aa everyone calls your raise (.25/.50 nl)

[Bockcara 0]

Hero dealt A s, A hPre-Flop: UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, CO folds, button calls, SB completes, Hero raises to $2.50. UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, button calls, SB calls.(pot - about $12)Flop comes 5s 2c 5h Flop: SB checks, Hero bets $10 Anyone's thoughts? I'm imagining the preflop raise must have been too small since everyone called, but at the same time, isn't this a safe flop? And if it isn't what is a safe flop that doesn't contain an ace?? With aces, should I even be upset that everyone called??? Any thoughts, ideas or questions are appreciated.

[Mattnxtc 0]

was it common for 2.50 to get called preflop? if so you needed to raise more preflop..AA does not do well with the more people in a hand

[Wallacer 0]

your bet was ok preflop (really depends on the feel of the table). Yes you should be disappointed if everyone calls. Ideally I try to make a bet that I think will only be called by A 10-K or 9's - K's. Your biggest issue here I think is just that you're playing such a low limit that poor play is very common. People don't worry too much about $2.50. My guess is SB called with a suited 5-6 or something and made you pay dearly for it. On the other hand, due to everyone elses call of your raise leading up to the SB, you couldn't blame him for wanting to play a 56s as he's getting decent pot odds now. That should seem like a safe flop, sb's check-raise should have you wondering though. The fact that it was only a min raise is also curious. It seems likely to me that he's actually on something like 6's - 9's. I think you made an OK play, and if you got burnt for it, that sucks!Hope it went well-WallacerPSoh in answering your other questions, with A's you're looking for an offsuite, unconnected flop without any pairs on the board, but it's also nice to get a high card on there so you can bring in some dough. ex. Ks 9c 5d. In that case, a slow play is perfectly acceptable.If it was more like Ks 10c 6s however, you need to protect your hand. It's likely that you're still good, but there's some nasty draws to take you down. Slow play is no good here, but it's still a pretty nice flop.Ugly flops where you are in some trouble would be a flop containing a highish pair on the board, 3 to a flush, or a possible straight, ex. of the extremes would be 5s 6s 7s and you with Ah Ac. Or a Qc Qd 10d. Those are hard positions where you may have to let go of your pretty hand based on your opponents play. In your case I think you made a decent play though. If it were me I probably would've just called the reraise and tried to figure him out on the turn, plus possibly take more off of him if he is bluffing. Hope that helped,Wallacer

[Bockcara 0]

To be honest most raises were at least thinning the field if not winning without a showdown. I'm a bit shocked that ALL 4 called.A big question for me here is; how many hands will he perform this min re-raise that I have beat? Could this be nearly every overpair here?? Obviously deuces full or quad fives was a danger but one I was willing to accept.

[GrinderMJ 0]

with that many limpers, I think a raise to 3.50 or 4 would be better, because that bet is probably only gonna get called by the bigger hands, and will push out some of the weak limpers

[Bockcara 0]

Thanks wallacer, very thorough reply, I really appreciate it.Is a laydown something I can even think about on this hand? I imagined not because the possibilitly of a donk overvaluing their overpair. How worried should I be about a five, should I expect it?

[Loaded 0]

Your bets are alright after the flop but as everyone said you should have raised more preflop, I know you want people in there with your aces but you really should have weeded out alot of those preflop limpers before they can hit something on the flop and crack your rockets.I really couldn't see you laying it down when he min raises you. It looks like he wanted you to think he had the 5 but i doubt he would have reraised on the flop instead of just calling and continiuing to slowplay if he had it. But i really don't know how this guy plays maybe he doesn't slowplay anything on the flop.

[Bockcara 0]

with that many limpers, I think a raise to 3.50 or 4 would be better, because that bet is probably only gonna get called by the bigger hands, and will push out some of the weak limpers

I definitely agree with you now, but while in the hand with AA staring back at me, I want at least one caller. This is something I will probably adjust to in the future. With something like QQ or JJ that is more than likely the kind of raise I would make 'cause I know a lot of flops will make me cringe. Not that many do with AA.

[MrNiceGuy 0]

Hero dealt A s, A hPre-Flop: UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, CO folds, button calls, SB completes, Hero raises to $2.50. UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, button calls, SB calls.(pot -  about $12)Flop comes 5s 2c 5h  Flop: SB checks, Hero bets $10  Anyone's thoughts?  I'm imagining the preflop raise must have been too small since everyone called, but at the same time, isn't this a safe flop?  And if it isn't what is a safe flop that doesn't contain an ace??  With aces, should I even be upset that everyone called???  Any thoughts, ideas or questions are appreciated.

I wouldn't go all in where you did, unless SB is willing to make very loose all-in calls. He's obviously going to call you with any 5 or pocket 2's, and I would think he would fold any other hand that he could have where he didn't raise PF. And if you're ahead, he only has two outs or less (unless he has a straight draw like A4, then he has 4 outs (or 8 outs with 43)). I'd just call the min raise in position, and see if he'll bet again on the turn.Up to there, I think you played it fine. You could raise a bit more PF, but your stack isn't so deep that I'd be real concerned.

[Bockcara 0]

Thanks Mr. Niceguy, the post flop play is really what I am inspecting, as the preflop mistake is now glaringly obvious. I understand your thinking, and it sounds correct, however, can I lay down to a bet on the turn (assuming I take your advice and call the flop min reraise), can I really ever know I am beat? Or is this a sob story that will just happen once in a while and I should just swallow it.Oh and since it is quite apparent I was beat here, I will inform you that the villain had the monstrous 59 sooooooooooooted in diamonds and of course no ace spiked. Except for the fact that he clearly doesn't care about position (he was SB) I can't really say I blame him, I don't mind calling with strange hands looking to win a monster. Hell, I bet even Daniel would agree there.Comical sidenote: After winning the pot, the SB laughed and typed "that's what you get for slowplaying aces, I would've folded to an all-in bet preflop." I hope he was joking, or at least that he doesn't plan to procreate, ever.

[MrNiceGuy 0]

Thanks Mr. Niceguy, the post flop play is really what I am inspecting, as the preflop mistake is now glaringly obvious.  I understand your thinking, and it sounds correct, however, can I lay down to a bet on the turn (assuming I take your advice and call the flop min reraise), can I really ever know I am beat?  Or is this a sob story that will just happen once in a while and I should just swallow it.

I wouldn't lay down to a turn bet - what I'm suggesting is that waiting for the turn is better than going all-in on the flop. If he does have a 5 or 22, you're not going to save any money this way, since you're still going to end up all-in - but if he doesn't, then you will make more money by waiting and letting him put more money in when he has a hand that wouldn't have called your all-in (occasionally, he will hit a two-outer, and waiting will cost you money - but you will make enough money the rest of the time to more than make up for it)

[princeof56k 0]

At .25/.50 NL I just go ahead and push all-in pre-flop there. The raise you made there isnt going to thin the field. Besides at that limit you get a caller there most of the time and you have a huge edge to take all his chips. I've had people at that limit call me with A9 offsuit.

[mk 11]

all-in pre-flop.

[Bockcara 0]

all-in pre-flop.

You have to be kidding, right? Everyone limped to me and an all in bet would be 100x what they put in to see the flop. Isn't an all in only gonna be called by hands that would've raised instead of limped?

[princeof56k 0]

We arent kidding. You would be shocked at how many times you get called and the utter crap that people will call you with. It because your bet is so large that people think you must be bluffing with something like 62 offsuit. This leads them to make calls with stuff like A9 offsuit. You have to get to significantly higher limits to where this move will actually cost you money.

[BeanGW 0]

all-in pre-flop.

You have to be kidding, right? Everyone limped to me and an all in bet would be 100x what they put in to see the flop. Isn't an all in only gonna be called by hands that would've raised instead of limped?

Out of position, pushing PF at these limits with pocket Aces isn't a bad play at all. You will be amazed at how often someone with 10-10, A-K, A-Q, and even much worse hands will call you. You generally thin the field to those hands you dominate.... and anyone with two live cards will fold. I believe Smash is an advocate of that play, but I'd hate to quote him out of context.

[mk 11]

all-in pre-flop.

You have to be kidding, right?

serious as a heart attack.

[allinbluff35 0]

all-in pre-flop.

You have to be kidding, right? Everyone limped to me and an all in bet would be 100x what they put in to see the flop. Isn't an all in only gonna be called by hands that would've raised instead of limped?

Out of position, pushing PF at these limits with pocket Aces isn't a bad play at all. You will be amazed at how often someone with 10-10, A-K, A-Q, and even much worse hands will call you. You generally thin the field to those hands you dominate.... and anyone with two live cards will fold. I believe Smash is an advocate of that play, but I'd hate to quote him out of context.

I was bored last saturday and getting killed in my normal games so I jumped down to $50 NL to just get back to basics and quit trying to "outplay" my opponents(and myself) and decided to use the allin preflop theory if I get AA or KK, I got AA twice within 10 hands and got called twice, once with AK and the other time was QQ. It works.

[bdams19 0]

All you have to do is show one bluff and everyone thinks you're an idiot.

[Lavitz 0]

If the opponent really had a 5 or pocket 2's I suspect he would try to slowplay. Either of those situations means a high pocket pair would be drawing slim and why wouldn't he want to let you bet into him on the turn and river? He might reason that "if my opponent does have a pocket pair, he's not going to let it go so why don't we just get all the money in the pot now?" but by reraising he might be scaring off a possible bluff by AK or AQ when cold-calling might get a potential bluffer to keep firing away.It's possible he put you on AK or AQ and thinks you're making a bet to try to win the pot right there. Since he's the only one left in the pot he tried to bluff you out with a minimum reraise. Once again, trip 5,s or a full boat should hold up so I dont understand why he would want to scare you away. He also might be simply representing a 5 since you two are now heads-up and it's obvious you dont have one. So I'm gonna say he's either trying to steal or has a middle pocket pair (if he had QQ or KK he should have reraised pre-flop to furthur thin the field seeing that there were 4 or 5 callers to your original raise and QQ and KK doesnt hold up well against 5 people)So, I'm gonna say you played it well, you had no idea there would be so many callers when you reraised to 2.50. He probably has a middle pocket pair and was hoping to get lucky on trips but he thinks he may be ahead seeing as the flop brought no overcards. As for going all-in preflop? I wouldn't suggest it, I play these same tables and the only callers are gonna be other high pocket pairs. Most likely, everyone will fold and your pocket aces will pick some blinds.

[Wallacer 0]

Is a laydown something I can even think about on this hand?  I imagined not because the possibilitly of a donk overvaluing their overpair.  How worried should I be about a five, should I expect it?

In this situation a fold is not a good play because he is only making the min reraise. Really you're only beat by one of the 2 5's in the deck, or 22. Someone mentioned that they thought he would slowplay with 22 or 5's, but he checkraised, which is another scary play for him to make. This is a very typical situation that we've all been in. You're not laying that hand down in a cash game when you've already comitted that much of your stack though. Not without a good read on the raiser. it's hard to say how worried you should be about a 5. There's 8 cards in the 4 hands you're up against. you know 5 (your hand and the flop) leaving 47 unknowns. 39 of those are in the deck, 8 of them are in your opponent's hands. 2 of those 47 are 5's. those 8 cards make up 20% (roughly) of the unknowns leaving 80% in the deck. 4:1 for a single card, but we're looking at both 5's so I guess it's 2:1? Either way, the odds are real, and you can't count a 5 out with 4 opponents in the hand with you. Will someone let me know if I messed up my calculations, that's what I usually try to do in my head in less than 10 seconds when I'm in a tournament. Hopefully I haven't been getting it wrong all this time.-Wallacer

[mjd 0]

all-in pre-flop.

You have to be kidding, right? Everyone limped to me and an all in bet would be 100x what they put in to see the flop. Isn't an all in only gonna be called by hands that would've raised instead of limped?

It works in NL rings games (especially at this level). And, it works in STTs (and probably MTTs too, though I haven't tried there).My last 3 results pushing AA preflop were:everyone foldscalled by TTcalled by JJAnd, that's just one night. Though it works similarly every other night as well.-M

[Lavitz 0]

If you push with AA pre-flop with no raisers, it will be folded around to you most of the time. IMHO, getting no callers pre-flop with Aces, is a big waste.There are situations when you want to push and some where you dont. You could push if: -There has been at least 1 or 2 raises before you.-You are shortstacked (15 or less at this limit sounds about right)-You are in late position and there has already been a bunch of callers-The table is very loose These are the only ways you're getting called. If you're shortstacked people might take a chance against you and if there has been raisers then obviously there are more then just one good hand in this situation. As for the last two suggestions, they're not definite. I'd rather just raise a good amount in those last two situations so that you get a better chance of getting called.You're not gonna get called if youre a big stack against other deep stacks unless they have kings or queens. Many big stacks would easily lay down AK or AQ to another big stack. So basically you're betting you're all-in hoping that some other loose player got dealt a premium hand. That's not happening often. Other then that, forget it. Congratulations, you won 2.00 or so in blinds.

[allinbluff35 0]

quit giving people so much credit, everytime I've done it at small stakes I opened the action preflop by pushing and got called.

[Lavitz 0]

quit giving people so much credit, everytime I've done it at small stakes I opened the action preflop by pushing and got called.

I agree that these stakes tend to bring out the weak/loose players but noone is gonna call an all-in over 25 bucks unless they have a premium hand. Saying that, the OP was the last to act in the BB, he had about 48 dollars, and noone has raised before him. If he pushes, noones calling unless they cold-called with KK or something else in early position in anticipation of a raise. He would make 2.50 and that would be the end of story. However, if he raised to around 5 bucks or so then that would probably be high enough to get rid of complete garbage but low enough for at least a call. Id rather be heads-up in a pot of around 12 bucks with AA then taking down a 2.50 pot with no action.If youre getting called then either your stack is low, you were lucky enough to have opponents being dealt premium cards also, a loose player happens to also pick up a hand,or your table image is that of a donkey.