Question about a hand I played tonight

Hi guys, first post on here after lurking for a year or so.

I've been playing a weekly game semi-locally (about 14 miles away) for the last month or so - 2 games a night, blinds up every 10 minutes, £5 buy-in, 60-30-10 split.

To start with I was very passive, but I've upped my aggression a lot recently (going from tight-passive to tight-aggressive) and I've started to get used to some of the other player's tendencies.

My pre-flop game is great, but I still tend to play too passively post-flop. I'm improving on it though and learning every week and tonight I won

Anyway, on to the hand - villain makes a raise of 4BB UTG and I (holding AA on the button) make a pot-size re-raise. He then asks for a count of my chips - realising he has me covered, he just calls (we're both deep-stacked).

Flop comes 5-7-Q. He checks, I make a half-pot c-bet and he shoves over the top.

It took me a couple of minutes to make the call - I've never played him before and was tempted to put me all-in preflop. This, to me, narrows his range to AA, KK, QQ, AK or AQ - maybe JJ or KJ, but I doubt it. I have him strong pre-flop.

I'm not scared of AA because it's highly unlikely he's holding them and, even so, there's no flush draw out there so it would be split. I'm ahead of KK, AK and AQ, but QQ sits right in the middle of the range I'm putting him on. I'm a massive dog if he holds QQ and this is for all my chips. I take a while to think about it before calling and watching him turn over AQ. I then show my aces and he and a mate start getting pissed thinking I was slowrolling. They said it should be a snap-call with pocket aces and that basically I was a dick for taking so long.

A couple of other guys there (who's play and personalities I respect a lot more) said that actually, I was right to take my time and that making a snap-call would be reckless.

I was just wondering what the general consensus here is - would it be a snap-call for you? Or would you have taken your time? (I took maybe 2 minutes?)

Thanks in advance.

it's a snap call, could not see any half decent player shoving a set there if there's no flush draw out there on such a dry board, any two pair or 68 46 don't make any sense considering pre flop action, you're best here everytime imo.

Snap call. Just think about what range you put him on and how many of those hands you beat. Have to put it in every time in that scenario.

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Sure it is a snap call, but there is no harm in thinking about a call before you do it.

It's an easy call for me, but if I take time because I'm genuinely questioning what to do, how much basis does he have to complain? He's the one who almost benefited because I was unsure.

Also, did he accuse you of slowrolling? If so, he didn't even know what he was talking about. Slowrolling is not taking time to make a decision, even one that should be easy. It's taking time to show your hand when you know you can't lose the pot.

That's good to know. Maybe next time I'll play them quicker. Thinking back, I can't imagine shoving with a set of Queens there anyway, especially considering our stacks.

Live poker is so different to online poker in that if you go out online you just move tables or rebuy, whereas these nights can go on for ages and you don't want to be out early.

thatgreekdude said:

could not see any half decent player shoving a set

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If he is shoving his top pair, I don't see why he wouldn't shove a set. He might just not believe in slowplaying.

It is a pretty easy call, but it's good to consider even seemingly easy decisions. The guy is an idiot for accusing you of slowrolling

Its better to think for a while and analyze things.

At live, theres no time count so maximize your advantage by taking your time and analyze the sequence. We might miss crucial things.

DaReKa said:

If he is shoving his top pair, I don't see why he wouldn't shove a set. He might just not believe in slowplaying.

It is a pretty easy call, but it's good to consider even seemingly easy decisions. The guy is an idiot for accusing you of slowrolling

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In his situation, I guess it was kind of a semi-bluff (I don't know if that term is reserved for draws? Maybe). He must have had me strong pre-flop, so I reckon he was repping a set of queens, hoping that I'd fold (it definitely wasn't just a value bet due to his shove being 3 times the pot).

But having said that, I still class myself as a beginner so I may be very wrong...

There is no point in snap calling when you are calling an all-in. Why would it matter? To please your opponents? Putting all your chips in should be something one doesn't take lightly and puts a lot of thought into before taking the plunge.

Now there are other situations where snap calling has strategic value. If someone is, for example, continuation betting a bluff a snap call may actually stop that person from throwing out another bet after hte next dealt card. But I dont' see a point in snap calling an all-in when no one else at the table is left to act.....no strategic value other than more quickly quenching your opponent's curiousity about your hole cards. What is more important, taking your time to act and making the correct decision or pleasing your opponents?

Mighty Racoon said:

In his situation, I guess it was kind of a semi-bluff (I don't know if that term is reserved for draws? Maybe). He must have had me strong pre-flop, so I reckon he was repping a set of queens, hoping that I'd fold (it definitely wasn't just a value bet due to his shove being 3 times the pot).

But having said that, I still class myself as a beginner so I may be very wrong...

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You can classify lots of hands as semi-bluffs if there are still cards to come. Bottom pair, gutshots, overcards - it just has to be a bet aimed at folding better hands and have a chance to improve when called. So the more outs to improve, the better it is for bluffing.
There are some serious flaws in his logic if he is calling preflop with two big cards and then trying to bluff better hands when he makes top pair. He either has no idea what he's doing or was value betting, which still pretty much means he has no idea what he's doing.

DaReKa said:

If he is shoving his top pair, I don't see why he wouldn't shove a set. He might just not believe in slowplaying.

It is a pretty easy call, but it's good to consider even seemingly easy decisions. The guy is an idiot for accusing you of slowrolling

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Shoving sets is so read dependent, you have to know your opponents got a big pair he can't let go of, you just miss heaps of value by shoving, you don't want folds.

punctual said:

There is no point in snap calling when you are calling an all-in. Why would it matter? To please your opponents? Putting all your chips in should be something one doesn't take lightly and puts a lot of thought into before taking the plunge.

Now there are other situations where snap calling has strategic value. If someone is, for example, continuation betting a bluff a snap call may actually stop that person from throwing out another bet after hte next dealt card. But I dont' see a point in snap calling an all-in when no one else at the table is left to act.....no strategic value other than more quickly quenching your opponent's curiousity about your hole cards. What is more important, taking your time to act and making the correct decision or pleasing your opponents?

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Taking your time when you have a decision that you're actually considering isn't the same as doing so when you already know what you're going to do.