Another pocket Aces question

Late in a quarter tourney, I've got about 5k in chips and the blinds are 200/400. I haven't played for about 10 hands (lots of 3/8 offsuit). Dealt pocket Aces. Big stack (20k) raised to 800. 3 of us go along. Flop is 10, 4, 4 all off suited. Big stack puts in 800. I call, the other 2 fold. Next card is a 6 (another suit). He raised to 1800. I call. River is another 10. He puts me all in and I call. His 10, 6 os takes me out (full boat).

So, should I have raised pre-flop, or slow-play and fold after the turn or river? Or, should I have raised after the flop? He was playing loose, and probably would have called with his pair of 10s.

With pocket aces i think the general strategy is to isolate yourself with another player. You don't want to get into a pot w/ 3 or 4 players, too many chances to be beat. I think the only way you could have avoided his 10/6 would have been to make a large raise pre-flop, when he wouldn't have been able to call with 10/6, and if he did... more power to him.

I think you played it well but I would have reraise preflop and reraised again postflop and as for folding I never would think about it because you're short stacked.

I agree with undertaker: you should have raised pre-flop to play heads up with him. But your slowplay to get more chips is also good because he doesn't fold and comes in with a trash hand which is good for you.
But on the flop you were ahead and should have raised, i think.

I don't think you could have played this hand worse.

As for the idea that goal with aces is to isolate against one player, the math doesn't support that. Against one player, you are about 80% to win about even money. Against 4 players, you are about 45% to win 3-1. So your expected value is higher against 3-4 players.

You should have definitly raised preflop. You dont have so much money with
you and you cant afford to be slow playing. High pocket pairs are definitly
preflop raising hands cause u dont want anyone to catch just like they did
in your hand there. And i mean, if you know he was a loose player, you
should reraise him preflop, making him pay as much as he can if he's going
with those bad cards...

its not about aces its about the stacks with 12bbs you should just shove or fold (and clearly u wouldnt want to fold aces) in that spot. at worst on the flop no matter what.

Always play Aces aggressively preflop, cuz that's the only time they are for sure the strongest. Instead of just calling, raise and reraise, then be happy taking the antes and blinds.

What were you doing preflop? After his raise, all your chips should have been in the middle, and this is coming from someone who always hates overbetting with aces. But with 3 others in the hand, there's a lot of dead money and people are getting decent odds even on your all in.

the way u played that hand would work better if u were the big stack. when ur the big stack u get alot of options to play a hand but when the pot was already 3.6k which is pretty close to ur chip stack 4.2 u should have pushed on the flop i dont mind you atleast seeing a flop b4 raising it up, that is an option you have but slow playing is something a chip leader dose. sorry if im not making much sense been drinking zzzzzz

Definately. Reraise all in preflop. With 400bb I'm assuming there were ante's, and with only 5k in chips, you're getting pretty short. If you just reraised a little and he caught his 10, he's probably in it for the showdown, so shove and hope to get his initial chips.

most definetly u played the hand WRONG. all in after his pre flop raise...1 u were short stacked and 2 u know u were ahead of him...if he called then he would have just been rolling the dice hpoing for luck(which he would have got) but more likely he would have folded there

Well if you let him see the flop cheaply, your flop shove would have failed. anyway. He would have most likely called with his 10's thinking they were good and would end up rivering you. You didn't say what position you were in on the table but with 3 others putting 800 in, is an easy shove. Just hope someone calls and it holds up.

Is re-raising all-in after the opponent's initial raise post-flop since he is an loose player good?

10 4 4 seems harmless to me if the opponent were playing a strong hand?

I always feel that AA is the hand that kills me. If I cant win with it preflop or right after the flop I'm done. Showdowns make me go broke.

Reraise before the flop with so many callers!
You just want to play against one player and avoid those hands hitting these flops!

Pocket aces are a strong starting hand, but when you allow large stacks to bully their way into a flop, they have the automatic advantage. Street by street you saw yourself calling down, hoping more to just see the showdown rather than bet into him.

Comes back to the piece of advice that you should either raise or fold. Calling can demonstrate a lot to a talented player, just as with checking. Raising puts the pressure back on him and tells you what he has. If he calls, he probably isn't completely bluffing, but probably doesn't have the nuts, if he raises, he's pressuring you with his stack or has the nuts, and if he folds...well...you know.

This. I would have made a large raise on the flop as well. You're basically pot committed by the river so you had to call, but if you had more chips I would have folded on the river as played.

I would have raised preflop and pushed all in after the flop. I think winning a small pot is better the losing a big pot. You risk losing all of your chips by slow playing.

This may be true in a cash game, but when it comes to tourneys that is an awful way to look at it. In a tourney you want to survive, you can't reload ( at least not in this one).
You should always isolate in a tourney with aces, You have you're 80% and be happy with it, if you purposely keep people in to improve your expected value, you're gonna go all in and all out after someone make a boat with 10 - 6.

It justs shows slow playing does not work alot of the time, i quit slow playing for the same reason, I tend to think you lose more on slow playing AA, then raising with them preflop....

DO not slow play aces if you know that theres next to no way you will ever fold... if you know that ur never going to fold aces then push...but if your not able to fold them slow playing is the dumbest thin you can do.... leting them cheaply see the flop and get your whole stack if they hit... its a gamble where the numbers are way out of your favor...but if your good at putting other players on hands and are able to fold when you think ur beat then slow playing them is more for you (PS imnot a pro so... maybe im wrong)

I agree with Billy, I have a hard time folding pocket Aces too, can't do anything but push, unless I hit my set and there aren't straights or flushes on there.

I never want to see the flop with more than two other players when holding AA if possible so I definetely would have re-raised preflop. There might not have been a way to get him off his hand after the flop but i would have tried to take the pot down on the flop and turn if you couldn't put him on a 4. Playing aces to the river is not profitable over time.

You should never slow play pocket Aces. Especially i this case the big stack raised preflop, you should have raised at least 4x his bet. If he decides to be a donk and call you with his 10 6 off suit then that would suck. Someone advice me before would you rather win a little or lose alot with pocket aces?? thats why you raise your AA.

a big percent of the time a high stack will call you down no matter what

thats the metality of a big stack donkey.. first of all i say you should have raised preflop and raised post flop if he is going to call you down well you can't do anything about it.. i have also noticed that so many ppl bluff call AK AQ so ppl aren't as scarded to bet against you.. and its an added bonus if they hit two pair with a stupid hand cause they know if you holding some ting big your calling.... gl tc .

You basically have 12 BB. You are real close to, if not at, either all-in or fold with these blinds. So, preflop push them in!

Your basic thinking with big pocket pairs especially short stacked is win a little, or lose a lot. People tend to get to attached to the pair so its best to raise big in the pre flop and do a continuation bet to see where your hand stands.

but like others i too would have trying to isolate the hand...i,m not a big all in player but i think here you allowed that player in the hand..10-6...shouldnt of seen the flop

you should have isolated youself with only 1 player because otherwise you run the risk of getting outdrawn either on the flop or turn

Go all in preflop or slow play and still lose because if he gonna call with tens no matter what after the flop becuase he can spare it in chips. Your best odds in my book would be to move all in preflop becuase stealing the blinds is better than losing and he might of folded. You never know though with the way some people play he still probably would of called!

An interesting comment and it is definitely something to ponder. Whereas pushing with pocket rockets IS NOT stealing the blinds (I think of it as taking them down--and no not the same), it may appear that you are trying to steal them. So, you may get called by a broader than normal range of hands. But this my be only true if you were first to act in early position.

We have very little information to go by here. You need to post the complete hand history in addition to your opinion as to how people at the table have been playing to get meaningful feedback. This would give us your position, the size of everybody's stacks, as well as the positions of the others that you let limp.

Saving hand histories is a good thing. It is nice sometimes to go back after you have had a chance to cool down and look at what really happened in the hand not just what you remember.

with your stack as short as it was id of pushed to hopefully get only one caller (the big stack, not knowing his hand or outcome of course). if you min raise and only he calls he'll call the all in u make after the flop cause most cant fold top pair. better idea to push, isolate and hope the cards fall in your favor. when u invite three or even two others to the flop with you and your pocket aces, you can be sure that those aces will get cracked 7 or 8 times outta 10. i cant stand getting aces online anywayz, no one can fold anything preflop anymore, too many calling stations.

when you have A's and it is raised b4, if your in early to mid position you should reraise to stop other callers, if your in late position and there is other callers then you should reraise to isolate the original raiser...but if your in late pos and there is no caller then flat call is OK...

your flat call on the flop was bad play...you should have raised him there and then, if he shoves over your reraise then insta call, he never has the 4 or pocket 10's if he does that...if he flats your raise and the turn is no another 10 then you get all your chips in then.

After reading the advice given in this thread I decide to give it a try. I for the most part slow play A's and it seems like most of the time I get them cracked by someone playing 10 6 os. Well last night the advice given worked 5 of the 6 times I got A's and of course the 6Th time grrrrrrrrrrr they got cracked by lol K5 os, flop KK5 turn A river 3. Point is I see for the majority of the time, it works. The guy beating me with the K5 os I would guess plays any two cards. I just got unlucky it was against me