First I would like to say hello and thanks to all that answer. This is my first time on any forum, so thanks.

I would love to hear how all you amazing players would play the flop because I felt I played it very poorly:

1/3 NL Holdem

I had AA UTG+2. I raised 5 times the bb to $15 because the table was very loose and aggressive. I got one caller directly to my left.

The flop came KJ2 rainbow.

My table image was VERY conservative because I had no hands and could not play much at this aggressive table, so this was my first hand I raised with and that came into mind when trying to get the most money from my opponent.

What would be your first act here? With AA heads up, first to act, with a loose guy to your left. Let him bet into you then re-raise?
Raise right off the bat and scare him off or expect him to call because he's loose?
How would you get the most money out of him because if I bet against him I think I get more information. But by not betting, and appearing very conservative, I feel I might get more money. Is that poor logic? I have no idea what is correct. Thanks.

One piece of information that is always useful is the effective stack size, which is the smaller of the two (in the case of heads-up) stacks. There is about $30 in the pot, and the play will probably be different if one of you only has $70 than if both of you have $800. So, when you are playing a hand, or if you are asking for advice on a hand, it is important that you consider the effective stack.

That said, I'm going to bet the flop against almost anyone in this situation. If your opponent missed completely you aren't going to get much, no matter what you do. If you check, he might bet one street, but probably not more than that after you call. On the other hand, he isn't going to fold a king or jack here, so you might as well try to extract some value.

If you bet and he folds - that is just the way it is sometimes. If he flopped a monster, well sometimes it just happens when you have aces. He could easily have a one pair hand, a draw or even a pocket pair. Giving him a free card is kind of a recipe for disaster.

Thanks VBAces, thats actually great advice and exactly what I was looking for. I thought I played it poorly, and I will definitely change the way I play it next time. Great advice!

I need to also be more aware of the opponent and my effective stack size because I am not sure what it was at the time. I believe I had roughly $200, and I would say my opponent had around $300, but those are just guesses.

I'd bet. We are very likely to have the best hand, and can easily get value from worse hands. We don't want to give any free cards that might allow villain to beat us, and because it is heads up villain will be reluctant to fold any piece of the flop.

But I think check call and check raise are also reasonable alternatives.

Bet the flop, 2/3 of the pot. It will make a K or maybe a J call you and make you favorite to win a decent pot. If reraised, then its up to your table observation, who is this player? A maniac who reraised every flop? in that case, call or reraise. Is it a nit player who only showed monsters since he started? Then consider folding.

Your cards are only one factor to take into consideration when you decide what action to take. Also, check out SPR (Stack to Pot Ratio) to understand the importance of effective stacks.

Best,

There are good reasons to check the flop, but in your average 1/3 game with a 67BB stack the best way to play it is most likely the ‘old school’ approach of bet/bet/bet.

With $34 in the pot and $185 behind, I would go $20 on the flop, $50 on the turn and then put the remaining $115 in on the river if the board runs out favorably.

I'm in total agreement with madlex on this one.
I often check the flop, but I'd recommend a beginner just goes bet-bet-bet, planning to fold on the turn if villain raises (and it's a bad card that connects with the flop).

The "correct" line really depends on stacksizes and reads on villain. The shorter the stacks, the more inclined you should be to play for it all. If you are super deep then you should often be much more cautious.

I think either betting or letting him bet is fine. If he's really that loose aggressive then he might try to get you off a hand like TT with the king as a scare card (because if he doesn't have at least a J he's gonna fold to your c-bet and you're not going to get any value ).

That said: the flop is good for him to hit a little something so he may well continue with second best.

The question I'd ask myself is: Are you going to get three streets of value against a (good) loose aggressive player with an overpair against a random king or jack if you bet? Probably not. The hallmark of a good loose player is that he can get away from a hand when he's beat, so throwing in a check and seeing if he'll hang himself is an option.

As others have mentioned: stack size. If the stack size only allows for two streets of betting before you''re all-in then missing out on betting the flop is OK. If you want to get a largeer stack in by the river you have to start building the pot on the flop.

Don't check on this flop and don't check raise. Lead for value. Villain can call with plenty of worse. He can also spaz out with Kx and call a couple of streets with some Jx hands. This is considerably less likely if you check raise.

Thank you, everyone! All very good advice and I am learning so much. Thanks a bunch again. I will study everything you all said. I need to become slightly more aggressive I think as well. Thanks. Good luck at the tables!

Consider how you're playing ALL the hands you could possibly have in this situation.
You want to bet some bluffs, and some strong hands for value.
Medium strength hands can be check-called, poor hands with little chance for improvement can be given up on.

You can't re-raise a bet and you can't raise instead of check.

To me its just bet 30, bet 50, ship it -- unless some other broadway cards come on turn and river. If he's a loose player like you said, Q10, KJ, QJ are in my mind his most likely hands. Even if he's a noob he'll probably re pop you with KJ on the flop. I'd still call to see a turn. So I'd just be wary of any straight completing turns and rivers. Most likely you're way ahead on the flop and you should make him pay to draw to his stupid straight. To summarize... bet bet jam.

i would check call the river if he is indeed an aggressive player, that way you give him an option of bluffing off missed broadway str8 draws