? QJ? Would you call all-in on the flop with those?

Just call, check to him on the turn, and see what happens.

auto111032 · #3 08-01-2007, 06:05 AM

Unless villian is straightforward, nh.

Roger Mainfield · #4 08-01-2007, 06:15 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Unless villian is straightforward, nh.

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I don't get it...

Ya I flat call and re-eval.

InsideEdge · #5 08-01-2007, 06:17 AM

Calling=folding>raising

Hes not folding anything that beats you so why raise, only likely draw is QJ.

If he was your standard tight weakish player i would fold. Your not beating anything and he wont let you get to a cheap showdown.

whangarei · #6 08-01-2007, 06:19 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Preflop is fine obviously.
Flop cbet is fine.

Your reraise is not fine. You just turned your hand into a bluff: You are called by better hands and all worse hands fold. What're you hoping he has? AJ? QJ? Would you call all-in on the flop with those?

Just call, check to him on the turn, and see what happens.

[/ QUOTE ]

Appreciate the feedback from someone "in the know" [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] But seriously, could someone give me the theory behind this tactic. I have seen this often in this forum, but still do not quite get it. Granted I am likely to be called only by better hands. But if I win the pot now that is a 25% increase in my stack (25 BB, whatever). Isn't that worth it OOP, rather than giving possibly 2 free cards to allow villain to hit his straight, two pair, etc.

InsideEdge · #7 08-01-2007, 06:30 AM

You are maximising your losses when you are behind.

There arent really a huge amount of draws to worry about IMO. You have a very marginal hand and need to decided to dump it now and get out or try and get to a cheap showdown.

TPTK can be tough OOP when facing aggro.

Sciolist · #8 08-01-2007, 06:35 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Appreciate the feedback from someone "in the know" [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] But seriously, could someone give me the theory behind this tactic. I have seen this often in this forum, but still do not quite get it. Granted I am likely to be called only by better hands. But if I win the pot now that is a 125% increase in my stack (25 BB, whatever). Isn't that worth it OOP, rather than giving possibly 2 free cards to allow villain to hit his straight, two pair, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm pretty sure I didn't get the title from SSNL posts.

The "increase my stack by 25bb" is a tournament mentality. It's (almost) completely irrelevant in a cash game. If you lose your chips, you take some more out of your pocket and keep playing.

The strategy for beating cash games is basically to put money into the pot when your range of hands at that stage has a better equity than your opponent's range of hands.

If you shove all your money in here, you have just minimised your winnings against worse hands and maximised your losses against better hands. Sure, it makes for an easy decision, but poker isn't about making easy decisions, it's about making the play with the best expectation for you.

Yes, if we just call, sometimes we'll end up folding the better hand on the turn. Sometimes we'll end up letting him outdraw us. But most of the time we are ensuring we allow weaker hands to continue paying us off, whilst enabling us to get away against better hands.

Quite often, your re-evaluation on the turn means you fold. This is fine. If your opponent bets oop on the flop, how often do you reraise with nothing at all?

whangarei · #9 08-01-2007, 06:45 AM

[ QUOTE ]
If your opponent bets oop on the flop, how often do you reraise with nothing at all?

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Thanks for the reasoning behind your thinking. It all makes good sense until the quoted part above. Remember villain is the button and my bet is a standard C-bet. I will often reraise OTB in this spot with lots of hands worse than AQ.

Sciolist · #10 08-01-2007, 06:47 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If your opponent bets oop on the flop, how often do you reraise with nothing at all?

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the reasoning behind your thinking. It all makes good sense until the quoted part above. Remember villain is the button and my bet is a standard C-bet. I will often reraise OTB in this spot with lots of hands worse than AQ.

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Yeh, that's why we just call. Would you say that you reraise here with weak hands vs strong hands with such a high proportion that it's right to push all in against you every time? If so, that's a serious leak.