Sunday afternoon 1/2 NL:

V: ~45 yo white male. I sat at a 1/2 NL table with him about a year ago. Doubt he remembers me. Very aggressive solid regular. Cross between TAG/LAG. VPIP probably ~%30. Plays very aggressive but not a maniac. Sat down a couple orbits ago. ($300)

H: 41 yo white male. Been playing TAG for several hours, but hardly bluffing at all (even very few c-bets). VPIP/PFR: 20/10. Wearing an untucked collared shirt and jeans. Look like an office worker. ($550)

Hero dealt AK unsuited UTG+2.

PF:
UTG straddles for $5. UTG+1 calls. H raises to $30. 2 callers. V on button calls. UTG+1 calls.

($150) Flop: A82ss
UTG+1 checks, H bets $75, 2 folds, V on button shoves, UTG+1 folds. Hero???


I was surprised to get 4 callers, but I was probably the most aggressive player at the table before V showed up (it was a Sunday morning) so people were looking me up. V's range was probably fairly wide, since he's on the button and getting priced in by the multiple callers. He hadn't played many hands yet, but had only been at the table for a couple of orbits.

Here were my reads at the time: Since I only bet 1/2 pot, I think V was putting me on a c-bet and thought that I either missed the flop or had a flush draw. I thought his range was wider since he was on the button, but didn't include garbage hands. On the flop, I thought his range included sets (10%), AT+ (20%), and flush draws (70%). I probably should have been worried about Axs hitting a 2-pair hand, but I didn't think of it. I thought he probably didn't have a set, since I didn't sense that much strength from him.

So should I call or fold? Feel free to critique all actions

Looks good so far. Easy call now against almost any villain. Against described villain, snap call.

SPR is less than 2. Villain has a lot of AQ/AJ in his range, plus a bunch of flush draws. Plus he is an aggressive player. Really easy call.

Do you have As or Ks? Which cards on the flop were spades? The answer to both of those questions is pretty important, hopefully you can see why.

The spades were the two low cards (8 and 2). I didn't have any spades.

Easy call then...Axss, AK, AQ should make up most of his range. If he flopped two pair or a set, oh well.

First of all, calling.

As far as your reads, if I was V and I viewed you as competent, I'd never think you were c-betting $75 on a whiff here into 4 people. I'd expect you have AJ+ and rarely a flush draw unless its AJs+. So, V probably has a pretty good idea of where you're at and he's still raising so I'm calling but not feeling awesome about it. Your hand is a lot more obvious than his is.

The PF raise may have been a bit big at $25 into $18 but it may be fine for how the table was playing and others behind you.

Your V really doesn't have any other play here with the bloated pot and your bet of $75. He would 'only' have $200 behind a pot of $225 for you to bet into on the Turn so he just decided to get it in right now. This opens up his whole range of hands from sets .. certainly not AA .. to flush draws (which he really isnt priced right to shove, but close). You are right that this range does include AX hands. Where is the As? Board or in your hand ... or maybe in his hand.

You might be correct that he thinks you are c-betting (probably should be bigger) with 99-KK and he has back door flush if his AX is crushed. You just have to decide where the mid-point of the range is for a call here.

This really isn't that much of a stretch to call .. you can out draw A2, you are ahead of flush and straight draws (unless both .. 34ss). I think you call here a lot unless you have tons of history with a V telling you not to call.

I think you just needed to increase your c-bet to make this call 'easier' and give a worse price for the flush draws to pay. Not that we don't want them to call, but with a multi-way pot I tend to c-bet a little higher. This is not a bad board to go for a c/r or c/c on either since you are normally in good shape. You can then lead the Turn if not a flush card and go from there.

Like you said ... LOTS of callers ... and we don't know what your bet sizing 'told them' about your holding. GL

Our hand seems pretty face up, big raise pre, cbetting into 4 players on the A high flop. I hear ppl in 1/2 really like putting players on AK, especially true for Tags who seem to be staying in line for the most part. So i dont like getting shoved on but i think we are good more often then not.

As played, I would be calling before I'd be folding here. The bloated pot makes it easy for him to shov a wide range of hands after your c bet. Id be expecting weaker aces lots of flush draws.
alternatively maybe a c/r line on the flop on this semi-dry board

I'm calling and hoping not to see a middle set.

Yes sir! There are a few hands that beat us (A8, A2, 88, 22) that fit into villians range but I count many combos we are ahead of. Couple this with the fact that we already have 1/3 of effective stacks in the pot I dont see how we can fold.

Villain freerolling (nearly) with AK? If I had AKs or AQs I'd shove there in villain's spot. Seems to fit in with calling $30 on the button but not raising so throw out AA/KK. Is he calling $30 with 88? Maybe since there were 2 callers in front of him. What else would he be calling $30 with and then shoving? TT-QQ doubtful with the Ace on the flop.

Based on descriptions of hero and villain I'm actually probably folding here. You've put in just over 33% of the effective stack so it wouldn't be a terrible pot committed fold.

Grunch:

I think that this is an easy call. If the Villain is a solid player, I can't imagine him calling 3 bets cold preflop for 1/3 of his stack with 88/22/A8s/A2s. At worst, we are up against AK of spades or AA, and we are most likely up against another AK, with a small chance we are up against a hand like KQ of spades or a weaker suited ace trying to bluff us off of AK.

from your description seems like either a flush draw or Ax with As since he is calling fairly light on btn and he knows you are probably on a big A and thinks his all in will just take it down there, I would say call and pray you hold up

It wasn't 1/3 of his stack it was 1/10. V had $300 stack. PF raise was $30.

With two players in front of him calling your raise, villain could easily have a pp that's now a set.

Call. If he has the set, so be it.

Doooh, brain fart on the math...consequently, this might widen his flatting range, although calling with 88/22/A8s/A2s for 10% of his stack is still a bit of a stretch given the OP's description of Villain...

However, if the Villain did flop a set, would he really push the flop and potentially blow Hero off his hand?

Thanks for the advice, everyone was pretty much spot on!

I wasn't feeling good about calling the shove, since I only had TPTK, but I called anyway. So we were all in on the flop. A spade hit on the turn and a blank hit on the river. He flipped over AQ (didn't have the flush) and my hand (AK) was good

I'm interested in hearing what people think of V's play in this hand. Is calling $30 on the button with AQ and then pushing the flop TAG or spew? It doesn't appear this "TAG" ranged you at all.

Nice hand sir.
I think it's spew of Villain against Hero (Tag). He could 4 bet alternatively with AQ on the button but Suited (AQ) would be nicer. I don't like calling from him for the exact trouble he got into.
Hero has a strong range.

Although I might flat on the BTN here with AQs (never AQo), raising all-in on the flop seems pretty spewy, since worse hands like KK/QQ/TT/A9/AT/AJ are all likely folding, and the only better/equal hand(s) that may fold are AK/AQ.

I wouldn't be so quick to label this Villain as a solid player...and I would definitely be trying to change seats to be on his left.

This is good advice for the entirety of 1/2.

Unless V will open AJ/AT in EP, I'm not calling/raising him w AQ. HU, I might call to float but then I'm not playing my hand, I'm playing the chances of V missing the flop/giving up to scare cards.

I don't like V's play at all, he takes a hand with good showdown value and basically turns it into a bluff. But he isn't thinking about that. His play is increidbly standard for the vast majority of 1/2 players, and is the reason we can pretty much never fold AK on an A / low / low board with effective stacks this short.

Grunch: snap call.

Tptk with an SPR of ~1.5, and a flush draw on the board. Im almost never folding here.

Esp if the As isnt in our hand or on the table.