Bare with me, this is my first post on 2+2....

This post is half hand review that I'm looking for feedback and half general advice I'm seeking on how to play against really good and aggressive players.

I'm kicking myself from a hand played at my local card room a few days ago, felt I played too passively preflop and postflop and got my butt kicked, curious what others think.

At a $1/$3 table, just about everyone has 60-100bb effective in most spots. I'm down to $200 after buying in for the $300 max and haven't been getting good cards nor good spots but was trying to be patient yet aggressive when the time was right, there was a good mix at the table, one idiot spew fish, two or three stationy guys, and 2 or 3 really solid regs.

I'm dealt AQo in UTG+1. To my right is a very solid reg, usually pretty tight but very aggressive, and from what I've gathered is very aware of positional play. He is having a good session and is up to $500 or so. I've played with him before and he always does well and seems to win an unusual amount of pots before going to showdown and whenever he does get to showdown he's got the goods. I've never seen him caught with a bluff yet, have seen him get sucked out on, and saw him catch a few coolers, but that's the only times I've seen him lose a pot, but he does manage to be active enough to know he's not a nit and plays very solid ABCish poker, but much more aggressive than usual with his bet sizing and seems to know how to pick his spots better than most.

Anyways, he makes it $10 to go first to act UTG which has been about the standard raise size for the table.

I decide to flat for three reasons

1) I don't want to over inflate the pot with only 67 bb and a drawing hand like AQo

2) I'm in position and am expecting a cbet no matter what, and from what I've gathered he seems to double barrel quite a bit on most boards, so if I hit either an ace or a queen I can play passively but profitably against the aggressive reg that loves to double barrel, and better yet I could likely double up if I get a straight.

3) There is a gigantic idiot fish a few seats to my left that had been 3 bet shoving with garbage in random spots that flat trapping with AQ to induce him to shove his garbage was actually a good play (yes, he was that bad, otherwise I would NEVER consider limp or flat trapping something as weak as AQo) unfortunately the idiot folds this time.

It folds all the way to the button to a middle aged guy that seemed mediocre and seemed a bit on the loose side. He decides to flat as well, blinds both fold making it a $34 pot with three players.

The Flop comes:

A T 5 rainbow.

UTG checks, which was suspicious by the way I've seen him play. Even if he had KK or QQ he would cbet based on what I've seen him do in the past.

I decide to check hoping to induce a bluff bet from the player on the button as no draws are on board besides some gut shots. I also checked as I felt it was strange not to see a cbet from the UTG player. I've almost never seen him decide not to cbet, especially on a board that's pretty dry, I wanted to see how he'd react to a possible steal attempt from the button otherwise take the lead if he checks it to me on the turn.

After we both check, the player on the button does makes a weak looking bet of $10, easily looking like a fishy steal attempt.

The UTG solid reg snap raises to $60 (which was on the large size compared to other raises that had occurred in other spots at the table). The action is on me and at this point I'm completely confused.

Now the pot is about $100, I have $180 behind, UTG has me easily covered. I really think my option is to either fold or go all in, curious to hear if there is any merit to flatting the check raise. It seems like a polarizing spot, some people would probably just get all the money in here and decide if he has it he has it and so be it... but I've seemed to go broke playing back to aggression at this place in particular while only holding top pair.

I think about it for a bit and simply decide not to go broke over what was initially a $30 pot facing such a strong snap check raise and decide to find a better spot later to trap a very aggressive player. After the player on the button snap folded and I realized I played the hand with the intention of trapping and then chickened out I started to second guess myself.

Here's my thought process that led to me folding...

1 - Whenever a solid aggressive player does not cbet into only two other players on a semi dry board, that's a red flag for me... Very polarizing it seems.

2 - Just about any other A high rainbow board would have been better, but with it being AT5, I think about the hands he would raise UTG that I can beat...

AJ
KK
QQ
JJ
KQs
Other non A suited broadways
A9-A6s, A4s-A2s

And I think about the hands I lose to...
AA (only 1 combo so I don't count that at all really...)
TT
55 (which I don't put into his UTG raise range at a 9 handed table usually, but don't rule it out completely)
AKo
AKs
ATs
A5s
(Most sites and coaches that are up to speed that I know the reg follows put A5s into UTG open ranges, but leave out A9-A6 and A4-A2, which leans me more towards folding scared of likely being dominated by AK, AT, or A5)

And then I try to think about which of those hands would give a solid reg the confidence to check raise with and I feel all too often my AQ making top pair is just a pretty looking hand that is too easily dominated by AK or one of the two pair hands, and at this point is just a bluff catcher.

Any other board, and any other position besides UTG, against any other player and I probably continue with the hand, but I just had a bad feeling about this spot in particular so all in all I think it's much more likely that a check raise in this spot means I'm crushed unless I can bink one of my three queens left in the deck on the turn or river.

He takes down another uncontested pot and continues to put on a clinic while my stack dwindles.

I could not stop thinking about this hand though, I clearly showed weakness by checking, the button player screamed weak attempt to buy a pot, so a check raise makes sense for a solid player holding two napkins.

Although he had been very aggressive in terms of cbetting strong and double barreling, I rarely saw him check raise without a monster, which again, is why I decided to fold.

I asked him what he had after he took down the pot and he didn't say anything but gave a bit of a grin which made it seem bluffy, even though the hand was over.

Later in the same session a similar spot comes up and I decide to man up when I had AJ and flop an A and he gets three streets of value from his AQ that dominates me, no check raise this time, just him kicking my butt again....

After that hand I asked him one more time what he had on the hand he check raised with UTG and he said squadoosh!!!!

I'm still confused, want to think he's telling the truth and made a great play with the check raise, but also wonder if he only bets really strong hands and wants to paint a picture in my mind that he bluffs more than he really does...

Anyways I'm upset with myself for playing the hand passively preflop, not betting the flop, and then folding in a spot where I ultimately think I got outplayed on... I want to get better at playing solid players like this. I can beat up any mediocre players, but there is always 1 or 2 people at the table like this that I always seem to have trouble with and want to improve against the better players like this.

Any help is much appreciated, not just with this hand in particular but with getting better against the very solid regs as well...

Thanks!

Given the preflop range you put him on you have to ask yourself which hands is he really going to check. I don't see him ever checking with just a pair of aces because any card over a 10 is going to complete straights or make better 2 pair hands. For the same reason I don't think he will check with A10. Additionally why would he want to check raise a player who might hold A9 and give them a reason to fold when he could just bet 3 streets for value. The way the hand is played it looks to me like he has a hand like KK or QQ and is trying to get someone off of a weak ace.

However, consider your image and the image of the button. Would either of you bet with a gutshot draw? He is a lot more likely to trap when he knows you will bet out on draws or if he thinks you won't be able to lay an ace down once you bet.

I think hand is played OK TBH, solid reg x/r into 2 players screams strength. HU I would auto check xb flop against most regs but with the fish in the pool, I might lead out for value but w/e.

Also my 2 cents, don't ask poker players about their hands if you are uncertain about your play, since they will almost certainly lie to you so then you end up more confused. I don't try and get into other peoples' heads because I have better things to do with my time but I generally lie about my holdings just on general principle.

There's no way I'm reading all of that but you probably made a good fold.

I'd recommend playing straight forward and not trying to trap. Bet/folding is a lot easier to play multi way. For example, the same reg probably doesn't attempt that kind of bluff against you if you make a straightforward bet there.

In general, if he's really a good a reg as you think, you should not expect to make most of your profits against this type of player. They are winning players because they value bet better than most and do not go broke in questionable situations. A lot of winning regs don't cbet oop against multiple opponents. But since everyone shows weakness and the button weakly stabs at the pot, it's a great spot to now bluff. Focus instead on betting 3 streets of value against fish who will call with A rag. If you get raised by good reg, you're fine to fold because he knows you're ABC and he won't be trying to bluff your big ace. If you really are set to outplay this player, trap when playing heads up. A check behind on that flop heads up works better and makes more sense against said player, who will however probably never check that flop heads up.

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