I can decide where I went wrong with this hand, or if i just got unlucky so id apprciate your thoughts.

The game is a £25 freezeout in a poker club 28 started (4 tables of 7). My table only has 6 as one player hasnt turned up and is being blinded out.

The starting stack is 10,000. I have about 15,000 going into the hand

We're at level 3 about 45 minutes in. The blind is 75 and 150 with a 25 ante.

Im small blind, 2 callers, I call and the BB checks. I have A6 spades.

The flop comes AAQ. I check, BB checks, first in bets 1500, and folded to me. I raise to 3000 and the player calls.

At this point I have her on a Queen or a low ace. The game is short handed and agressive and she didnt raise preflop so I dont have her on QQ or AT (or better).

The turn comes a 2, so at the moment my kicker is playing. I bet out on the turn 3000 and she calls. Ive been playing agressively so she could be calling me with a Q.

9 comes on the river. I figure that if she is on a ace then this has made it a split pot and if she has a queen then i may get a call.

I bet out 3000 and she raises to 6, im committed and call.

She turns A9 which made a boat on the river but was always beating me. Is there a point in this hand I could have laid it down?

I go out of the tournement 2 hands later trying to double up.

Cheers,
Ed

lead out on the flop.

dont minraise

First off, what type of player is she? I know you said the game was short handed and aggressive, but is she capable of adapting to that by limping first in to trap? Is she very tight or passive?

PF - I think calling here is a good play, though I may be tempted to raise a small % of the time with a nice sized pot already building.

Flop - Either lead the flop or check/call . . . . min raising doesn't do anything than build a big pot because she'll likely call with anything. Yes, yes, you've got trip A's but she limped in first so your kicker is definitely an issue here. You're OOP, and you'd like to play a smaller pot when in this situation.

If you're intent on check raising, then make it a real raise to 4500 or so . . .

Your min raise screams A, so what kind of Q do you think she has? I'm really just putting her on the A here, so there are 4 A's I'm ahead of, 7 I'm losing to, and 1 I'm tied with. Here's the problem: Even the 4 A's I'm beating are likely to get a split pot if any card higher than a 6 comes off, and I'm only going to win if I hit a miracle 6.

Turn - Ok, now you're only beating 3 A's, losing to 8, and tied with 1. Betting here OOP is just plain silly. Check and see what happens. . . But we bet, and she calls . . . this really doesn't tell us anything, as she'd likely call with the FH or A-high kicker to get us to keep betting the hand on the river, or call with A-weak kicker. Frankly, I'm rooting for a K or Q to come off and give me a tie to get me out of this mess . . . if a 6 comes off, I promise I'll stop donking off chips like this . . .

River: Well, that's both a terrible and ok card at the same time. We're now beating 0 A's (that's right, as in not a single Ax combination), tied with 6 A's, and losing to 6 A cominations. If we bet here, can we get a tie or better A to fold? No freakin way. And since there are no hands that we can beat, then there is no reason to bet. Just check it down and see if you split. . . . But you bet, she raises . . . I gotta believe we're beat but the odds are just too big to get away from . . . I have to call the river and see if I split. . . .

And guess what . . . we're beat. And we lost a huge pot because we didn't take the time to ask ourselves what hands we could beat each time we bet, and we didn't respect the fact that we're OOP . . . .

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Jason75: Ok, you check and the button bets 400. Now what?
Beavis68: You play poker.
Jason75: Darn, I was really hoping for canasta. Maybe Gin.

Sorry if the above post comes off a little negative . . . not really my intention, but it's too long to rewrite . . . .

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Jason75: Ok, you check and the button bets 400. Now what?
Beavis68: You play poker.
Jason75: Darn, I was really hoping for canasta. Maybe Gin.

Thanks,

I agree with most off it. Thanks for the input, I'll learn this game yet.

Cheers

well your A6 is only really worth anything if you get a possible flush draw to go with or your kicker is halve decent. and even with a flush draw with that kind of flop it might not help as much as you'de like. i would basically bet large while thinking if she calls shes got something half decent but its only gonna be an A with a kicker certainly not worse than a 6. the turn is a 2 and at this stage im thinking we both have A and her kicker is more likely to be better than a 6. at this stage i bet as much as i can afford which might be very little and i know if she even calls me in beaten anyway.
the most important thing to remember is A6 really is not much cop unless you 2 pair it or better on the flop!

You're deep stacked. Great structure to play around a bit with a shit kicker. So, I'd lead out here for 1k and I'd fold to raise. You have a nice stack and these people are gonna be around for a while. If you don't know if this guy's prone to bluff these flops yet, you'll find out because these come up a lot and you can pounce and get the 1k back and much more.

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