$2 NLHE 6-max: AA in a 4 bet pot, 200 BBs deep

Hey guys,

This is one of the biggest hands in terms of BBs I've played in a while. I figured I'd post the hand then run through my thought processes on each street then see what you think about how I played the hand.


PokerStars - $0.02 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 385.5 BB (VPIP: 27.27, PFR: 18.18, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 11)
SB: 162.5 BB (VPIP: 66.67, PFR: 66.67, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 3)
BB: 129 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 2)
Hero (UTG): 193.5 BB
MP: 91 BB (VPIP: 5.56, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 18)
CO: 119 BB (VPIP: 8.33, PFR: 8.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 12)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A:spade: A:club:

Hero raises to 3.5 BB, fold, fold, BTN raises to 11 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 33 BB, BTN calls 22 BB

Flop: (67.5 BB, 2 players) K:heart: 5:diamond: 3:diamond:
Hero bets 21.5 BB, BTN calls 21.5 BB

Turn: (110.5 BB, 2 players) Q:club:
Hero checks, BTN bets 35 BB, Hero calls 35 BB

River: (180.5 BB, 2 players) 6:diamond:
Hero checks, BTN bets 116 BB, Hero calls 104 BB and is all-in

BTN shows 5:heart: A:heart: (One Pair, Fives)
(Pre 13%, Flop 14%, Turn 5%)
Hero shows A:spade: A:club: (One Pair, Aces)
(Pre 87%, Flop 86%, Turn 95%)
Hero wins 375 BB

Preflop I make my standard UTG open to 3.5bb, he re-raises and I 4 bet to 33bbs. I chose this number because it was 3x so any thoughts on sizes here would be much appreciated.

Flop comes and I bet 66% because I figure there's a lot of AK,QK and QQ here in his range. KK might still be in his range too, I'm not sure if 5 betting with KK is good here given how deep we are and how seldom people 4 bet in 2NL? There is a flush draw possible but I would assume it would be with AKs and KQs most often?

Turn is a Q and I'm now behind anything I was looking to get value from and I'm behind most of his 4 bet calling range. I check and turn my AA into a bluff catcher.

River completes the flush but I assuming he's playing AKs KQs but KQ is more likely as I hold two of the 4 aces to make his AK. I check and he jams for the remaining 104BBs in my stack. I was really torn on this decision. On the one hand I just listed every hand that I can put in his range and everything except the one hand of AhKh has me crushed. On the other hand because I checked twice anything he still may hold that's a bluff would have to jam? (AQs AJs KJs JJ and TT maybe?¿?¿)

I think about it for a few seconds and decided that given how he 3 bet from the button, I checked to him twice and it was only 104BBs to win 295BBs I was ahead of enough of his range if he had any bluffs.

He turns over Ah5h and I understand the 3 bet preflop be I can't understand calling the 4 bet or calling a 66% pot on the flop with middle pair in a 4 bet pot if there's no flush draw for you on the flop.


Your thoughts are much appreciated

Sheesh unlucky man.
Preflop is fine, you could bomb 4 bet a bit larger.
Flop - you have to decide what range you are targeting, if you have no idea just bomb it as big as you think he will pocket 99+ (generally half pot - 65% is reasonable cbet, with possible heavy deviations).
Turn - now we have to figure out how are gonna take all his money in the most efficient way (we are losing to KQ only imo, KK and QQ would rip it in pre flop). Therefor i would choose around half pot sizing again trying to make him continue with flush draws.

As played we check and see a small bet which immediately makes me thing he has TT-JJ (no idea) and some flush draws. The bet looks extremely afraid of action, basically block bet. I'd assume the correct play is to jam. but on idea mate.
River is fairly easy, jam your half pot all in if you played the line correctly.
As played prob make a milky bet of 20bb, but no idea again, as i never face these situations.
Hope this helps and Good Luck!


Edit: id recommend quitting zoom games

feisas7991 said:

Sheesh unlucky man.

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He won the pot

Hi, the hand was very well played by you but it is very difficult to make an analysis of this hand given the performance of the villain I in particular think that you were very lucky not only to have the pair of AA also to play it against that player with a A5 is not logical to make the call in the pre-flop or on the flop as you mention it and it would be good to ask what range he did to you in the flop when you make the bet of 66% of the pot there is a K forgetting that There is a flush draw, why did he call this? It would be very good to know but that is the villain's problem, the bets that you made, I think they were the right ones and very intelligent on the turn in inducing the villain to be an aggressor in that hand. From your movements, I can only say well done and nice hand and the other conclusion that we can have from this hand that sometimes the opponent makes everything easier for us and this was one of those cases

preflop: I like a mix between calling his 3 bet and 4 betting. Kind of depends how you evaluate his 4bet calling range here - otherwise you will lose lots of money by 4 betting. In terms of sizing, if you 4bet: size bigger you can easily 4x his raise giving how deep you both are.
Flop: you lead by 1/3 pot if i see this correctly and again i would size bigger, just as you said about 66% of the pot seems fine. You are ahead of many hands that are willing to pay the price, like ~66+, any flush comb, any K comb, or even hands like he has- who may opt to float and later go for a play.
Turn: I'm ok with the check-call, I would be ok with a 2nd barrel aswell - both options seem fine. Not agreeing however that your AA is a bluff catcher - it may be, but you are still ahead of many hands. AQ KJsK10s AK, maybe even hands like QJs Q10s. And even against KQ you have some equity. His turn bet however eliminates a lot of his range namely every small to medium pocket that didn't turn into a set. Meaning that you face a lot of semi bluffs, sets, 2 pairs and the hands I just listed.
River: Not a good card for you, but you are getting very good odds to call. I can't see you folding here because you also have to consider its NL2 and people sometimes go crazy because they don't care so much about losing a stack here and there. However it's certainly not a call where you think you will come out on top very often

Alucard said:

He won the pot

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That does not change the line you should pick.

greatgame230 said:

Hi, the hand was very well played by you but it is very difficult to make an analysis of this hand given the performance of the villain I in particular think that you were very lucky not only to have the pair of AA also to play it against that player with a A5 is not logical to make the call in the pre-flop or on the flop as you mention it and it would be good to ask what range he did to you in the flop when you make the bet of 66% of the pot there is a K forgetting that There is a flush draw, why did he call this? It would be very good to know but that is the villain's problem, the bets that you made, I think they were the right ones and very intelligent on the turn in inducing the villain to be an aggressor in that hand. From your movements, I can only say well done and nice hand and the other conclusion that we can have from this hand that sometimes the opponent makes everything easier for us and this was one of those cases

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While sizings indeed were more or less correct, i completely disagree about checking. We do not want to construct any protection on the turn range in these stakes, we just want to take their money and in my opinion it is deeply over thinking and non will exploit you here.
Also from what i noticed people dont bluff their draws enough especially on the rivers, so i think it is much better to bet our selves and if we are so afraid of flush draws - reevaluate situation on the river.

There is reasonable possibility that im miss informing everyone here ass well, so take my words with a stack of salt and observe player pool yourself. Good Luck!

I do like checking on the turn, because if he has, what he is supposed to have in a 4-bet pot, its kind of a not very ideal board for us. We still beat AK, JJ and TT, but JJ and TT is probably folding to another bet, and we lose to QQ, KK and KQs, so its starting to feel a bit thin to bet for value.

His play is obviously completely crazy. A5s should just fold to a 4-bet when 200BB deep. But hey its 2NL, even the regs are bad, and you got him to go crazy with A5. Awesome result man, and well done.

Id bet the turn AK is more likely than QQ and i wouldn't want to give any free draws. If they have QQ it's just unfortunate for us.

I am in the camp that likes the turn check. There are 3 combinations of AK and 3 combinations of QQ, so equally likely. But there is also KQ, KK possibilities. This looks like a wild game given stack sizes and small sample of hand history.

Scratch that, 6 combos of AK. Still like the turn check in wild game.

KateUpswing said:

preflop: I like a mix between calling his 3 bet and 4 betting. Kind of depends how you evaluate his 4bet calling range here - otherwise you will lose lots of money by 4 betting. In terms of sizing, if you 4bet: size bigger you can easily 4x his raise giving how deep you both are.
Flop: you lead by 1/3 pot if i see this correctly and again i would size bigger, just as you said about 66% of the pot seems fine. You are ahead of many hands that are willing to pay the price, like ~66+, any flush comb, any K comb, or even hands like he has- who may opt to float and later go for a play.
Turn: I'm ok with the check-call, I would be ok with a 2nd barrel aswell - both options seem fine. Not agreeing however that your AA is a bluff catcher - it may be, but you are still ahead of many hands. AQ KJsK10s AK, maybe even hands like QJs Q10s. And even against KQ you have some equity. His turn bet however eliminates a lot of his range namely every small to medium pocket that didn't turn into a set. Meaning that you face a lot of semi bluffs, sets, 2 pairs and the hands I just listed.
River: Not a good card for you, but you are getting very good odds to call. I can't see you folding here because you also have to consider its NL2 and people sometimes go crazy because they don't care so much about losing a stack here and there. However it's certainly not a call where you think you will come out on top very often

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Thanks for your response.

Yeah saying I bet 66% on the flop was actually a typo that happened because I thought that's what I should have done when I reviewed the hand myself and I guess it was stuck in my head so I put 66% instead of the 33% I actually bet. I'll have to change that in the original post too.

I have a question, when you said villain could have hands like KJsK10sQJs Q10s I feel like I'm significantly underestimating the size of his 4 bet calling range. Are these hands in his range now because of how deep we are and it gives him draws to nuts? I don't think I would ever include them in a 4 bet calling range but I have much to learn about creating balanced ranges for myself or villain.

Fvendal said:

Id bet the turn AK is more likely than QQ and i wouldn't want to give any free draws. If they have QQ it's just unfortunate for us.

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Do you think KK rips here or 5 bets and QQ flats the 4 bet? I feel like it's probably really nitty of me but I think I would flat with KK too given how deep we are and if no ace came up on the flop I'd look to get it all in while if one did come up I'd bet the flop and look to check fold the turn.

EarnDAStack said:

I have a question, when you said villain could have hands like KJsK10sQJs Q10s I feel like I'm significantly underestimating the size of his 4 bet calling range. Are these hands in his range now because of how deep we are and it gives him draws to nuts? I don't think I would ever include them in a 4 bet calling range but I have much to learn about creating balanced ranges for myself or villain.

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Given that A5s was in his range, these other hands are probably also, but they should not be. This is where, reads are kind of important. If this guy is a fish, which he probably is, then he is calling your 4-bet with anything, that he liked enough to 3-bet. Fish typically dont fold, because hey its not fun. One of the problems with Zoom is, its so difficult to get reads. You had a HUD running, which help, but it takes so long to build up a usable sample at Zoom, and you only had 11 hands on this guy.

I think based on the depth you start this hand with, you definitely played it right. QQ for sure, and perhaps to a more limited degree, KK, are in the villain's range preflop imo -- particularly when you size to 3x as the 4bet size.

So checking turn seems like it makes perfect sense. We lose to KQ, KK, QQ, and it's hard to see us getting significantly more action from JJ or worse, AK is heavily discounted due to blockers, and it's hard to see us getting significant action from a hand like KJ as well. So turn xc seems solid.

River is just a check and kind of shrug. We are, likely, at the top of our range aside from MAYBE QQ that we decide to xc turn with rather than continue betting. It's hard to think we ever take this line with KK, and we may not 4bet KQ or take this exact line.

So this is likely very near the top of our range. Due to this reason and the fact that at these stakes I expect a significant spazz factor, I very much like the call. NH!

The villain plays deep preflop his speculative hand because it has advantages.
In principle it has twice your stack and also has a better position than yours, being the button, receive the information before you.
In this flop the villain observes that your bet is small (approximately 30% of the pot)
Generally when a low bet is placed on the flop, information is being sought.
When paying your bet the villain is following your same line, they want to see the next street.
Already on the turn when you check the fourth street, the game becomes very tight. Would it be high pockets war?
If so, in this place you dominate with ample advantage, but can there be any set or double pair in the villain's range? It is really unlikely, since any of those hands would like to get as much value as possible on this turn.
Instead the villain makes a very small bet, too speculative at this point. You pay without problems.
On the river when the villain bets 2/3, you have a hand that defeats you most of the time, a color.
The villain has not played badly for me, he has turned into a bluff a weak hand. Maybe the bet size was not correct, but his movements made sense.
Greetings.

EarnDAStack said:

Do you think KK rips here or 5 bets and QQ flats the 4 bet? I feel like it's probably really nitty of me but I think I would flat with KK too given how deep we are and if no ace came up on the flop I'd look to get it all in while if one did come up I'd bet the flop and look to check fold the turn.

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Without that info i dont know but you can also start asking how often do we 4bet with JJ QQ AK this deep ? also this deep and ip villains range is going to be quite a lot wider than the usual so draws become a bigger part of villains range imo.

fundiver199 said:

Given that A5s was in his range, these other hands are probably also, but they should not be. This is where, reads are kind of important. If this guy is a fish, which he probably is, then he is calling your 4-bet with anything, that he liked enough to 3-bet. Fish typically dont fold, because hey its not fun. One of the problems with Zoom is, its so difficult to get reads. You had a HUD running, which help, but it takes so long to build up a usable sample at Zoom, and you only had 11 hands on this guy.

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I disagree. The deeper you are the more profitable it is to play suited/connected and especially As hands that can make the wheel. Im not saying you should always call a 4 bet with A5s or QJs. It also depends what YOUR 4bet range looks like. Are you only 4betting AA KK? If so, it's probably -EV for him to call. But if you also include AK, KQs maybe JJ, it becomes much better, especially since A5s has some decent equity against JJ-KK.
Furthermore keep in mind is playing in position, which also gives him a little edge.
So as a general rule, don't be surprised to see these kind of hands in his 3bet/4betcalling range, when you are playing deep stacked, but you can certainly neglect them if you play short.

I think, a lot of players overestimate their own skill level and make calls like this, because they think, they are so much better than their opponent, that their cards almost dont even matter, when they have position. And then often something like this happen, where they end up bluffing off a huge stack. Do I think, this is a long term profitable call, no, do people tend to make it, yes.

In a strict preflop game line, we can place high pocket pairs such as KK; QQ in the range of calls for 4bet.
Sometimes you can also have AK, but less likely in this case by the blockers.
The bet of the button on the turn does not seek protection, because I observe that it is a small size, that makes me think that it is less likely that some set will be included in its range.
It seems strange to me that the villain can only float with a top pair, making this bet on the 30% turn on the boat.
That's why I think the button is putting more money into the pot because of its odds.
At this moment hands like KTs come to mind; QTs; QKs; JQs, that have been speculating from the beginning and now seek to complete the color of diamonds.
Sometimes the best option is to play a strong hand thoroughly, but in this case unfortunately your aces are very exposed to better hands.