Stealing in the CO

Ok say you are in the cutoff.

No limpers so you decide to raise with A5 as a steal.

The button calls.

The flop comes A xx

How do you proceed? Do you c-bet?

If you do c-bet and the button calls, how do you respond to a turn OR a river bet from the Button?

It depends completely on your opponent's tendencies, and the texture of the other two cards on board Stu (among other stuff that is somewhat less important imo). On drawy AsKc8s type boards against stations I'm double and often triple barreling (barring scare cards) for value. Against a lag I might check-call down to induce, or bet and check-call the turn/riv also to induce.

It just depends on what his tendencies are, what the board looks like, and what the turn/river looks like should we even get there.

I can see the logic of double and trippling on a draw heavy board against a calling station... but wont that lead to me stacking off against a higher ace?

What bet sizes would you use in this situation?

If they are small, will that not also indicate weakness and keep in say AT,A9,A8,A7?

It gets hard to talk about specifics like that since you're asking a hugely vague question.

Against a loose-passive, and on a board where I can expect him to look me up with tons of smaller pairs (or chase lots of draws), I can bet two or three streets for value. I don't really want to get my whole stack in, but we can definitely get value by just bet/bet/betting. There will be A7-AT in there, but if the board's 'callable' enough, then I'm betting because I expect there to be more combos of worse hands that will call. Keep in mind when you hold one of the aces it makes it significantly less likely he's got one. Not to say every time you flop an ace you go nuts, but just a note.

Against someone who I both expect to have a better preflop range (ie more aces) and who I don't expect to call down 3 streets without a better hand than mine, then I slow down. I maybe bet the flop and turn, block bet the river or even ch-f. Depending on how tight he is I might even ch-c once and just give up if he keeps betting.

So there are a lot of factors that can shift my decision completely.

How much did you raise A5 with? If he calls a minimum raise, then he could have anything.

4BB

The other factor thats difficult is that most people are not 3betting preflop with anything less than KK. (this is at 10NL)

So a call form the Button could be with virtually anything

What sized bets are you typically betting here? 3/4 pot or 1/2 pot.

The 1/2 pot option keeps pot size down.. but at the same time looks a little weak.

3/4 is great as it shows strength but builds a large pot for a small hand.

Well again, it depends Stu.

Against a fish, he won't notice our bet sizing at all, and we can tailor it to exactly what we want to do: build a medium sized pot.

But again, that depends on board texture.

Against a tag, we probably just bet 2/3 pot or whatever and see how he reacts.

If you post a specific hand with specific reads and a specific board texture I can give you more specific answers.

1) Continuation bets are required of you regardless of situation, unless you are honestly scared of the flop or are caught completely bluffing, or meet strong resistance.

In this situation you aren't really even c-betting because you made top pair. The only two reasons, (obviously, I know), that you would be called is if he doesn't believe you or also has an ace.

If he called your preflop raise and didn't raise you himself, you can put him on less than AJ if he made contact. A good player is able to lay down A9 and under, so put the pressure on him. If he calls the cbet on the flop and raises or check raises on the turn/river, you might have to slow down a second.

In the end it's all situation. He might think you're stealing too much and pretending he has a hand thinking you have nothing, or he actually has an ace. Either way he probably wouldn't bet into you unless his kicker was paired.

Remember to read every part of the situation. Since he's BB he would act first, so if he's checking the ace on the flop, he probably doesn't have one, especially if he's only calling your raise and not ck raising. (or he has a monster...but that's poker).

I like the Bet, Bet, Block line, maybe 2/3 pot, 1/2 pot, and block (how much should a block bet be, Chuck?)

i definatly like a c-bet here...you have shown strength, so continue that trend...

if you get called then asess the board for what draws are there and decide wether or not to continue on with the hand..

fireing out a 2nd barrell on a non threatening turn can show alot of strenght as well....so even if he has a better A than you there is a good chance that he will fold if has not hit a 2nd pr...BUT....if you happen to hit a 2nd pr then check it to show him weakness....