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I'm talking about both, actually. But here's the main difference in my mind: if you get re-raised and just call with your jacks, you have no idea where you really stand, for one, and could get scared off the best hand by a troublesome flop. And two, you may be missing out on the primary rule of poker, which is that getting all your money in with the best hand is the ultimate goal.
Let's say in this situation that AlanKing isn't playing the hand, and algadban has just re-raised from $1 to $3. You have two options: push (or raise $10, since that's all albadgan has); or flat call. We're assuming that we do have a read on albadgan that he's loose/aggressive and likely to re-raise with a mediocre hand (which is exactly what happened in this case).
Now let's take a look at a few carefully chosen flops that might come down:
flop 1 - Ts 6h 3c
Rainbow board, all undercards; looks pretty good. You're first to act. Are you going to bet? If he raises all in, are you going to call? I'd say a big bet and calling the all in would be appropriate and likely.
flop 2 - Ac Ts 9c
This is a troubling board. You'd have second pair but the ace is very likely to have hit the re-raiser. You'd probably check/fold, or bet weak/fold - even though the ace actually missed his hand.
flop 3 - Qc Ts 5h
This is the kind of board that the jacks would probably call his all in on, because the queen is the least threatening overcard that could have come out. You'd lose of course but that's how it goes.
flop 4 - Ts Td 9s
If you bet and he raises all in, are you comfortable calling that? A lot of players would fold, even though their hand is best and moreover is LIKELY to be best. They're too afraid of the tens and the flush/straight draws as well.
flop 5 - As Ts 6s
Oh the horror. Hero folds to the raise every time and villain shows his hand, laughing maniacally.
I guess the point I'm slowly getting around to is this. A pair of jacks is not the kind of hand you really want to take a flop and judge with. There are too many scary possibilities - starting with three overcards that could come out. And since this player is short-stacked and LAgg, we know it's very likely he will go all in on the flop no matter what we do, and no matter how much the board has helped or hurt us.
So I have to reiterate, I think your best move is push while you have him on a range of hands that you are favored against, and not let a troublesome flop talk you out of it. The only other move I like here is flat call and then push on most flops, which is basically the same, but it lets him have a look at a board that may not help him (and therefore increase your fold equity somewhat). And of course if the board is As Ks Qs you can comfortably fold and save yourself $10, too.
Bear in mind that he doesn't have enough money to pay you off if you play "no set, no bet." Or if you're counting on undercards - because a large percentage of the time there will be at least one overcard on the flop, which is going to hurt your aggression. Only two of the three overcards could possibly help him, but no matter - you'll never really know which ones do and which ones don't, so most of the time if an overcard flops, you're going to check/fold your jacks, which were still the best hand 33% of the time or more.
Basically what I'm advocating is this: against a LAgg player in a short-handed game, play jacks like you'd play kings or aces. If he re-raises, you should feel very comfortable re-raising him back, probably pushing all in. The hand is strong against his range of hands, and most of the time you're not going to like whatever flops... why shoot yourself in the foot that way? Get your money in early. Now in this case, with no particular read on the one player and another guy calling, no way I'd push. Easy flat call and check/fold the flop.
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Do you like to push with JJ
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Originally Posted by dalecooper
ignore this post :P
