2/5 NL, 6th hour on the table. Hero has about $900, Villian has about $1200. Villain has been raising to 30-35$ preflop a lot, has rolled over everything from 87s to AJo and above in those situations. He has been calling raises after limping probably about 75% of the time. He is on second buy in after a seat change, so is probably about even on the day.

The hand:

Villian (UTG) limps for 5$. One more limper. Hero raises to $25 on cutoff with AK. Button (very loose and running very bad) calls. BB calls, Villain calls. Four to the flop.

Flop comes A 6 2

Villain checks, hero bets $100. Button and BB fold. Villain raises to $250.

The question is what is our play here? Are we ever against AK/AQ/AJ on this and villain thinks my preflop raise was position and i cbet the flop? Are we against A6 or A2s? Is a set ever raising on the flop when its heads up at that point? I'm most interested in what range folks put him on, and who would get away from this hand on the flop and why?

What is your read on his postflop play? Does he seem competent or kinda all over the place in an aggressive manner? What kind of range are you assigning him to bluff/semibluff with? There are absolutely no semibluffing hands because of the lack of str8/fd potential so you have to imagine he's either got a set or 2 pr or a straight bluff. He's probably never turning his pp into bluffs here but maybe an aj+. Essentially you're turning your hand into a bluffcatcher here to play for 180bb stacks if you commit. I'd proceed with caution but make my decision for the hand otf. I'm leaning more towards a fold because the more i encounter this situation the more it seems like they always got it (as far as 1/2 and 2/5 at least).

I have his range at AK, AQ, AJ, KK, QQ, A6, A2. I can't imagine why if he has the set he raises on the flop with no risk and a heads up situation. I can see him raising A2 or A6 in order to scare off higher aces and protect his hand. I can also see him raising with AK,AQ,AJ,KK,QQ to see if i really have anything or if its just a cbet from position. He limped UTG and was pretty loose and often aggressive so his preflop range was big, as played on the flop, I was really thinking only about those 7 hands.

Unless opp is a total retard u prolly shouldnt include KK/QQ in his "limpcall pre AND cr flop on A-high board" -range....

In my experience on flops like this V's at this level have no creativity and play it just straight forward.

Two pair minimum, but 90percent of the time its a set.

I can see and aggressive player CR the flop with AQ, AJ and even AT here for 2 reasons. 1. To see where they are in the hand and 2. They may feel they have fold equity with the stack sizes. It's a strong play on his part but I feel you are beating out most of his limp calling range here. I say flat the CR and reevaluate the turn.

easy muck to the flop c/r in a 4 way

spoiler is atrocious

Reraising back is the absolute worst thing you can possibly do. You allow him to fold any overplayed aces and you get shoved back on by his better hands.

If you think he's FOS you should call and then evaluate/call down.

Vs this guy, unless he's like a Tom Dwan LAG who is going to CR A9 or a gutshot here and then bomb the turn to try to get you off of AK, you can call the CR and then possibly fold to a huge turn bet.

It's actually not terrible to call raises and then fold when the board doesn't change because the fact that the guy bombs the turn gives you more information that can help you find a fold.

recognizing immediately that i played this hand poorly, regardless of results. The big question I have is does anyone here see a proper play being to call the raise, see the turn knowing I have position? Or am I making a pot commitment if I do that. And further, people seem to universally agree that a set is well within his standard range here? No one thinks raising the flop on a harmless board with a set is something quite rare? Looking back, If I could do it again, i would have folded the flop raise, NOT because i thought he had any chance of a set there, but because I think he is much more likely to have A6s then AJ or AQ.

I really think folding the flop is too nitty. What kind of board are you looking to hit with AK and get paid? Most of the time you when you do hit the flop it's only going to be a pair. I think you don't have enough info about the villains range to properly put him on an exact hand like A6 A2 66 22. Call CR and reevaluate turn.

i don't like bet so much on flop that's so dry, as played, personally i call flop, fold to turn bet.

You're never "pot committed" at LLSNL.

If he's playing like a maniac then yes, he should raise the flop because he'll get people (like you see in this hand) to either 3bet back or call his raise and stack later. If he just calls a lot of people will check back the turn b/c they're afraid he'd raise.

Even if you're 100% committed here raising back is STILL the worst play b/c if you think he has air or AJ, you're going to fold that out.

didnt wanna beat a dead horse so ill agree with this

^Disagree...you get paid when villain takes a passive line and goes into ck/call mode in this spot. There are many hands were getting value from on this flop and on future streets.

When an early position limper shows aggression and c/r in a multiway pot, you can be sure he has a nutted hand the majority of the time. Very rarely is ANYONE c/r here with a hand worse than AK imo

Given villains description, I think AQand AJ can be be discounted heavily from his UTG limping range. Giving him KK and QQ is WAY too optimisitic.

+1 for fold flop

This is very stupid imo. Making broad statements about what kind of boards determine stacking off on is BAD. Hand strength is relative, the board shouldn't dictate you stacking off, the action should dictate it, and Villain always has you crushed here with a c/r on a dry board when you're repping AK, no one is going to try and blow you off TPTK, Villain is valuetowning Hero