Hi guys - Played a pretty cool hand recently at a local home game wanted to share and get some insight.

Just got moved to the main game. Game is $1/$3 cash with a $10 "rock" which is a straddle either UTG or button.

Literally first hand I sit down. The rock is in play UTG. So blinds are $1/$3/$10.

Effective stack is V1 who has about $650ish. I have him covered by about $150.

First to act UTG + 1 Player (V1) makes it $35 to go.

I'm in MP (Hero) with AQo, I decide to just make the call. Two other callers behind me (Button & Straddler).

Flop comes A 10 4 two spades. Checks to initial raiser V1 who continues for $85. I call, and everyone else folds.

Turn is 8 - brick. He continues for $175. He has about $200 left behind. I think about it for a bit and call.

River is A . He jams for about $200 and I sigh call.

Is there anything that could have been done differently in this hand? Should I be calling/raising/folding or doing anything different? Will post hand results after a few responses.

How many players in the game? That's the biggest determining factor here.

I 3! pre to $110 and fold to a 4!

As played, raising flop to ~$275 and shoving most turns.

As played, obviously never folding river.

Sorry you lost to his boat.

Full table - I would assume 9 handed.

would you 3bet every time? I feel like calling sometimes can be good as well.

And raising flop to $275 seems like I can literally only get called by worse & fold out all bluffs. Maybe charge KJss but that's it.

Any read on villian? If he is on the tighter side, you can fold turn.

3! or fold pre.

Nothing good is going to happen when you flat with AQo from MP.

BTW...This game sounds awesome, as long as the host isn't raking all the money off of the table.

I prefer folding AQo preflop to the UTG+1 raiser from mp only 65bb deep - especially given that we know nothing about the table yet.

Our position isn't great, there are plenty of players behind who could squeeze us off the hand, we don't have the betting lead and our hand will sometimes be dominated. Facing an EP raise from this stack size, you might want to stick with AK/99+ until you get a better feel for the table.

As played, you can't fold the flop. The turn is an awkward spot and quite foldable but if your read tells you to continue on the turn then I think you're committed on any river card other than perhaps a J.

+1 for fold pre. You have no idea what you're dealing with here. AQo in MP against an UTG raiser is a pretty marginal proposition even if you do know what you're dealing with. Both threebetting and flatting to play fit-or-fold could be big mistakes if you're up against a nit.

sick a tired of the fold pre recommendations. I don't play poker to fold AQo pre-flop. That's truly insane ='( . Is that really the GTO thing to do?? Seems ridiculous.

When we lose often enough with AQ to AK when the AK is the raiser, it gets rather tedious.

I prefer being the guy with AK.

Yes, I don't go there to fold AQ either.

But I like AQ only if I am the aggressor.

GTO has nothing to do with it. We crush at LLSNL by mercilessly exploiting opponents and not getting exploited by them. Given the general passivity of most LLSNL players, being wary of UTG raises is a good start.

I've posted this before I think, but preflop cold calling a raise is not a compromise action between raise and fold. It's not "well I don't know what I like between raise and fold, so I'll call". Cold calling is done for specific reasons, with hands that are suitable for it. If you don't know what you like out of raise and fold, think harder. Here, you correctly identified that this spot feels a bit dubious for a threebet, but calling simply defers the problem. If you call and the flop is Axx or Qxx and the preflop raiser is enthusiastic about putting lots of money in the pot, you're not actually going to be happy. You're going to be sandwiched between the raiser and anyone else who comes along all hand. You also risk having it threebet behind you and probably having to fold. All in all while AQ is a strong hand, this isn't a strong situation.

Hero doesnt even realize he is one of the reasons this game sounds so awesome.

What range do you put UTG+1 on when he raises to $35 first to act pre?

How much equity does AQo have against that range?

Versus the part of his range that AQo is ahead of, how do you plan to extract on Axx flops?

What's your plan on Qxx flops versus that range?


FWIW, I'm more inclined to 3! than fold, but calling against a typical first-to-act range and opening ourselves to get squeezed by the whole table has got to be the nut low.

Meh, do you have the Ad?

Honestly I probably play it similar just setting down at a home game without reads about UTG raise.

Sometimes these situations happen and I don't think you can take a line that guarantees you to win when ahead and lose the minimum when behind.

On the turn the board is so draw heavy that villain can easily be betting any ace and then thinking it is good on the river. Or himself have the Ad with flush draw.

The problem on the river is just the pot odds, if villain is much deeper and shoves then can get away. But for this price I am calling all day and expecting to lose to AK or A10 slightly more than half the time.

But sometimes you will win against AJ or a worse suited ace esp AdXd (unlikely given UTG raise but not impossible). Or a missed broadway FD (KsQs type hand)

So I probably play it the same and expect to lose a good bit.

The interesting thing on the turn is with 2 FD's out there it opens up IMO what villain can be continuing with enough to justify a call.


Also I am great with your pre-flop line. I am neither folding AQo in a homegame right away. Neither am I setting down at a home game and 3! my first hand out of the gate as it doesn't align with meta game of what I would be shooting for.

Why are you on a poker forum then?

Just keep gambling and don't worry about your bad play if you don't wanna hear it was bad. Just yeesh

I hate folding it, but the reason for calling is simply "AQo is a good hand, I want to play." We all seem to sense that 3! feels too aggressive, so maybe it's not that good of a hand in the given situation. I'd have an even tougher time folding postflop.

These make a lot of sense, and really appreciate the clarification. I was thinking about these comments and this hand. One thing I'm stuck on is that he had A10dd..... and I had AQo, so I had him crushed. But given these comments, it seems it doesn't matter if I had him crushed this time. I think that 3! makes the most sense from now on. And i think there's a 60/40 shot he calls vs folds.

To address other comments, the host IS raking in all of the money. It's ****ing $18-$20 rake. But a lot of the players are very bad/exploitable, so I tend to win most of the time (including this session).

I also think this is a good comment to think about:
One thing I've noticed at most LLSNL home games is the lack of squeeze plays w.o nutted hands. So that's a lower concern I think then at a casino or against really solid regs.

Lastly, the fact it was my VERY first hand, makes 3! or fold tougher than if I had any experience at all with the players or if I had an established table image.

Anyone know any other games in NYC/Northern NJ without $20 rake at $1/$3

Another good point here that ChrisV alluded to (without explicitly saying the words) is that both our relative and our absolute position suck in this spot. If we were on the CO or BTN, calling is much more palatable.

I would 10 times rather 3! pre to 90 (and completely shut down if cold called behind me absent flopping a monster) and get it HU where I can pot control where needed, potentially bluff V off AK if the flop is rags, etc. None of these post flop options are available to us when we call pre and invite others to call behind us.

1. Quit this game immediately...I see 2... 10

2. Quit this game immediatley...You can't beat this rake.

I won't comment on preflop because I think you can make a decent case for all three actions (fold, call, 3!).

What I will say though is that if you choose to call with AQ, you cannot play it postflop as such. Unimproved (or marginally improved like this hand), you need to use the board IP to give V the impression that the one pair part of his range is no good. Simply calling down on this board is a sure loser long term, so if you are going to flat pre, then play your hand either like a draw or like you have flopped a set (hands which are much more likely to call pre).

Just so I don't get mercilessly flamed for this, I am not saying that you should always do this as it is very opponent dependent. It is just another way of potentially playing deceptively when it is likely that a large part of your opponents range is good, top pair type hands.

1. My bad, flop was not 10 must've been another suit.

2. Depends how bad the players are, amiright?!

Have you considered telling the forum that before getting upset at everyone telling you to fold pre? Cuz that's a pretty big read that you have that we don't and is the difference between folding and 3! (which I told you to do originally)

Of course they're bad players. If they were even slightly decent they'd stop playing that game immediately because that rake is insane and you can make more money literally anywhere else. Unless they just like spewing money off which leads us back to them being bad players.

Basically, you withheld the most critical read of all - the read about the game itself and the average skill level of the players. Don't do this if you want accurate advice.

Yes, you're probably right that was my bad. Anyone who is a professional of course would not play in this game given the high rake. So it's mainly weaker amateurs buying in for $100 (lol) and some spewey whales. There are some good regs of course, but no pro in their right mind would play there.

With that being said, does this mean you would 3! or fold or calling seems a bit better now?

I'm also a fan of folding pre. AP, a flop raise to 175 and folding to a 3bet.on the river, ehhh calling and reloading.

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