What hand do you put this guy at?

[r8ed]

$25 NL .25/.50
I had AKs and raised preflop $1.50 and got 3 callers. Flop comes out 4JA (no flush draw for me). I bet $1 and get raised the pot which was about $5. This was the 5th hand at the table so I had no read on this guy. I had just won an allin w/ a fullhouse so I was at $55. He had around $40. The only hands that beat me are AA, JJ, or AJ. He just called preflop so I figured he probably didn't have AA or JJ. Do I put him at AJ automatically? Is it worth $5 for me to see the turn?

[dalecooper]

$25 NL .25/.50
I had AKs and raised preflop $1.50 and got 3 callers. Flop comes out 4JA (no flush draw for me). I bet $1 and get raised the pot which was about $5. This was the 5th hand at the table so I had no read on this guy. I had just won an allin w/ a fullhouse so I was at $55. He had around $40. The only hands that beat me are AA, JJ, or AJ. He just called preflop so I figured he probably didn't have AA or JJ. Do I put him at AJ automatically? Is it worth $5 for me to see the turn?

Yeesh. Well...

1. You dramatically underbet the flop. If you raised to $2, the pot was $8 and you bet $1 with TPTK? That's crazy weak. You have to bet at least 5 or 6 dollars there. If you bet $1 it's only with the intent of re-raising.

2. His $5 bet means nothing at this point. He could just be attacking your weakness. If I sat with you, I'd make that bet with pocket 2s. You don't want to call; you want to re-raise immediately. Make it $10, find out how serious he is. If he re-raises you, you're dead - fold. If he calls, you might be in good shape. Let the hand play out. Lead the turn with a good bet (at least $7 or so) and see how he reacts. If he has the goods - a set or two pair - he'll raise you, and then you can get out.

The way you played this has two major problems: you're projecting weakness and letting him attack you, and you're not getting any information for your money. Bet the flop harder and he'll only raise you with the goods. If you do bet weak, you have to re-raise to find out where you are.

[SteveO]

Reraise him back another $5 to find out where you are. If he pushes you have a tough decision but I might even make that call. People are prone to push like that w/ AQ or even A10 sometimes, but tough to say w/o a read.

If he slowplayed AA or JJ you are just dead but you won't know unless you re-raise. What is the sense in seeing the turn anyway? If you hit a K you don't improve enough to beat anyting but the AJ.

Simple play here is to re-raise, a call is a waste of money.

Don't discount the set of 4's either.

If he puts you AI after the rerasie, I probably lay it down b/c you don't have a solid read and TPTK doen't look so hot anymore. On the other hand, if there are no draws why would he blast the pot with top 2 pair or a set. I would string you along, which leads me to believe he is protecting a weaker A.

Another thing, you hit a great flop for your hand, what's with the $1 flop bet? You gain no information with that bet and your hand is not necessarily strong enough to confidently slowplay.

[FlyingSaucy]

He's put you on a pair of J's and wants to let you know that he's got the A.

I'd put him on a weak ace, pair of J's with a good kicker, or possibly a much better hand. The only way to find out if he's got a much better hand is to re-raise.

[r8ed]

My bet preflop was $1.5 because 80% of the time I bet $2+ on these tables (empire) the whole table folds and it actually happened two hands before that. I stole the blinds with a $2 right before the blinds. Nobody knew it was a steal since it was my first played hand. Believe me, I would love to get high preflop bets on my premium hands, it sucks to watch them fold time and time again. I posted about this previously and the conclusion was to bet $1.5 to try to get more people in on these tables.

Back to the hand. I put this guy on Ax (probably AT not AJ) or QK or JT because his preflop call and the fact he raised with AJ on the board. Maybe he thought it was worth $5 to go for the straight. Either way, I figured I still had a good shot at winning the hand so I called.

On the turn, a rag came out. He bet $5 again. I had to make the same decision and figured if our hands have not changed, why change the way I'm playing it. River came out with nothing too. He put down $10. Like an idiot, I called and he indeed had AJ. This hand wiped out the gains from my previous victory.

Bad play on my part. I gather I should have reraised him on the flop and folded if he reraised again? I was concerned that my initial read was off, but it seems you agree for the most part. The thing is (i feel), if I had this situation 9 more times on these tables, I would win more than I lose.