$5 NLHE 6-max: TP + NFD. Play for stacks?

5th hand at the table. No reads/stats on Villain.

I know a case could be made to fold this PF.

I dont like calling cause I'll be OOP and trying to get max value OOP when I hit is hard but I also hate folding...

I figured a range could be sets, 2 pairs, any A, combo draws and lesser FDs. When I stove that I have about 40% equity.


full tilt poker $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

CO: $8.84
BTN: $9.32
SB: $4.34
BB: $5.00
UTG: $4.35
Hero (MP): $5.00

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is MP with A :diamond: 3 :diamond:
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.20, CO calls $0.20, 3 folds

Flop: ($0.47) 5 :diamond: J :diamond: A :spade: (2 players)
Hero bets $0.30, CO raises to $0.80,

Make it $2.75 and call the shove.

You also have a BD str8 draw.

3bet flop for sure and get ready to stack off.

Why not just shove?

Anyway, I really don't like the raise pre. This is a bluff/steal hand basically, and MP is no place for that imo. It's only value is the flush, you're not going to make money when an A hits from most opponents. But you could lose money easily.

pretty much...


Flop: ($0.47) 5 :diamond: J :diamond: A :spade: (2 players)
Hero bets $0.30, CO raises to $0.80, Hero raises to $2.30, CO raises to $8.64 all in, Hero calls $2.50 all in



EDIT:Like I said in the OP, I know there is a case to be made for folding this PF and I usually do.

3-bet. Call the shove. Definately play for stacks here.

I dont think I hardly ever open-fold this pre.
Unless Im getting 3bet by someone on my left.
Then Im probably leaving the table anyways, so...

ComplexPlaya said:

Anyway, I really don't like the raise pre. This is a bluff/steal hand basically, and MP is no place for that imo. It's only value is the flush, you're not going to make money when an A hits from most opponents. But you could lose money easily.

Click to expand...

Really?

Jagsti said:

Really?

Click to expand...

Don't see how one word with a question mark at the end helps anything tbh. How will you make money wtih A3s in MP? I can see it when CO and BUTTON and at least one of the blinds are nits and you expect them to fold alot, but this doesn't seem to be the case here.

I'm too lazy to post positional winrates and stuff but suited aces are a %100 standard open for me (with a profit) in any position barring some really bad table conditions or really bad image on my part.

You're listing all the cons, but the fact is they flop good postflop equity and provide us with great barreling opportunities to the nuts. Just because we can be dominated by our opponent's calling range doesn't mean we shouldn't play the hand - if we get called by AJ we're really not that disappointed given we can fold that hand out postflop so often. We're of course not shoveling in tons of money when we hit an ace either, so domination really isn't that big of an issue.

If you've got guys playing any ace, then sure you can tighten up to like A9s+ or whatever but otherwise it's pretty standard in my book.

Ok, maybe I should start opening more suited aces then and see how it goes. Do you think it's still profitable if there are a couple of loose players to your left ? I probably start opening them in CO right now

I think opening just at the CO is a good starting point. I remember you saying how crazy the fish at your site can be, which would lower the value of the Axs hands.

It's kind of like small pairs - I open 22 utg, but once in a while conditions wil be bad enough (ie really 3bet happy people behind me, or lots of shortstackers, etc) that I'll actually open fold them. Same concept - just figure out how likely you are to get folds and/or get paid off pf and postflop and take it from there.

ComplexPlaya said:

Anyway, I really don't like the raise pre. This is a bluff/steal hand basically, and MP is no place for that imo.

Click to expand...

Well, keep in mind that MP on a 6-max table is the hijack. I think the raise here is fairly standard, if a tiny bit light. There was an article on 2+2 years ago by Sklansky which said, in essence, don't sweat pre-flop so much. If your opponents are bad enough post flop players, virtually any hand can be profitable. Moreover, you *want* to play post flop with them. I wouldn't take that to an extreme, but I think the argument has a lot of merit where the decision is marginal.

OP, 3-bet the flop, and call a raise/shove. I'm prepared to get my money in here every time.