Here is a hand from a live 1/2 NL game in Atlantic City. This hand occurred after the hand that I described in a previous post, "Playing the Turn."

I was seated in the CO and began the hand with $230. Two early players limped, and a below average and unpredictable player raised to $15. I had not seen him turn over any really strong hands, and he bet some weak ones. I called with . The SB and both limpers called. 5 players saw the flop with $77 in the pot.

The flop was .

The SB led into the pot with a $15 bet. He had been at the table for about 1 orbit. He seemed a little goofy, but it was too soon to get a good read on how he played.

The preflop raiser then pushed with his remaining $100. There was now $192 in the pot, and I had $215 left with my top two-pair.

What play would you make?

With that kind of weakness I might actually consider pushing. Would any of these guys slowplayed a big pair? How about pocket 9s? Otherwise I wouldnt be surprised if one of them had A9 or a flushdraw.

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KRE8R probably has about seventy college funds in his NL5 roll.

personally from what i've seen in playing, the guy is hoping you all fold his all in, but he does have a heart draw, not a set because he knows that a heart draw might call an all in, going all in with two pair would be just stupid.

It's a cash game. He's only flopping a set 1 in 8 times. I'm pushing. This guy could easily have a OEFD, KK, AK, AJ, or the same hand. Why not A9? The post's so big that it's the only effective bet because there's not much behind him in relation to the pot.

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If it helps the discussion, the SB had about the same starting stack as I did.

From the responses, it sounds like pushing is a reasonable next move. That's what I did.

The SB called instantly and turned over pocket 99. Turns out, he caught the last 9 in the deck. The preflop raiser and the guy who moved all in on the flop before me turned over J9o.

The hand stacked me for the second time in 30 minutes (see thread "Playing the Turn"). I left the game at that point, figuring that this was not my night.

As I usually do, I thought about the hand afterward to consider whether I had played it poorly. On the flop, I think my only options were to go all in or fold. If I just called, there would be $400 in the pot, and I'd have only about $100 left behind. Not only would I be giving the right odds to the SB to call if he had only a heart draw, but I would have to call with my remaining stack no matter cards fell because of the pot odds. Thus, calling didn't seem like a good option.

I never gave any serious consideration to folding. I had top two-pair, and I felt that if someone made a set, they would have to show me. The SB did. I hope my thinking wasn't stupid, but if it was, I'm willing to hear it to avoid making this kind of mistake again.

When the pot's this big on the flop, this becomes some sort of a cooler. There's only one realistic hand to fear and that's the 99. Holding an A and Q, you can feel good about not being up against AA or QQ and with a ton of nut draws, this is a good push.

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cash game wise, i really dont like ur pf call.

you should only be flat calling pf raises if ur planning to play ur hand for implied odds imo (e.g. PP's, SC's). Otherwise u should always be either RRing or folding pf. I also really dont like AQs in these types of situations. When ur calling raises with AQs imo, its no different then calling a raise with AQo.

Personally I'd opt to lay it down PF. You have nothing invested, no read on opponent, and he came in for a very strong raise pf (although that is probably a standard raise for a live game right?). There is really no need to get involved here. If u choose to RR pf with this hand, you have to pop it up to $45 (nearly 23BB) which is waaaayyy too costly to spend on AQs PF (thats like 1/5th ur stack). Much rather wait for AA/KK and QQ to be doing the pf RRing.

BUT.... since u called and were at the flop now. You have hit it pretty hard, you have to raise here to shutout the SB, who could be potentially betting a draw. You have to raise here, and if ur planning to raise, the only reasonable raise u can do is pushing it all in. Therefore, push that flop.


Personally, i never call raises with AQs or AQo. If u do, ur just setting urself up to lose a big pot. If u call a pf raise, and multiple other callers come for the ride as well, its gonna create a huge potsize on the flop. And if u flop TP, ur gonna be thrust into alot of tough situations (where the ps on the flop is large compared to ur remaining stack size). And if u happen to get action on a Q or A high flop, majority of the time ur gonna be behind to the set or AK or overpair, etc.. If u call flop raises alot with AQ your gonna find urself in alot of situations where if u choose to take ur hand past the flop, ur essentially going to be playing for ur stack.

I also almost never RR pf with AQ, id much rather prefer to fold.. maybe if im in the blind and LP raises me.. and its one of those blind vs LP blind stealer situations.... then i may RR pf from the blind. But in any case, I'd much rather wait for AA/KK/QQ to be doing the RR, or even AK. This way, i have either a made hand pf, or if i do pair the flop, i dont have to worry about my kicker being the 2nd best.