Bluffing when you hold AA

[Jezza]

An interesting hand this from last nights session, I played it a bit unusually to be honest.

I'll put the hand history up first then explain my thinking in the hand afterwards and see what you think.

Fletch 10475294-2455 Holdem No Limit $2/$4
[Aug 26 02:34:09] : Hand Start.
[Aug 26 02:34:09] : Seat 1 : SheriffEarl has $451
[Aug 26 02:34:09] : Seat 2 : incongruous has $248.50
[Aug 26 02:34:09] : Seat 3 : Golden4 has $298
[Aug 26 02:34:09] : Seat 4 : Astro-Nut has $263.75
[Aug 26 02:34:09] : Seat 5 : cooljake22 has $206.25
[Aug 26 02:34:09] : Seat 6 : cmcoolidge has $705.25
[Aug 26 02:34:09] : Seat 7 : 40ozslushy has $643
[Aug 26 02:34:09] : Seat 8 : BBDefendah has $668.75
[Aug 26 02:34:09] : Seat 9 : ZonInstinct has $260.53
[Aug 26 02:34:09] : ZonInstinct is the dealer.
[Aug 26 02:34:10] : SheriffEarl posted small blind.
[Aug 26 02:34:10] : incongruous posted big blind.
[Aug 26 02:34:10] : Game [2455] started with 9 players.
[Aug 26 02:34:10] : Dealing Hole Cards.
[Aug 26 02:34:10] : Seat 8 : BBDefendah has Ad Ac
[Aug 26 02:34:11] : Golden4 called $4
[Aug 26 02:34:13] : Astro-Nut folded.
[Aug 26 02:34:13] : cooljake22 folded.
[Aug 26 02:34:17] : cmcoolidge folded.
[Aug 26 02:34:18] : 40ozslushy folded.
[Aug 26 02:34:21] : BBDefendah called $4 and raised $16
[Aug 26 02:34:26] : ZonInstinct folded.
[Aug 26 02:34:29] : SheriffEarl folded.
[Aug 26 02:34:30] : incongruous folded.
[Aug 26 02:34:32] : Golden4 called $16
[Aug 26 02:34:32] : Dealing flop.
[Aug 26 02:34:32] : Board cards [Qd 9s Js]
[Aug 26 02:34:34] : Golden4 checked.
[Aug 26 02:34:36] : BBDefendah checked.
[Aug 26 02:34:36] : Dealing turn.
[Aug 26 02:34:36] : Board cards [Qd 9s Js 8c]
[Aug 26 02:34:40] : Golden4 bet $40
[Aug 26 02:34:46] : BBDefendah called $40
[Aug 26 02:34:46] : Dealing river.
[Aug 26 02:34:46] : Board cards [Qd 9s Js 8c Th]
[Aug 26 02:34:49] : Golden4 checked.
[Aug 26 02:34:53] : BBDefendah bet $123
[Aug 26 02:34:54] : Golden4 folded.
[Aug 26 02:34:55] : BBDefendah wins $123 as the last player standing
[Aug 26 02:34:57] : Hand is over.

Preflop is pretty normal I guess no need to debate that, 99/100 if you get AA preflop in a NL game then raise it up baby! The raise to 20 was pretty much the standard preflop in this game.

Now my opponent in this hand, Golden4, is probably the best player on VC at 2/4 and 3/6 NL - he is VERY good and aggressive. I would never play this hand like this against a poor opponent who will go to the felt with top pair on every board - I should make that clear now. It is not really that common on a friday night that I know I have to think about what the other player thinks I have . However here I definately did and it is why I played it as such.

The flop was not really that great. A myriad of draws and two pair (and set of 9) combos were presenting themselves to me. Of course usually if I raise preflop I bet on the flop, and with AA even more so however I took the odd line of checking here for several reasons.

Firstly my opponent is good enough to realise I was playing tight and he was certainly not going to stack off to me here with AQ. For this reason I cannot stomach a lot of action from him on this flop. A check-raise is a definate possibility and I would have to insta fold if that happened. If I got flat called then we are odds on to see some sort of ugly card on the board (to create 4 to a straight, the Q pairing or the flush appearing) before the end of the hand, and if this happens it opens the door for me to be bluffed out of a large pot. If he is not going to give me any action when I am behind and I am going to lose more when I am ahead then I feel a check is the right option in this case. Against a bad player I might well have bet it. Another plus to checking is that it disguises my hand a little. Seeing as he is good enough to consider what I have he surely thinks I am betting AA KK QQQ and JJJ for SURE on this draw heavy board and a check will lead him into thinking AK which might cause him to call a bet later on by mistake and help get me paid off. The downside is of course I give him a free card which could very well help him on this board, however I am willing to take this risk for the reasons outlined above.

Well it was a nasty turn - the four to the straight came and now he bets. It is conceivable he has a ten but I am not convinced. He is aggressive and likes to bluff and I have to think that he puts me on AK. He surely thinks I would have bet all reasonable hands I would have raised with on this flop and thus I hold AK and have missed. I cannot give him credit for any set as he would have led the flop on the board, maybe 8s. Would he have led with a pair/draw combo on the flop like 910s or J10s...or would he have checked and played them like this? This is a possibility but I am not convinced. I figure because he is sure I have AK I have to call as he is sure I have no hand.

Well the river was pretty sweet....I am 100% sure its now a split pot! He definately was not limp/calling a raise utg with K10 so if he DID have a ten on the turn it is now a split (I doubt this is the case however). He cant really have a K here as KK or AK would have raised preflop and he probably folded any other hand with a K in it to my raise. He checks knowing fine well he has been caught. However I know that he thinks I hold AK, infact he is SURE I do and now is a sweet time to bluff. It is a split if I get called anyway (OK if he has the balls to do a river check raise he wins it outright but I cant see that happening here given my read) and I really think he will probably fold so I go ahead and bet the pot, to which he folds faster than the speed of light :drums .

It is interesting to actually end up having to bluff when you hold AA ...Usually you are trying to pretend you hold AA when you actually have AK, not the other way around

I should say that the unusual way I played this hand was mainly due to my opponent - you dont need to think so deeply about what your opponent thinks you have unless they are very good....If your playing your average online player you need only think about what they have, and if that had been the case here I would probably have played this hand very differently.

Jez

[ONEDUNME]

Very interesting Jezza. I even understood that for a change


I don't play very often and I always play limit, due to the fact that I went through a phase of getting well ahead after about 3 hours only to blow the fuckin lot on one hand

My usual level is 50c/1$ and I always think that my opponents are watching my every move to work out what I have. Are you saying that at this level it's unlikely that they are (or unlikely that they are able to?) and that I'm giving them too much credit?

[Jezza]

You get good players at every limit all the way down Onedunme (and bad ones all the way up). However your average online 50c/1dollar fixed limit player will not be that great nor will they be too concerned about what you hold. Bad players just play according to what they have. "I have a flush draw so Ill call your bets to see if I hit it" or "I have top pair and am going to call you down regardless" etc etc. Thats not to say they cant wonder to themselves what you have but they generally dont give it too much consideration. You should not really worry about how they perceive you or what reads they are putting on you, apart from anything else image means quite a lot less online than live and also player turnaround is high on online tables. You should of course try and work out what your opponents have if you get involved in a hand with them and then play your hand accordingly, but dont worry that you are up against a load of sharks who can read your every move - it just usually is not the case.

[Jezza]

Oh yeah and OneDunMe



FIXED LIMIT = GAY

[ONEDUNME]

Funnily enough, I was expecting that comment

[Jezza]

You read me like a book

[ONEDUNME]

Originally Posted by Jezza

but dont worry that you are up against a load of sharks who can read your every move -

It's got me thinking that I probably do put too much thought into it. I sometimes hold back from raising when I think I really should, trying to give the impression that my hand is not as strong as it is.

What we're saying is that I probably shouldn't be bothering as they're likely to play the same way regardless of what I'm trying to put over.

[Jezza]

Yeah mate, if you have the best hand at a 1dollar FL table online then just go ahead and raise away all day, you'll be surprised how often you get called all the way down KA-CHING

[ONEDUNME]

Cheers.


Talking of AA though, it's fuckin frustrating how many times I have it and raise, only to see everyone stack and give me only the poxy blinds. Then if I don't raise in an effort to get some dosh in the pot, I run the risk of someone getting a decent flop.

I know you're gonna say always raise with AA but it is annoying.

[Baron Greenback]

Reading the coverage of that hand makes me think just how much I have to learn...

[mrmuzeman]

Yeah I agree Jez is pretty sick isnt he thinking about what the other player thinks he has that much.

Fcuk it if ive got top pair ill never fold especially HU!!!!!!

[christianu]