Button - 12/6/∞

No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) - Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($1.97)
SB ($4.53)
BB ($1.45)
Hero (UTG) ($4.88)
MP ($3.88)
CO ($1.60)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, J
Hero bets $0.04, 2 folds, Button calls $0.04, 2 folds

Flop: ($0.11) 3, A, 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.07, Button raises to $0.32, Hero ???

Total pot: $0.25

What should I do in this situation? I generally try to credit anyone who bets as having something (to keep myself out of trouble at this limit) but his bet here seemed really weird and out of character from what he had shown in previous plays. I really didn't know what to do in this situation given I had top pair, with a decent kicker. I ended up forced into a fold (turbo table) while trying to figure out what my move should have been. Any help on what I should be looking at with this hand is greatly appreciated. I am still stumped after looking at it over and over.

Fold is the best play here.

It's 2nl no matter how big you can buyin

Raise more pre.

yep raise more pre-flop, if first to act 3x BB is usually the standard play... and don't be too bothered he probably just flopped a set (trips) and got over excited... but watchout with hands like AJ they are easily out-kicked, so play caustiously i.e. try to play them in position, so you can control the pot size and never, ever go all-in with it... unless you have 2 pair minium

That part where you min-raised preflop?

Don't ever do that in micro stakes again.

I'd shove. That minraise probably made him think his A2 was good or his K6 was good and that you were showing weakness and/or defending a draw.

I had been doing 2x from UTG and MP the whole session. In CO and Button position I 3x. From the blinds I only try to play really strong starting hands and come out with a 3-4x (3x if only one person in before me, 4x if 2 or more limped, raising any previous raise). I was under the impression that the 2x was a valid betting strategy when in early position to keep the pot small and make it easy to check-fold if I don't hit.

Should I be adding 1x to all my bets or do I need to do an overhaul on my pre-flop betting strategy? Thank you all for your replies.

I think general consensus for the micros at least is 3x + 1x per limper in early position, and 4x + 1x per limper in later position.

The minraise I believe is more applicable to tournaments where blind levels are much bigger compared to stack sizes.

Having different oppening sizes isn't bad, but you seem to have it backwards.

I understand why you would choose to raise less OOP and more IP, as you want to play smaller pots OOP.
The thing is that your already are (or should be) taking this into consideration as your oppening range is much wider from BTN than UTG. The fact is that you want do reduce the implied odds from UTG so you should make you raises larger UTG. You also more often than not have the best hand when raising UTG so you want to make more money by raising more.

Raising less from CO or BTN also makes sense. Your range is much wider and you are less likely to have the best hand. Also a smaller raise gives a larger stack-to-pot ratio on the flop. This gives you more room to exploit your positional advantage.

That's exacly what I do and it seems to work.

I play at these limits and the majority of the time you have him beat in this situation.

I haven't got a clue what purpose your min-raise served but it meant that Ax hands stayed in, and the majority of those you are beating (and AK, AQ would probably have raised pre anyway).

I would get it in, and smile when he shows A9.

You can make a good case for both shoving and folding. People at 2NL are very likely to stack off with a pair of A becuase they don't understand kickers. But also, most people tend to be passive, and a lot only raise when they ahve a big hand. It all comes down to your read on a the villain, which is why it's important to look at all the showdown pots that happen on your table. This villain is very very tight, so folding wouldn't be bad, but I think shoving should show a profit.

regard raise sizing: make it as big as u can that worse hands will call. at 2NL, u can raise 8xbb standard if u can get away with it. u need to be raising 4x at least.

I'm not sure what type of hand we're getting value from against a 12/6/inf villain by shoving.