Playing AA with under pair on the flop?

Hi everyone. NLHE 6 Max ZOOM cash game on pokerstars. Say I have AA, raise preflop and I get 1-2 callers. Flop comes K55 or JJ2 etc. Is this a dangerous flop? Should I be betting here or should I wait for a better spot? Usually I bet 3/4 pot on the flop in early position but then what happens when they call/raise? Do I fold if they raise on the flop? Do I bet again on the turn if they call or do I check/fold the rest of the way. I'm not sure what to do in late position if they bet do I raise or fold?

It's so player dependent. That's kind of why zoom is tough...it's hard to get a read on a particular player.

in my opinion....it's always dangerous....try to read there bet and calling is best you can do in my opinion

I would need a little bit more information on that. What's your position and the position of the villains? Stack sizes? How much did you raise by pre-flop? And what are the blinds at for this cash game?

Zoom is always dangerous, happens, shoot with 8-4 for example, but the risk in this case, in my opinion, fully justified

Mortis said:

I would need a little bit more information on that. What's your position and the position of the villains? Stack sizes? How much did you raise by pre-flop? And what are the blinds at for this cash game?

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I raise 4BB's under the gun and villain is on the button. Effective stack size is 100BB's. Stakes are $0.02/$0.05.
What is the chance of someone flopping trips by the way, is it higher with 2 opponents? If the stakes were higher, say $0.05/$0.10 would this make a difference as the stakes increase? Do stack sizes matter? Also what if it was the other way around and I had position on villain instead?

thomasguy3419 said:

I raise 4BB's under the gun and villain is on the button. Effective stack size is 100BB's. Stakes are $0.02/$0.05.
What is the chance of someone flopping trips by the way, is it higher with 2 opponents? If the stakes were higher, say $0.05/$0.10 would this make a difference as the stakes increase? Do stack sizes matter? Also what if it was the other way around and I had position on villain instead?

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Then I wouldn't see the K55 as much of a threat. They could have called with a good Ace or two face cards, or a low pair. The JJ2 would seem like more of a threat, but I would do a continuation bet on the flop, roughly half the pot.

thomasguy3419 said:

I raise 4BB's under the gun and villain is on the button. Effective stack size is 100BB's. Stakes are $0.02/$0.05.
What is the chance of someone flopping trips by the way, is it higher with 2 opponents? If the stakes were higher, say $0.05/$0.10 would this make a difference as the stakes increase? Do stack sizes matter? Also what if it was the other way around and I had position on villain instead?

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6 or 9 handed?

I don't play much 9 handed so I won't have too much insight on that. 6 handed, while you gave examples of paired boards, they play entirely different in my opinion if I'm holding Aces.

K55 - If you are facing a raise behind you after betting on the flop, you're good almost 100% of the time here. The only hands beating you here are exactly KK, K5, 55. You can eliminate K5 right away because villain is almost NEVER calling with a raise behind. KK is likely to 3bet in most situations, and 55 is SO unlikely. Now, if you run into them, tip your cap, say gg and play the next hand.

But back to my first sentence, if you're facing a raise, you want to start to think of possible ranges that your opponent has here. They're probably holding strong Kx hands (AK, KQ, KJ, maybe KT). You want to keep their bluffs in as well, so calling is likely the best play here, but if you have some history against the villain here, and they're likely to go crazy with Kx hands, then raising is perfectly fine here. The key is trying to extract maximum value here. So your betting on the flop here is good.

JJ2 - I'll comment below.

Mortis said:

Then I wouldn't see the K55 as much of a threat. They could have called with a good Ace or two face cards, or a low pair. The JJ2 would seem like more of a threat, but I would do a continuation bet on the flop, roughly half the pot.

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I agree with Mortis here. You should be betting most boards, even paired ones. You can't be afraid to play your hand fast. Also, your opponent may be thinking that you're full of it, that they're not putting you on Jx here. They could very well have QQ or KK, which is entirely possible, though they may be 3 betting you pre-flop with KK some of the time. Sure, it is certainly possible that you ran into trip Jacks here. So going back to the line you took, if you bet on the flop, then villain raises, you can 3bet. They will probably fold enough of the time that it makes this play profitable, though I'm curious to what others on here think.

Yeah bet.

I can't believe no one asked if there's a FD on board (I didn't see anyone say this). If there were a FD, you would expect them to play 5x faster.

But you're kinda asking for cookie cutter advice here. It depends.


I probably call the raise and see what he does on the turn most of the time.

i wud raise flop the 4X and if they re-raised , i wud just put it all in

I'm not only talking about K55 and JJ2 flops, those are just a couple of examples. KK5 probably would have been a better example than K55 though. I'm just talking about an under pair on the flop in general. What flops are good for AA and what flops are bad? How should I play the whole hand through after the flop? Should I just go all in on these flops or should I try to control the pot size by betting out then check/calling the rest of the way? If you want, you guys can give me some examples of playing over pairs with an under pair on the flop (even if it's with KK, QQ, JJ, AK or whatever). I wish I knew how to post my hand history on here.

AlLin don't make sense, he only can call with set+ 90% , bet flop ,bet /check call turn ,check call if not big bet, if big bet u n just up to u

Generally it’s very safe board. But if you get action on ‘safe’ board you know you are in trouble more than not, so play small or give up depending the villain.

Just remember some players go crazy on paired board, I don’t understand why or what they think and also general stats seems not to be indicative here, so remember to write notes if you happen to see the showdown. Against these players AA is optimal hand to play for stacks.

I think check calling is best for flop because if he doesnt have a set or another overpair he is not likely to float on this dry board.

If he bets the flop he most likely doesn't have trips because he will be lead to believe you haven't made a hand yet and will want you to improve so he can stack you. Instead he may have an a king or a medium pocket pair or attempt a bluff, both good for you.

Control the pot size allowing him to bluff and call his bet if he bets the flop.

the turn i would check again if he raised the flop and if he raised i would put him on KQ AK or complete bluff

If he checked it flop i would put in a small value bet on the turn and hope he doesnt make a large reraise or go all in at which point id believe has Full house or trips unless he is super agro or doesn't respect you at all.

you need to check there, they have the trips the will call or raise and own you, if the have nothing the fold, if the have also a pocket pair they may call and you get some value but its unlike so with the bet in my opinion you can't get much and risk many

Hello is a complicated situation since your pair of AA can be harmed if one of the villains carries either a J or a 5 in such a case and is how you would do I should equal the bet of the villain as long as they are 1,2 or 3 Big blinds because he can either have something and he does not want to beat the opponent or he is throwing a bluff is what I believe and it's like I would make him equal. I hope you serve luck on the tables.

I usually act like a tournament. A pair of aces is the highest percentage of winning. What is there to think about.

The math says to hold and wait, with AA and a flop of that I just watch, I do not pay bets and I try to keep the pot on the river, if another A comes out, I make 100% of the pot, even though I'm afraid of the court.

thomasguy3419 said:

Hi everyone. NLHE 6 Max ZOOM cash game on PokerStars. Say I have AA, raise preflop and I get 1-2 callers. Flop comes K55 or JJ2 etc. Is this a dangerous flop? Should I be betting here or should I wait for a better spot? Usually I bet 3/4 pot on the flop in early position but then what happens when they call/raise? Do I fold if they raise on the flop? Do I bet again on the turn if they call or do I check/fold the rest of the way. I'm not sure what to do in late position if they bet do I raise or fold?

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My friend flop safe for you, you need to put, you use a solid bet sizing in such a way that on the river to deliver all-in!

I think c betting in either scenario is a good idea as you want to know where you stand. If pot commitment is an issue then stay on the smaller side like a probe bet about half the pot. Once you get resistance you now have to try to find the range of there hand, this can come from previous hands or how they have played thus far during your current session. If someone raises me then I will likely call but play carefully the rest of the way. In smaller stakes cash games some players will call with a wide range of hands especially if you are very active. Good luck on the felts!

Thanks for the replies, this helps and I somewhat get the idea of this now but different answers whether to continuation bet or to check/call the flop. Personally I think I am always continuation betting flop from now on for value in case they don't have trips (which most of the time they don't). Just a question about the flop and continuation betting 1/2 pot rather than 3/4 pot. Isn't a good continuation bet usually 2/3 to 3/4 pot? I normally bet 3/4 pot no matter what I am betting on or why I am betting.

thomasguy3419 said:

Thanks for the replies, this helps and I somewhat get the idea of this now but different answers whether to continuation bet or to check/call the flop. Personally I think I am always continuation betting flop from now on for value in case they don't have trips (which most of the time they don't). Just a question about the flop and continuation betting 1/2 pot rather than 3/4 pot. Isn't a good continuation bet usually 2/3 to 3/4 pot? I normally bet 3/4 pot no matter what I am betting on or why I am betting.

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Yes you are correct a cbet by the book is 2/3 or a pot bet depending on the situation...board texture etc. A probe bet is any where from 1/3 to 1/2 the pot. These are feeler bets to give you an idea of where you stand instead of checking and giving away a free card. I would in some cases look to check and then bet the turn but in these situations you are trying to control the size of the pot and not necessarily looking for info.

Just go for stacks in most cases. It's only extreme circumstances we need to rethink this strategy but 95% of the time it's generally payday



If theres a flush draw and you have the Ace you can ignore the suited cards. And keep betting

Base on timing ! If just start the Tournament ,A's more easy to lose .I like drawing hand more than A's........
.but final table is another world!

milka1605 said:

I usually act like a tournament. A pair of aces is the highest percentage of winning. What is there to think about.

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In late position, I would call a bet against a K55 flop. Unlikely players called your raise with a 5. Even JJ is questionalble because of the raise call. Personally I would check of the pot came to me without a bet and call a raise.