Aa Pretty Tough Spot

[AlphaOmega 0]

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (5 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)Button ($45.67)Hero ($135.45)BB ($104.30)UTG ($134.85)MP ($30.75)Preflop: Hero is SB with A, A. Hero posts a blind of $0.50. UTG raises to $4, 1 fold, Button calls $4, Hero (poster) raises to $15.5, 1 fold, UTG calls $12, Button folds.Flop: ($37) 7, J, 8(2 players)Hero bets $35, UTG calls $35.Turn: ($107) 9(2 players)Hero...Villain is a decent player.

[fckthis 0]

What would you put villians start hand range here. I know its your first hand, but I think your pot bet on the flop, has now pumped it to a level where you're going to be playing a big a pot with top pair. There's no flushdraw on the flop + a gutter draw. IMO, you bet way too much here.

[Peak01 0]

I don't think the 9 helps the villian here. You are either still ahead or you were already beat on the flop. I think it comes down to your read on the player. You either have to push or check here. Betting half the pot or more just commits you. A smaller bet on the flop might of helped. Strictly read dependent here.

[AlphaOmega 0]

I'm not sure, but I think it's possible you all are being turn oriented. True, betting full pot on the flop really bloats the pot when I'm OOP, but is there a reason I should mind this? As for my read of the player, all I knew of him was that he was decent. Decent means that I think there is a 99% likelihood that he's calling my three-bet correctly i.e. since I think I three-bet too small, he'd be correct to call preflop with a lot of speculative/home run hands, and he knows he'll have excellent visibility since my hand is going to define itself pretty well on most flops. I don't think decent players call a pre-flop three-bet with easily dominated/heavy reverse implied odds hands like KJ, AJ, A10, etc.Peak01,My opinion is that pushing this turn is really bad. Pushing allows him to play perfectly, folding all hands that I beat while calling with any hand that beats mine. That leaves us with checking, but checking sucks for obvious reasons since any decent hand reader can now outplay me.

[Dannon 0]

Well lets see, your preflop play was obviously fine. Just as the other players said, that pot sized bet on the flop was troublesome. You are almost certainly still winning after the flop, so why try so hard to push him out and put yourself in a more difficult situation if he calls? Maybe a bet around $20 was better. However since we know he would have at least called, if not raised the $20 bet, the problem still remains as to what he has. A decent player would have folded AJ preflop but there are alot of players who keep playing it (AJ is WAY overated). Is it posible that he has KK? He probably would have come right back over the top of you preflop, but maybe not. It is possible he is "trapping" with KK, but the just call on the flop is a stretch. How about QQ? His raise preflop makes sense as does the call (out of fear of AA, KK, or an AK coinflip) preflop; but now the just call on the flop is very unlikely. Finally, any set is completely possible. He may have raised aggressively with a medium pair and then just called the reraise puting you on a couple overcards. A weak player may even hold 10 10 and decided your bet on the flop was a bluff with overcards. Overall I really odn't like the situation you're in. But there wasn't much you could do about it. Even if you made a smaller bet on the flop the situation would still be difficult. You may very well be losing a big pot. Since this is online and you don't have a real read, I think all you can do is keep betting. An advantage to having bet smaller on the flop was now you could continue with smaller sized bets to prevent him from making a bigger bet. At this point you may very well be losing all your chips. How much to bet now is a tough choice. I couldn't fault an all-in. I couldn't fault a check-call. I couldn't fault a bet on the turn and river. I wouldn't even fault a bet on the turn and a check on the river. At this point the situation has become so difficult that the right play is very unclear.