Could I avoid this cooler?
https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/724G9s7QS

There was no way to be avoided. GG

Originally Posted by Felipe Navatta

Could I avoid this cooler?
https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/724G9s7QS

Allin is wrong here! The opponent has a bigger stack.

Originally Posted by EVA777

Allin is wrong here! The opponent has a bigger stack.

I choose to shove because he is still calling me with AK, AJ, AT, 44,77, maybe KK... So it was a good opportunite to double up.

Originally Posted by Felipe Navatta

Could I avoid this cooler?
https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/724G9s7QS

no way, only if you hadn't played preflop (impossible) lol GG

You played this hand perfectly fine. My only slight nitpick is your betsizing on the flop. By going only to 1/3 pot you created a situation, where you had to bet almost full pot on the river. I would prefer to distribute the bets a bit more even and get more chips in early. You are basically targeting AX and clubs here, and those hands are going to call even a very large flop bet.

Originally Posted by fundiver199

You played this hand perfectly fine. My only slight nitpick is your betsizing on the flop. By going only to 1/3 pot you created a situation, where you had to bet almost full pot on the river. I would prefer to distribute the bets a bit more even and get more chips in early. You are basically targeting AX and clubs here, and those hands are going to call even a very large flop bet.

I like this explanation alot and don't have much to add.

To answer your question -- NO, you cannot avoid this spot. Posting hands like this will not help you at all, there is nothing to learn from coolers and bad beats -- it is what it is, especially with the way our villan played the hand not raising us with a turned full house - we would still not be folding at that point either. Since we hold QQ and floppped middle set there is only one combo of AQ left in the deck...if you are afraid of that you are looking for monsters under the bed and its just unnecessary.

Sucks to run into AQ here, but nothing we we can do. You setup the 1:1 river jame perfect. You played the hand fairly well - just didn't work out. Again - nothing to learn from this spot -- don't be results oriented - coolers are called coolers for a reason - had you won the hand, i doubt you would ever ask to review it

I will say the same thing as others as this was played perfectly. When I first saw the flop bet sizing I thought it was too small but it turned out with the half pot bet on the turn that it setup nicely for a river shove. Which by the way is the absolute correct thing to do so dont let any thoughts get into your head that you shouldnt be jamming this river as any Ax will call and you have most of them crushed. I will say though that betting a little larger on the flop is not a bad idea. Not much larger but something like half pot instead of a 1/3rd as if they are calling a 1/3rd bet they will probably call a half and it makes the river call from the opponent that much easier. However, that is a small gripe and still say you played this hand perfect or near perfect, just a sick cooler.

Its not like a huge mistake in this hand, but I do think, there is value lost in the long run by just auto-clicking a certain bet size on the flop without at least considering, what different sizings will do in the specific situation.

"Downbetting" flops has become very modern, and part of the reason is, it allows us to bet a wider range against players, who play optimal poker. And "downbetting" would be great, if we have a hand like top pair meh kicker, because then we want to keep their ranges wide, so that our bet is still for value. We also dont want to build a huge pot, so a small flop bet is almost a bit of a blocker bet as well. It gets us one step closer to showdown with our marginal made hand.

However here we dont have a marginal made hand, we have essentially the nuts, since AA would usually have 3-bet preflop. We also block a lot of the marginal made hands, that might be sensitive to bet sizing. When we have QQ, its really difficult for someone to have QX. We unblock top pair though, and top pair is certainly going to call a larger bet than just 1/3 pot.

Finally because our hand is so strong, it benefit a lot from folding out draws. If we have AX with a weak kicker, its fine, if they continue with their gutshots, because we easily get away later, when we are beat. But if we have a set, we are getting stacked, if someone hits a straight, and therefore it has a lot of value to get marginal draws out on the flop, which a larger bet will usually accomplish.

And I certainly dont think, we need to worry about balance in a 50c tournament, or that someone will pick up on, what our betsize might mean. These guys are mostly beginners, and they are mostly focused on their own two cards and not on dissecting, what their opponents might be up to.

Originally Posted by Felipe Navatta

I choose to shove because he is still calling me with AK, AJ, AT, 44,77, maybe KK... So it was a good opportunite to double up.

I wanted the best, but it turned out as always!

I think you could have checked in the turn, since not only he had more chips than you but he was in position. But i do not know what was his image on the table but unless he was very loose keep betting was not the best option there.

Originally Posted by Viparida

I think you could have checked in the turn, since not only he had more chips than you but he was in position. But i do not know what was his image on the table but unless he was very loose keep betting was not the best option there.

Checking the turn loses us value from weaker Ax holdings that are not going to fire turns for us and are just looking to get to showdown. Checking turn with the FH is a mistake and leaves tons of money on the table. Trapping with big hands that should connect very well with our villans is just losing value long term.

We simply cannot learn anything from coolers - they are what they are and such is poker. Although I suppose that's not true...coolers can tell us who is built to play this game long term and whom are not!

Originally Posted by Viparida

I think you could have checked in the turn, since not only he had more chips than you but he was in position. But i do not know what was his image on the table but unless he was very loose keep betting was not the best option there.

If top pair with the nut flush draw isn't enough to "justify a call" -- then idk why making trips on the turn would change things -- yes we dont want to get too crazy with a marginal top pair but our nut draw really influences alot of how we proceed in the hand. Once i turn trips -- you will have to show me the better A or FH to win the pot.