8-16. You're BB with AhKd. The game is loose with some aggressive players but some passive ones too.

5off limps as well as 2off and cutoff. SB calls and you check.

Flop comes AsJsJd. SB who is a pretty loose but not aggressive player, generally only bets it when he has it (or thinks he does).

You have top pair, best kicker but four opponents with gut shots available, a flush draw and a paired board in the zone.

Would you call or raise the flop?

Raise pre, no excuses.

Ap I raise.


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You have a monster, raiser preflop.

Arguments for raising the flop:

Lots of value from worse

Face the field with two bet in a relatively small pot, which lets you protect from various 2-4 outers that the field might have. Flush draw is going nowhere so that’s not a concern.

Wet flop

Cost yourself less when you’re ahead and get 3bet

Arguments against raising:

wa/wb

Basically not raising here is weak and mubsy. I think you can bet/fold a lot of turns and rivers.


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I've seen the kind of player described bet out on these kinds of boards with much worse. He probably thinks his middling A or medium pocket pair is good. People card hit paired flops hard sometimes but completely whiff much more frequently. Most players who tend to be timid know this too so they'll act braver.

What's the play if raising the flop and then facing a 3 bet? Call down and pray not to see your opponent holding 3 jacks?

If no one calls two cold after flop raise, yes. If someone does then it's more complicated and depends on your read of them and what cards come out.

This MUST be raised PF.

Why do you check here PF?

Most non-aggro players I would call typical. And typical players do not bet a jack here first to act. They reason something like, if I bet and everyone folds then I just wasted my trips. I should let them catch up a little.

That said, there is an ace on board and a variety of draws. So it's possible they reason, This seems like the type board where I can get action on my trips.

I also believe they would think something like, Damn, I have 88 here so I'm going to put in a bet and just hope I take this down right here. No one raised pre-flop. I probably can just pick up this pot.

I would be inclined to attempt to get a bet in on each street. The pot is small (4 small bets + 1) and if you are successful at getting a single bet in on flop turn and river you double your win.

If you raise right here a few things could happen. This guy folds his 88 and anything in that range. He may decide to release AT and anything less. He may call and then ch/fold the turn. The players behind you are getting 6 to 1 if you only call. That makes a gut shot unprofitable. They would likely call with an ace but fold that same ace to a raise. They are getting the odds to a flush draw, but there is not much you can do about getting flush draws out short of pulling out a billy club and chasing them away from the table. One thing is for sure. Anyone with a jack will call 2 bets.

I don't think you should be 'protecting your hand' in this small pot.

I think you will like the results of lines where a single bet goes in on each street and hate the results where you give or get action where 2 bets go in on a single street.

Idk what games you’re playing in but players in the games I play will not throw an ace on that board.


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id raise much worse than AKo here preflop

as played id just call the flop and let dumb hands call behind me

Raise pre. Bet raise or just call depending upon who raised on the flop.

This is awful. Stop doing this.

AP just call.

I used to endlessly find excuses not to raise premium hands... "it's tricky" ... "I'm not committed if the flop is bad" ... "my position is bad." The truth is, usually I was just scared of losing money. Not saying that's true for you, but it was for me.

I've been playing pretty strong poker for a few months now, playing every day, now playing mostly $1/$2 6Max. Two rules have helped me immensely.

1.) Always raise premium hands. It is no longer an option. You must raise.

2.) Cold call, maybe, about once a week. Basically stop cold-calling in all scenarios, especially pre-flop.

These two rules, now that I treat them as mandatory, have made a very big difference in my game.

"1.) Always raise premium hands. It is no longer an option. You must raise.
2.) Cold call, maybe, about once a week. Basically stop cold-calling in all scenarios, especially pre-flop."

Love this. I try to really limit cold-calling, but full table live limit games can really test your patience and discipline. Also when you might have 2-3 behind you calling 2 pre with basically trash, you really feel the gravity of the pot calling you to just throw it in "this one time". Let's say I realize #2, but am not always making the best choice at times.

I don’t think not cold calling raises is a good rule to have. Rather, you shouldn’t be the first to cold call a raise. Once there is an intervening caller, certain hands work well as cold calls.

if several people behind are cold calling with trash you can cold call with certain hands like QJs or 55. yes your range might be face up but nobody is paying attention.

what you dont want is to cold call with aggressive players behind who will 3 and 4 bet making you stuck in the middle postflop and pay too much preflop, or to be the only one cold calling in a tight game. also in a game with some good players (not common at small stakes) cold calling is asking for trouble too.

so in a game with 9 passive donks, if UTG raises i think cold calling with some hands UTG+1 is ok.

Fair enough about cold-calling... I’m just playing 6Max, so the times when it’s raised, cold-called, and then comes to me are rare, as there are only four people who aren’t paying blinds in the first place (that's if there are even six people there, which there usually aren't).

How does $1/$2 online, skill wise, compare to $8/$16 live? I find some pretty good players at $1/$2 online. But, Nitty, you seem to think there aren’t any at $8/$16. Someone on this board said if I’m solid at $1/$2, I could play $20/$40 live. Is this true?

You said a lot of “cold-calling may work, unless...” and then the game features you mentioned are exactly the reasons I don’t like to cold-call. But if games exist where someone early raises and four people cold-call before it gets to me... that sounds like a good game.

I did say once a week or so... I agree something like 55 late with a bunch of cold-callers already in is workable.

cold calling in online 6 max is bad, you're right, and i cant fathom a situation in 6 max where id do it.

if you can beat 1/2 online you can beat 20/40 live.

I’ve never been convinced of the merits of having a cold all range in these games though I could be.