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Home Forum MTT Poker Strategy Misplayed Aces?

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Misplayed Aces?

Radford999

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February 16, 2016 - 12:56 pm

Just wondering if i misplayed a hand where i had aces. It was a live tournament.

Nowhere near the money. The blinds were 600/1,200/100ante.
Stack sizes: Me 135,000
Villain 85,000

A guy in the CO raises to 3,000. It is the start of day two. I don’t really have that much info on villain. He is an old guy and likes to call alot of raises pre-flop. He has also open limped a few times. I have played one other hand with him where i 3-bet him from the button with AKs and made a cb on a 883 flop and he folded. I think he is the type of player that likes playing the weak aces, the KT’s and the Q9’s, even after a raise from lets say…utg.

So i have A club A heart and i 3-bet from the SB to 7,100. He quickly calls.

Flop Q club J diamond 9 club

It’s a pretty shitty flop for aces. I checked trying to pot control and take the turn card for free. Although i’m not sure that’s good. At the time i thought it was a decent play. That kind of flop hits villain really hard. Of course i do get alot of hands worse than aces to call if i bet the flop. The fact that i had the ace of clubs made me check too. I don’t want to bloat the pot oop with just aces on this kind of board. But then again i guess we could bet to make the draws pay?

He bets 5,500. I guess we check call, right? So i called.

Turn 3 heart . Doesn’t really change much. I checked the flop so i planned to check the turn too. Which i did. Then he fires 15,000. It seems like a really big bet. And honestly i wish i had folded. Would villain bet 15,000 with let’s say KQ or QJ? I’m not too sure. I called.

The river was 9 diamond . I checked and he quickly checked behind KT for a flopped straight! I’m amazed that he would check behind a straight. I almost never have a full house, especially when i don’t lead the flop or river.

So what are your thoughts? I’m unsure as to whether i played these aces poorly or not. I suppose checking the flop is debatable and so is calling the turn. One thing I have taken away from this hand is to 3-bet bigger pre. Especially against a sticky type player that likes to see flops with weak hands. If I was to go back to the hand, I would 3-bet to something like 8,500. 7,100 is a little too small.

Thanks.

Foucault

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February 16, 2016 - 3:07 pm

Yeah, I pretty much agree with what seems to be your self-analysis. I mean, it was in many ways a cooler – you might well have lost an even bigger pot if you’d made better pre-flop and flop decisions. I agree that your 3-bet ought to be larger even without a read, but especially when you say “I think he is the type of player that likes playing the weak aces, the KT’s and the Q9’s, even after a raise from lets say…utg” there’s really no reason to raise tiny. You have the nuts, you know he likes to call with bad hands, get some money into the pot! As you learned, Aces won’t be the nuts later in the hand, so it’s best to get the money in early when possible.

Also, pot control isn’t really something you can do from out of position. It’s not up to you whether you get a free turn card. Even if you check, your opponent can still choose to bet with both his strong hands and his draws or whatever that want to put pressure on you, and that puts you in a bad spot.

florianm1

Playing The Prelims

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February 16, 2016 - 3:47 pm

agree with above.

make it bigger pre.

I dont mind checking as with the Ac but generally we want to get value from top pair hands and draws so i prefer betting and most likely folding to raises.

vs passive station i might think of leading small on all 3 streets

navinbits

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February 16, 2016 - 6:11 pm

I think check-calling 2 streets made you lose the least here. And yes, the stacks are very deep. I wouldn’t mind 3-betting bigger as the pros have said. As played, I am wondering what hand the villain puts you on to just check the river! If I were the villain, I know you are likely to float AK at least on the flop, but not likely on the turn, so you must have some hand. Villain should have bet small on the river. Do you guys think otherwise?

SIGABA

California

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February 17, 2016 - 11:19 am

Good post, great descriptions of villain and the table. For the next post … How does the table and villain see you (hero’s image)?

On to the hand: I like what you said about 3betting bigger. You are OOP against a calling station. Build the pot when you have the nuts. You couldn’t have said it better. “It’s a pretty shitty flop for aces.” Yes it was, lol. I don’t mind the check call on the flop. He is betting any Ten, clubs, pair of Queens and prob Jacks, two pair, sets, straights, everything. Most of which you beat. Call.

On the turn, it’s a blank. No point in betting. Let him do that. He makes it 15k for more than 1/2 pot. I think most calling stations are going to check and take a free card here with their draws. But he doesn’t check. He bets over 1/2 pot. And when a calling station that likes to see flops has double barreled on this board … Like you said, “It’s a pretty shitty flop for aces.”

Monday morning Quarterback:

1. 3 bet a little bigger OOP against a calling station

2. Great check call on the flop

3. Check fold on the turn cool