Howdy y'all, making my virginal post on your fine forum. I played a pretty wild hand the other night and I'd like to get some feedback on it, if you would.

Situation: Home game that I've never played at before, .25/.50 blinds, 5 handed, deep stacks (~200BB average), crazy loose game so far.

I'm on button w/ A2 and $100, everyone limps to me, I call.

Flop: 345, $2.50. SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets $2, UTG+1 (Villain) raises to $6, I bang it to $20 expecting to end the hand right there. Actions folds back around to Villain who pretty quickly calls.

Turn: 5, $44.50. Villain bets $10 and I hate him for it. His body language and mannerism are confident but it strangely doesn't really feel like a value bet. I grudgingly call.

River: Q, $64.50. Villain bets $20. I agonize and finally fold. VILLAIN SHOWS 23 FOR A RIVERED FLUSH and comments that there was no way he was folding with a straight flush draw on the flop...

My thoughts: I felt like I had the best hand on the flop and had I been playing short (say, 50BB), I would have just shoved. People in this game were playing just about any draw for any price and I really felt like I needed to just shut down the action. Once villain called my large raise, I was pretty much putting him on 67 for the upper end of the straight... On the turn, his bet was just too small for me to fold but I was fearful of sticking in another fat raise if he did have the nut straight - 67 was ABSOLUTELY in his range of hands here... The fold on the river was probably a mistake with the 4-1 odds offered to my call, but I just couldn't shake the feeling that I was beat here...

At this point I'll open it up to the floor for commentary. (And incidentally, how bad was Villain's flush draw play here - I could have EASILY had a way better flush draw and his straight draw wasn't even all that strong...)

Shove the turn, don't include results next time.

Fold or raise pf, lean towards fold. As played on the turn, Im popping it to 45 or so and calling a shove.

preflop is fine, we are 200BB deep and it's unlikely that we thin the field by raising

flop is fine
and i think we have to push the turn, he could have a set (now FH), but there are a lot of different possibilities

Pf is not fine. We have a hand that plays terribly multiway and it doesnt even play that well HU. But it plays alot better HU than it does into a crowd. Saying we are deep is just an excuse to give away some chips. If you want to use that logic then play some offsuit connectors before you want to limp A2o. That is why I said raise or fold, but leaning towards fold heavily.

i tread A2 as an OSC in this case

i would fold it preflop, too, but it's not terrible to limp with it.
i only continue if i hit trips, 2pair or a straight.

I know what youre getting at but I think its incorrect. If youre going to use that logic with A2 then you can use that logic with ATC that can make a straight. In fact, alot of those ATC combos are better than A2 if youre thinking about straights because A2 gets blocked from making many straights.

Thanks for the replies so far! Raising preflop would have only led to a starting pot 5 times bigger - it was one of those games. Folding preflop was definitely an option but I was taking Spurious' line of 2 pair or better - I wasn't about to nut myself if I hit top pair.

I really wanted to pop it hard on the turn like everyone is suggesting but I just couldn't shake the feeling I was way behind (especially now that the board paired). Are we shoving to make Villain think I just hit the FH or are we just committed and want to make damn sure he pays to draw out?? Regardless, I definitely choked here - I was still emotionally attached to my stack (I'd bought in short to begin with).

i probably limp here with ATC that make a straight

the game was loose and there were a ton of limpers

The point is if youre going to do that, there are better hands than A2 to do it with.

yes there certainly are, but i think it's not terrible to limp along on the button.
you have to play carefully postflop tho

Actually, the more I think about it, do we really want to shove the turn? On the flop, yeah, the straight has a lot of equity against hands like A6, K6, 2 pair, set, flush draws etc but after Villain calls the $20 shouldn't we logically narrow his range to 2 pair or better?? Or do we still expect flush chasers to be in the hand?

Okay I will attempt this one more time. Any hand that contains an ace is considered a high card hand. High card hands get their strength by hitting a strong pair. A suited connector is an example of a drawing hand. (Both are technically drawing hands, but lets make this argument simple) A drawing hand gets its strength from hitting a deceiving two pair and flopping good draws (oesd and fd). A2 is a high card hand so it doesnt gain the benefits of a standard drawing hand but it also sucks as a high card hand. Theres no playing carefully post flop with a terrible hand, its stupid to say youre waiting for two pair or better. Your stacks arent THAT deep and you dont have the implied odds you think you do. Even if they are loose, they are capable of missing flops. And op, yes, you have to shove here. He could have a boat, he could also have trips, a pair and a draw, or a lone fd as you saw. If youre sitting on scared money, which it sounds like you are, then stop playing. Scared money = losing money.

OK - I don't think anyone is saying A2 is the nuts here PF. It just is what it is, a (questionable) 1BB button call.

And regarding not pulling the trigger on the shove, I already admitted to playing timid (not scared, just timid) money - and that is what it is, too.

You absolutely must raise the turn. Seems like you're seeing monsters under the bed. I feel like in the loose game you're playing, 2pr or a set raises this flop. Don't know why no one has mentioned it yet, but you must call the river getting better than 4:1.

FWIW I fold A2o preflop, too.
No, that's not just what it is. The whole problem with playing A2o is what happens on the flop. Unless you are really disciplined, flopping TPNK is difficult to play. Say flop comes A 4 8, and it's checked around. Turn is a 3, and it's checked to you. You still gonna c/f? Would you now call a bet from someone who might be trying to steal?

Thanks for the response! And yeah, the river fold was pretty bad.

Regarding the TPNK, yeah actually, I would check/fold unless I was confident it was an weak steal that wasn't going to put in any heat on the river.