Tough Decision #1 - Would you fold aces here?

[Chipless Wonder]

I was in a home tournament tonight in the big blind with eight players at our table. The blinds were 50/100 and I had ~ 6,500 chips. Three people limped - from middle position, the button and the small blind. I looked down and had pocket aces:



So I raised to 500, middle position called, and the other two players folded. There was now 1,200 in the pot. The flop came:



I bet 1,000, and my opponent raised to 3,000. If I call here, I only have 2,000 chips left and there would be 7,200 chips in the pot. What would you do here? What should I have done here? What would you put my opponent on?

[niner1984]

This all depends on who was the other person. some people i just do not lay aces down to them. But lets say that it is someone i have never played before. i lay down the aces because the only hands i can put them on is set of sevens, set of nines, or ace jack and since i have two aces i do not put them on that hand. i would hope a person would not call 5 times big blind with king jack or queen jack. Personally i think you called and they had the set can not wait to find out please let me know.

[D-Nut]

Scott, I heard about this hand, so I can't give a fair assessment because I know how it ends. Dont want to ruin your mojo, but really good fold dude. George did say it matters who you are playing against, and in this case, I think it made the fold much easier and actually possible in this spot. Playing with Trip in the past, I know he likes to call raises with lots of hands and play post flop, and I dont think I have seen him raise his draws a whole lot, so putting him on spades here is tough. AJ just doesnt seem right although it is a real possibility. I know if I happen to have AJ in that spot, I probably just fold preflop out of position, but if I do get in the hand, I have to raise your "possible continuation bet" to see where I am at. But yea, realistically, it is probably a set.....if you take the time to run it through like you did. Well done!

[CW Buckeye]

That's tough. Kind of hard to say without being in the hand as well. Someone having hit that flop in an okay manner would want to know where they stand as well. My first thought is you're up against 77, but couldn't someone with 88 make that same reraise? So far, all they've seen is a pre-flop raise from the BB and a continuation bet.

Wow, pretty tough. So far, you are only down 1500 chips on the hand. You aren't calling there, only folding or raising. Depeding on who I'm up against, I would probably lean toward folding. That's an ugly board.

[MJ21]

Hard to say what I would do because it would really be dependent on the person I was up against. I think this is one of those situations where it is all about playing the player. I would have had a hard time laying those aces down.

[Chipless Wonder]

Lots of great discussion here.

In the actual hand, my opponent was 'Trip', and I was convinced he had flopped a set. So I folded my aces to his re-raise. He showed 9-7 for two pair, and reminded me that 9-7 is his favorite hand so he always plays it.

I liked my fold here, and I was glad he showed his hand too. What made me happiest though is that the more I think through all the different ways this hand could have played out, I'm pretty sure I did the three things I was supposed to do:

1. Bet big pre-flop (with my raise to five times the big blind), making my best effort to keep shitty hands out of the pot. I made it really expensive for my opponents to try and outdraw me on the flop.

2. Bet right out on the flop, allowing me to lose fewer chips than I would have if I had tried to check-raise him. I kept my losses to a minimum in this case.

3. Fold as soon as it was obvious that I was beat. This is where I've struggled the most with my game over the last few months, so this meant a lot to me.

If I can manage to do those three things in every hand I play, I should be well on my way to becoming a stronger poker player.

[DevilFish73]

Scott this is almost the same situation I told u about before u played in that game.. Except I didn't fold my aces, but I also didn't know my enemy in this hand..lol.. Anyway nice lay down and nice new header on the forum. Very Choice (old slang term used in the 70's when Scott was in his mid 30's w/ sweet flip'n hair)..

[ohpokergal]

Hey Scott-

In reading the first post, my initial response would have been to think it possible that you had been called by AJs. Your opponent hits top pair and nut flush draw.

But as others have noted --- who's my opponent and how have they been playing? What hands would they need to call a 5x BB bet?

My second thought is usually "how would I play AJs". I think that if I had hit top pair with nut flush draw... would I raise or just smooth call your initial bet, thinking that since you're playing the hand so aggressively, you'll bet out again?

Given that premise I would think "Okay... he raised .... so it's probably not top pair with nut flush draw." Unless my opponent is Eli (with all due respect) .... lol

So now what...

It truly depends on my opinion of the opponent and their play, however my likely next thought would be that the $3000 raise probably indicates a strong hand that is unlikely to improve and highly likely to be outdrawn. My opponent fears the flush and straight draw.

However, in the end.... I have to admit.... I get raised like that, but I'm sitting with an overpair - especially Aces ... I'm back over the top - All in! Then I'm insta-called and I'm starting my car.... You showed much more discipline than I ever would.

I never would have put someone on two pair in that scenario, because why would they call the original 5x BB bet. I mean come on... J9 or J7 or NINE/SEVEN!! No way!!

Maybe trip 9s or 7s.... but since his raise wasn't an All-In move, he's absolutely outplayed me!

[DerekDGTP]

You never mentioned your opponents chip count in the original post. I would've had him holding two spades, one being the jack. He would have top pair and a flush draw.

I probably would've went all in depending upon his chip count. And I would've gotten smoked.

[Chipless Wonder]

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