1/2 live

Hero is a 24 year old TAG that bought in full

Villian is a writer for Poker magazines and is very pompus by nature. Middle Aged white male, definitely a Reg.

Villian sat down with two racks full and stacks of Greens in his hand (my guess is to intimidate the field considering we were at a 1/2 and he put 2gs on the table) he proceeded to stuff his pockets full of chips before posting 2 hands before the BB.

Villan Straddles and the cards are dealt.

Hero stack 430
Villan stack 300

Hero gets dealt AQ in the CO

straddle gets called by two randos in EP I raise 16 in the CO
Villan Calls one of the Randos come along

Flop:
A7Q
Villian leads out 45
rando folds

Hero?

...raise...bet/raise the turn.... bet/raise the river...?

Hand was played fine. Since he bet close to pot though, there is some merit in flatting here to see whether he might continue his aggression OTT, but you may be in a bit of a spot if a falls. I'd take note that he has a fold button, and ride him all night.

a raise works here since villian shows a willingness to gamble based on your read. his preflop call then flop lead could be A-x, club draw or broadway draw.

My standard line in that spot is to raise 3x and ship turn. If we have a read that villain knows how to fold and he doesn't pot the flop with a draw. Then calling the flop would be best. Either way, given what little we know, hand is played fine.

Hate an open to 16 when the straddles on and 2 limpers prefer 20-25 preflop. As played I like a little smaller, 125 or so bc I don't think he has a draw often. Shove turn.

Yeah I usually raise around $25 to $30 in this spot. I too think the OPs raise is too small.

Thank you guys..

do we not want to play AQs IP post flop? I felt like at the time a bet of 25 or 30 would simply take down 12 dollars and Polarize my range and make me vulnerable to a LAG that is prepping to meta me on wet boards that miss AQ.

KK/AA make it 30 here?

$18 in there before you act, you need to make it more like $25-30.

Obv raise flop.

Also, you're spelling villain wrong at every opportunity.

Just read the spoiler lol, those guys are awesome. I had a criminal-looking, Puerto Rican guy wearing a white suit at 1am at my table the other day. And he basically narrated a book on his thoughts he had during the hand every single time he folded lol.

I think you want to get the $250 in the middle on a non club turn. I'd likely min raise him here, leaving him with $200ish left in a $225ish pot. Planning to get it in on a non-club turn, where the laydown with an A may be harder. Seems like you forced out the draw (which is ok) but also forced out all the Ax/QJ type hands which are drawing really slim against you. Of course if he got lucky and flopped a set, you have also commited yourself drawing slim.

You pretty much won the minimum there. If he is on a draw he already gave himself a bad price. I don't think he calls with pocket queens or aces, so the only hand you are behind is pocket 7s. I flat call his $45 and figure you can count on him making about a $90 bet on the turn. I probably shove then, even though there may be more EV in flatting again. Just interested in taking down the pot once it reaches triple digits before a club or a king hit.

Was it Ashley Adams?

V minimzed his losses. Way to show that pompous ass.

Flatting all day (2x on Sundays) vs a cocky money bags douche bag type. Looking to raise a turn lead on any turn card or bet any turn card to a check.

I don't see him giving u credit for clubs (ESP w the A out there) nor do I give him credit for clubs leading into two randos including the PF raiser OOP w this sizing.

sure was. I actually started liking him once we chatted a bit. but my first impression was negative

Seems a nice guy from reading him, but his stud book was pretty bad

(I did read the spoil...)

Why do the pushing when the donkey will do the pulling?

I think your preflop is fine.

On the flop, Villain just put in pot, and you lose to 77 only, which he almost certainly doesn't have. Rando folds, so just close the action and flat. TBH, you're only folding if the hits on the turn, which is only like 18% chance.

Now look at how the rest of the hand would have gone. Turn pot is ~135 with $240 left in stacks. All we have to do is keep the fish on the hook for one more bet and the money is going in.

Let him donk off again, and this time it will be more like $100. So you flat again and now the pot is $335 with just $140 left in stacks.

So maybe he checks back the river. Well... huh... you shove and he's getting 335:140 to call and he writes a column about calling river bets because he's getting a great price.

If there is no one else in the put when it gets to you I am so flatting.

Why is he betting the pot oop with a flush draw?

Donk bets of this size are almost always, top pair, get out of the pot flush draws.

I would tank call the ish out of this guy, drag his ass to the river and shove when he checks.

If he bet smaller, maybe i would raise. but a pot sized donk bet? no way, flat all day, unless other Villains call.

flatting is better but I would raise here too in the hopes that the villain has no fold button.

Dont put the spoil into your first post, because a lot of people looked at it and geared their mind to villain having what he had..... Which actually doesnt make a ton of sense because if I had AK I would have been 3 betting preflop here as villain given the stack sizes. (if villain was truthful about AK)

Given the bet size on the flop, I dont think flatting here is bad, but any club on the turn is going to make it tough to get max value.

I personally would rather raise as I am not a fan of slowplaying hands at 1.2

I would be making a reraise here with a flush draw/broadway draw combo hand, so why wouldnt I make that same raise with top 2 on a drawy board?

I played with Ashley Adams in Vegas during the Series.

When you were describing the author I knew exactly who you were talking about.

He is decent, but no where near a top player.

Raise larger pre in straddled pot. Click it back on the flop.

Also, use the word spoiler inside your brackets, and you will get the spoiler box.

[SPOILER]Like this[/SPOILER]

Also, as has been stated. I am definitely flatting otf. I am assuming your thought process to raise was to not let a club draw peel? Why not at this price. If you really feel like he's got clubs and one hits on the turn are you folding to any bet?? In all seriousness this feels like Ax where x<8. If you just flat he may shut down ott anyway but might call 1 more street from you. Just feels like we played this hand for minimum value/scared.

Semi-grunch, as I looked down to see who the author was.

When he donks out like that on a wettish board, his range is heavily slanted toward an Ace. I think he tries to c/r most of his draws and he is only going to have a flush draw like 4% of the time.

Against a decent player, we need to take lines that can keep our range wide and not turn our hand face-up. By just flatting, we keep the villain guessing as to whether we have a flush draw or an Ace with a lower kicker. By raising, you let him off the hook and allow him to play pefecto.

When we are up against a fish or level 0 thinker, then building up a pot here is correct.