So I was playing $2/$5 live NL this past weekend, $500 max buy-in. I've got $420 on me. I limped UTG with AhAd, lots of limpers, and the Big Blind raises to $40. I reraise to $120. He calls and everyone else folds. $300 of my stack left.

Flop is Ks9s5d and he is first to act and goes all-in (he has me covered with a stack of about $1,000 or so). I figure he's most likely on a flush draw, and I call, he has AsQs and gets his flush.

Now, I know that I made the "right decision" in calling with the best hand and luck didn't go my way but it PAINS me to have to commit nearly 100 big blinds with one pair, even if it is an over-pair like Aces.

Even though I was ahead on the flop, is it better in the long run just to let this one go because is it really +EV in a cash game to devote nearly 100 big blinds to a single pair? Just seems like maybe I should adopt a cut-off for how much I'm willing to spend on one pair, like 50 big blinds total or something.

Or am I crazy?

As usual, it depends on your opponent's pre flop ranges / play style, strengths / leaks, and also how large the pot was to begin with (aka SPR).

Say I have 500BB & AA -- if somehow I get to the flop @ a 4 SPR & a reasonable board, I'm not thinking twice about how many BB are going in unless I'm against a total nit, etc. If villain will commit w/ AK on a Kxx board, who cares if we only have "one pair". Change the pot size / player type & we'd have a different commitment decision.

Hope this makes sense.

There's this thing known as SPR (stack to pot ratio) which gives you a pretty good guide as to when you should be stacking off with certain hands and when you should be folding. Obviously you need to adjust this a little based on your opponent's range and the board texture, but it is almost never correct to fold Aces in a HU pot when the SPR is less than 4.

That means that if you were $1000 deep and this same preflop action played out, you'd still be pot committed, since the SPR would be less than 4 ($880 effective stacks divided by $240 in the pot).

On the other hand, if you were $3000 deep, then you'd want to be a little cautious, since your opponent probably isn't stacking off that deep with AK after only putting $120 in preflop.

The above posters have you covered. To that I'll add that I've played a decent amount of $500 max 2/5, and in general I'm happily getting it in on the flop with an overpair in a 3-bet pot. Hell, I'm often times happy to do so in a single raised pot in this structure, but of course it's not as automatic.

Usually it's when I'm 200bb+ effective that I'll start thinking about pot control, how many streets OPs are worth on certain boards, etc, etc. 100bbs or less, you can usually safely GII in spots like these and print money. Your specific hand here is a "print money" spot, your V just happened to get there this time. Honestly, if you're uncomfortable losing 100bbs in a super standard spot like this where you got your money in ahead, then your probably playing too large of a game.

Set rules in poker, is usually pretty stupid in many ways- and the most important one is that it blocks and stagnate your thinking process/approach to the game.

What you are doing in a game (and what move is +EV or not) really is a direct consequence of what your opponents is doing, and what ranges they are playing in certain spots. So everything is relative. Top pair or an overpair is a very strong holding, and should be played as the nutz against a fish who is playing every hand, or is stacking off with every straightdraw, flushdraw or piece of the flop. On the other side of the spectrum, you need to be careful with KJ on J high board against an old man coffee type players- because just by his tightness preflop you can narrow his range alot, and when OMC wants to put alot of money in the middle one pair is usually not good. So i mean, it always depends, and trying to make yourself a wheelchair in terms of absolute rules set in stones is something i dont advocate at all.

For example: i was playing against a crazy whale in our homegame last month. He is so crazy that you just have to grab your balls and execute plays you dont normally do- and adjust to his extremely wide range in all spots. In that game i ended up limp/reraising pre with 99 against him, and stacked off 200 BB pre with that hand against his 9-10 suited.

If i would had a set rule that i coudnt stackoff X amount of blinds with "only" one pair, i would have left heaps of money/EV on the table against a maniac like this.

Grunch: Geez, it seems like you've been around long enough to know that the answer is "it depends." SPR is way more important than the absolute number of BBs, and as I'm sure others have said above, board texture and villain type are also more important.

Seems like rather a silly question, to be honest. I hope the answers above aren't trolls, and I warn everybody that tolling this thread will not be tolerated.

Post grunch edit: Glad to see that all of the responses above are helpful. Let's keep this thread troll free.

I think limping with AA UTG without stating your reason exactly why you're doing it is a fish play. (unless you stated there is a whale otb who raises 100% of his buttons and doesn't fold)

Also how do you know this guy likely has a FD? Your hand obviously is face up. He knows you have AA or KK. Don't you think he would know you're probably calling it off when he hits his set?

I think that the OP is asking if he should sacrifice EV to minimize variance. On certain occasions this is reasonable, in the hand described it is not.

An example of a reasonable occasion would be a 1/2 game with a $200 max buy-in in which both you and an exploitable player have both built stacks up to a $1000. It would suck to lose half-your stack and not be able to buy up to the big stack due a low +EV hand when this loss will prevent you from stacking the exploitable player with $1000 when you get into a high +EV situation later in the game.

Sounds to me like OP has been on a losing streak...that is when I tend to question spots like this. It is just variance and the responses above have all covered exactly how you should think.

Good luck in your next session.

Shorn

Thanks to the responses everyone, and Shorn is right, I have been on a losing streak so I guess that's why I'm trying to figure out if I should be playing differently.

It is good to know that in a 100 big blind game that it's okay to stack off with top pair/over-pair, I wasn't sure if that was really kosher.

Thanks, everyone!

Never folding in this spot. You got it in as a huge favorite, well played.