AQ help

[cag8f]

Early on in a $22 FT. Villian liked to see flops. I would have loved to put him all in pre-flop, but with the BB in between, I figured it wasn't the right move. Should I shut down and wait for a better spot, or put him all in?


Hero's M = 19.50
Full Tilt Poker Game #2756122264: $20 + $2 Sit & Go (21014137), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:48:56 ET - 2007/06/24
Condensed history provided by the Tournament Trimmer (v1.1.2w) from http://www.FlopTurnRiver.com
Seat 1: old-geiser (925)
Seat 2: rocketboy375 (895)
Seat 4: rocketkayak (2,595)
Seat 5: LIZ1234 (720)
Seat 6: FOLD101 (3,265)
Seat 7: jerry1333 (1,755)
Seat 8: Shadynelms (2,155)
Seat 9: EZstash (1,190)
jerry1333 posts the small blind of 30
Shadynelms posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #6
Preflop: jerry1333 dealt A Q
EZstash folds
old-geiser folds
rocketboy375 folds
rocketkayak folds
LIZ1234 calls 60
FOLD101 folds
jerry1333 raises to 240
Shadynelms folds
LIZ1234 calls 180
Flop: 5 6 3

Hero???

[Jack Sawyer]

limp/ call raise screams small pair. You have one of the best unpaired hands. Time for a probe bet of 1/2 pot.
Your preflop raise was too much for AQo, leaving you in a tough situation w/ low maneuverability postflop.
1/2 pot now would be too costly, but if you raised to 2,5x bb instead it would be perfect. anyway, either bet around 300 to know where you are standing or check/ fold it.

[cag8f]

But if I throw out a 300 cb and he pushes, aren't I priced in to call? If that's the case, shouldn't I just push?

[bjsaust]

You should never call a push here unless you have an incredibly solid read that opp is pushing with crap. Solid as in seen it 3 or 4 times, not just once. I rarely believe you ever have odds to call with A high and pushing here is silly. You're either slightly ahead or way behind, that makes pushing a bad decision.

Anyway, this board is perfect for a c-bet. Very unlikely he hit, if he did he probably has a set and you're WAY behind. Even if he has a pocket pair, the c-bet from you after your PF raise has him wondering whether you have a better pocket pair. 300 and any call or raise tells you you're done with the hand.

[taipan168]

Opp's stack size is really important here.

Preflop: I think I just reshove it, you're likely ahead of opp's range and BB only ever comes along with a monster hand (ie. virtually never).

Flop: As played, I would just put opp AI as the c-bet. There is 510 in the pot and opp has 480 behind. Betting 300 and folding for another 180 chips would be bad IMO.

[bjsaust]

Oops, you're right. I'm not used to thinking in those terms while the blinds are still so low. A push into a decent stack would be bad, but into someone that small you might as well.

[Jack Sawyer]

But if I throw out a 300 cb and he pushes, aren't I priced in to call? If that's the case, shouldn't I just push?

Your preflop raise was too much for AQo, leaving you in a tough situation w/ low maneuverability postflop.

Never mind that, I didn't see the stack-size of the limper.
In this case, the 4xbb pre is even more at fault. You should check/ fold here.
Just raise it to 2,5bb next time, and let the hand go at flop.

[Jack Sawyer]

There is 510 in the pot and opp has 480 behind. Betting 300 and folding for another 180 chips would be bad IMO.

Yeah, I didn't see the opps stack size.
Anyway, you are a 3:1 dog (if I'm not mistaken) if opp has a pair (and more, if opp happened to have an Ax or Qx that paired the board, possible, but unlikely). Is c-bet pot here still best?

[taipan168]

Anyway, you are a 3:1 dog (if I'm not mistaken) if opp has a pair (and more, if opp happened to have an Ax or Qx that paired the board, possible, but unlikely). Is c-bet pot here still best?

Well, at this stage it is either check/fold or put opp AI on the flop. Betting 1/2 pot then folding to a push is bad IMO. If we're getting 3:1 pot odds after betting 1/2 pot we have to call a push - and there's always the possibility that we're already ahead of opp. Also, by putting opp AI we maximise our fold equity.

That flop is very unlikely to have hit opp's hand (unless they're calling with hands like A6 which I guess is possible). Whilst hands like small-medium pocket pairs are well within opp's range, so are big unpaired hands like KT and QJ which we are already ahead of - and there are many more unpaired hand combinations than there are pocket pairs.

This decision could have been avoided by just reshoving preflop.

[cag8f]

Tai, as I said, I would have loved to shove preflop but I didn't know if that was wise with the BB still to act. I think I will remember that for the future and just shove. I also agree with you that if I'm going to CB, just CB all in.

Thanks for the advice. I pushed, villian called with 4d 3d and took it down.