small stakes AQs - too passive?

ralphthemouse

This is a NL holdem game on absolute. I've been playing for most of an orbit of the button, and my read on most of the players is weak. however, i do get a sense that ggolf is a loose/aggresive type player just based on the amount of hands he is involved in (although there are rarely showdowns). earlier in the session (very early in the session) i raised to steal on the flop with a bluff and he played back at me. in general, i just get a sense that this guy is mostly full of bs.

ive been working on my passivity (is that a word?) recently trying to raise more preflop with good hands and on the flop if i get a piece, but in this case, i felt an urge to just let the guy go. i was only really worried about AK or a set (6s or kk most likely), but i just had it in my mind that i was ahead the whole way.

anyway, was there a way that i could have bet and reduced the risk for the reward (read: get the same amount in the pot but know where i stand)? At about the flop i knew there was a good chance that i was going to end up all-in at some point, but it wasnt until the $12 raise at the end that i was confident that i had him beat.

Seat 1 - KINGROOSTER $15.25 in chips
Seat 2 - GERRITT $28.20 in chips
Seat 3 - EMPRESS58 $9.50 in chips
Seat 4 - SNAKEREZ $23.85 in chips
Seat 5 - DONPOQUE $6.55 in chips
Seat 6 - PHATNUTS $9.40 in chips
Seat 7 - SHER2 $13.20 in chips
Seat 8 - RALPHDAMOUSE $8.75 in chips
Seat 9 - GGOLF $34.70 in chips
*** BLIND [dealer 1] ***
GERRITT - small blind sitout
EMPRESS58 - Post small blind $0.10
SNAKEREZ - Post big blind $0.25
RALPHDAMOUSE - Pocket [Q:spade:,A:spade:]
DONPOQUE - Folds
PHATNUTS - Calls $0.25
SHER2 - Calls $0.25
RALPHDAMOUSE - Raises $0.25 to $0.50
GGOLF - Raises $0.50 to $1
KINGROOSTER - Folds
EMPRESS58 - Folds
SNAKEREZ - Folds
PHATNUTS - Calls $0.75
SHER2 - Folds
RALPHDAMOUSE - Calls $0.50
*** FLOP [K:spade:,6,A] ***
PHATNUTS - Bets $1
RALPHDAMOUSE - Calls $1
GGOLF - Raises $1 to $2
PHATNUTS - Folds
RALPHDAMOUSE - Calls $1
*** TURN [K:spade:,6,A,5:diamond:] ***
RALPHDAMOUSE - Checks
GGOLF - Bets $2.50
RALPHDAMOUSE - Calls $2.50
*** RIVER [K:spade:,6,A,5:diamond:,10:spade:] ***
RALPHDAMOUSE - Checks
GGOLF - Bets $12
RALPHDAMOUSE - All-In $3.25
GGOLF - returned ($8.75) : not called
*** SHOW DOWN ***
GGOLF - Show cards [4:diamond:,4:spade:]

BBC Z

i just get a sense that this guy is mostly full of bs.

Ok.. You have a read on the player that he likes to bluff.. So what does that mean? Well it means he's playing a lot of hands and doesn't have very high starting requirements. Also, he likes to bet regardless of the flop. So you figure he's starting hands consist of Ace rag+ (suited or offsuit), low pocket pairs, probably overplays suited connectors preflop. If hes playing every single hand or close to it then he's just playing anything.. Either way, thats a long laundry list of hands.

My plan of attack on this guy would be to wait around for good hands (AJo+, KQs, QQ+) try and get head to head with him on the flop. Top pair against this guy would be a monster hand.

i was only really worried about AK or a set (6s or kk most likely), but i just had it in my mind that i was ahead the whole way.

Those are 3 hands out of the 40+ possible starting hands this guy could be playing. On that flop, I'd be thinking 'Oh boy, he's got K rag or A rag and he's gonna be paying me off'.

but i just had it in my mind that i was ahead the whole way.

Your play of the hand doesn't quite reflect that mindset. It looks like you were extremely scared of AK. You didn't re-raise the flop with top pair that also contained a flush draw and then you passively called him down to the river.

Anyway, was there a way that i could have bet and reduced the risk for the reward (read: get the same amount in the pot but know where i stand)?

To answer your question. Bet. If you put in a pot sized bet on the flop and then he comes over the top of you all-in, you might start considering those 3 possible hands. Of course, a lot of players would come over the top of you with Ace rag, so you need to know your opponent.

I think the key to low limit NL play is player observation. You have to watch for players that step out of line and how they behave from start to finish. If you've seen this guy bet big and show down Ace rag on an ace high flop, you've found a leak that you can exploit. Some players are very transparent. A raise == great hand. Others not so.

ralphthemouse

i wouldve bet/raised, but i was mostly worried about scaring him off.

now that i think about it though, a raise on the turn or the river would have most likely been called since i was so low on chips.

actyper

ralphthemouse wrote:

i wouldve bet/raised, but i was mostly worried about scaring him off.

now that i think about it though, a raise on the turn or the river would have most likely been called since i was so low on chips.

Don't worry about scaring off a loose/aggresive player.