Hi everyone,

6/12 mostly solid players with two players across the table playing very loose, maybe 85 - 90% of the hands with almost any two cards. The rest of the table is playing well but aggressive, many 3 and 4 bet pots preflop. I haven't been playing as much because I wasn't getting much that was even borderline to play considering the table play, so I may have had more of a TAG image which is not how I usually play.

On to the hand. Last orbit, have my chips racked up in MP. UTG calls, I raise with AA, V on the button 3 bets, hand ends up capped with 4 players.

The flop is 2 9 2 rainbow. 2 checks, I bet, V raises, other players fold.

Turn is an 8. Because of the way V was playing all session I didn't put having a 2 past him so I c/c. River 4 (no flush possibilities) and I c/c again.

Did I play too passively on the turn and river or should I have c/c like I did? I didn't want to flop automatically assuming he had a 2, he could have had an over pair or top pair.

Thanks for your feedback

welcome to the forums here.

you have a very strong hand vs a villain who sounds spewy and has a very wide range. yes he can have a two (but it's unlikely, especially since he 3bet preflop) but he can also have all sorts of pocket pairs, 9x, even random overcards.

so, you need to put more action in. i would checkraise any turn card (with maybe a nine being the only one i'd think about for a second before checkraising). if villain has been habitually raising the flop to check back the turn then going ahead and 3betting the flop is fine also.

Thanks. Thinking more about it I agree that it's more likely he has an over pair or over cards and I should have played it as you suggested

I think another factor that influenced my decision was that I was up for the session and didn't want to loose back a chunk of it right before I left if I ended up losing. I know how terrible that way of thinking is. I'm working on building my bankroll and one of my bigger leaks is deciding when I should end a session.

You should end your session when you aren't playing your best.

If winning money makes you afraid to lose it, then leave. If losing money makes you play like an idiot, leave.

But in time you will learn to accept the variance, and think of all poker as one long session.

Good advice, well put. I've got much better at it and do try to view the cash games as an ongoing session, but today old habits got the best of me. Thanks for the feedback

One of my first reactions when I read this hand was it was clearly played too passively. I don't have anything else to add after the first response you got.

That's a fairly awesome board for AA in a raised pot. I say get it in there. If you're not willing to jam it in with the best hand, you need to reconsider poker altogether. I'd easily put V on any pair, like TT+ or even AK. If he made a cheap set, so be it, not much to do about it. If he has any other pair and is trying to roll it through, your AA still has it's value in the long run.

I'd 3 bet the flop as a default. As played I'd check raise the turn.

I think this would be a good hand for you to learn a lot from with an equity calculator such as Equilab. It's free and there are links to it all over this place like here:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/35...-tl-dr-449010/

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the link! I've been reading 2+2 for a few years and have seen it mentioned but haven't used it, I will definitely use it going forward.

Usually I'm not at all passive about getting it in with the best hand, I guess this time I went with my gut/read about what V may have. But I think everyone who posted is correct that there is a good range of hands he could have that I would still have beat and I am not good a small amount of the time.

I did play this thinking of the specific hand alone and not how it should be played profitably in the long run....

I appreciate the criticism, it reinforced what I usually (or should) know but didn't do this time.

Definitely have to raise again. On that particular run out, I'd strongly consider 4-betting the turn against a villain like this (though to be fair, I probably wouldn't pull the trigger w/out a solid read).

My read was really all I was going with on the turn and the river. But I wasn't going to fold to one bet on the turn and river regardless that I was certain of my read.

Rarely can you put someone on exactly one or two hands. For example, if your villain was someone playing very tight and also so new to playing poker that his hand was uncontrollably shaking with excitement as he put his chips in to raise, then I might put him on exactly 99 or having one of the 2's. Even then I would probably call him down since he could also have a big pair you beat.

In this case, it isn't clear but based on the title, I'm guessing V is one of the two very loose players. Yes, that makes it more likely that he has a 2, but it also makes it more likely that he could be bluffing, or raising with just a 9 or any other pocket pair. There is nothing that convinces me just based on a flop raise of a dry board that he has me beat. I'm going to put in a couple more raises before I start to doubt I have the best hand.

Rarely do I put a player on one of two hands. Usually I put my opponents on a range of hands. In this case, I'd guess you are still ahead (on average) of the collection of hands he could play this way.

3 bets on the flop is best vs players like this.

This hand seems far too passive. Raising the flop or turn is a must

Thank you everyone for your feedback, I think it's pretty clear what I should do I this spot in the future. I'm sure I'll have more hands to post the next few times I play and get involved in other threads as well. Thanks again!