10nl FR.

Lately I've been experimenting with smooth calling mid/late position opening bets with AA KK sometimes QQ from OTB or in the blinds. My rationale for doing this is that if I 3bet I'm just going to fold out their entire not-continuing-with-range but smooth calling allows me to collect Cbets and double & triple barrels and I can even squeeze in a value bet at the end which they often pay just to see WTF I was up to.

One of the consequences of this is that observant regs slow down when I flat thier raises because they are thinking - (this bastartd is trapping me again).

Q. Is the above a bad idea?

it's bad. if they're folding so much start 3 betting A5s/45s/Q9o stuff as well as premos. as always though it depends on the person that raised.

Dumb. Maybe I'm wrong b/c I haven't played 10NL in a couple years, but I don't think you need to be that fancy at 10NL. I also don't think that there are going to be that many people double barreling air that aren't complete spazzes anyway, are there? And this strategy depends a LOT on you being able to get away from pots when you're beat. Otherwise, you win a small pot or lose a big one.

You lose value when you know you're ahead and put yourself in unnecessarily tricky spots when you have much less of an idea if you're ahead. Not a long-term EV strategy IMO.

It's villan dependent. If they are folding to a lot of 3 bets or if they double barrel a ton, then flatting can be better. But be careful, because the last thing you want with AA/KK is a multiway pot, and your calling encourages others to come along. You have to look at the villian you are flatting AND the villans behind you.

Everyone knows that getting 4-bet shoved on pf while holding AA is the best feeling in poker, your missing out.

Agree with above. Having no 3bet range is silly. Your missing out on tons of fat value.

What do you 3bet on the button or in the blinds when facing a steal?

Let me give an example of one of my favorite 25NL regs. This player is a nit tag. He runs aroun 9/12, steals around 25% of the time, and folds to 3 bets 80% of the time. I pretty much never 3 bet this player with AA/KK or even AK. I 3 bet a ton with card removal and small pocket pairs though. However, if he opens in EP, and I am in MP with AA, and their are a couple of decent LAG's behind me, then I am much more likely to 3 bet. The last thing I want is to be in a 4 way pot with AA.

99,TT, JJ KQ maybe random stuff now and again.

Yes - I do it against nits and some of them fire twice. Obviously if there are 3 or four raise callers I 3bet to thin the feild but I'm talikng about when there's a good chance it is a steal and it's heads up - surely flatting raise is better because say villain had QJ, KJ, JT and they hit theit top card they will fire twice maybe even three times wheras they are sure to fold to a 3bet.

I do have a 3bet range - I 3bet UTG raises with AA KK QQ because there's a higher chance that it's big cards opening. I 3bet MP raises with TT, 99, JJ because the flop will present scare cards .

And come on, the only time your likely to be 4bet by a nit when holding AA is when opponent has KK AK and how often does that happen maybe one time in 600 (I think). I'm just saying that it's bound to be better to flat monsters from LP steals and MP medium strength card because a 3bet will only collect the initial raise whereas a flat can soak up cbets and improved undercards.

This happens when you start getting fancy with AA.

Poker Stars $25.00 Pot Limit Hold'em - 7 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

BB: $27.67
UTG: $31.13
UTG+1: $35.87
MP: $13.19
CO: $10.00
BTN: $10.00
Hero (SB): $60.38

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is SB with A A
4 folds, BTN raises to $0.85, Hero calls $0.75, BB calls $0.60

Flop: ($2.55) J 2 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $1.55, BTN folds, Hero raises to $4, BB calls $2.45

Turn: ($10.55) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $6.00, BB raises to $22.82, Hero folds

Final Pot: $22.55
BB wins $21.45
(Rake: $1.10)

You let TWO people see a flop for the price of a raise and you're OOP - too many variables here.

I wouldn't do this.

If you believe that regulars have picked up on the fact that you are flatting KK/AA (I think you're giving too much credit at 10NL), then they also know that you're not 3betting their steals with premium hands, so they can call in position and take the pot on A-high flops, or just generally make your life miserable because they have position and you cannot have a very strong hand.

Good point.

I'm not saying that I always do it, I'm saying that I'm experimenting and mixing it up is all and it is very situation specific against particular regs was just getting feedback from you guys to see what you guys think about it.

+1 to Lucid

OOP is a fair point. But the 2nd person he let in was the bb - any time you're flatting from lp you're risking that the blinds call.

95% bad. The only time I would flat pre would be if there is one and only one opponent in the hand that has a super high fold to 3bet% and I want him to keep him in. And, really how often does this happen?

Please, please, please always be raising this hand as often as possible, especially in multiway pots. You can balance this with 3betting a bit wider so that you're not being exploited. When I see villain has a 2.9% 3bet over 2k hands...I fold QQ. If the table sees you with a high 3bet% you will get plenty of action on these premiums.

Fancy play will get you into trouble in the micros, and should only be employed if you flop quads or some other monster-board-crusher.

To add to this discussion, there is a super nova reg is see every day at 25nl that over 2,500 hands has never 3bet. Never. Ever. Not once.

Any guesses on how much profit HEM tells me he has made over these 2,500 hands???

$3.50?

But that isn't really a good argument, because that isn't a good player. Yeah, they play a lot, but if they are playing 25NL and are SN, then I they aren't improving. Their just 24 tabling and most likely breaking even off the fish.

I agree 95% of the time you should be 3 betting, but there are times/situations where it is better to flat.

I only do it when I feel that the situation is optimal. Like BvB when I'm IP in the BB I rarely 3bet a SB steal with AA that's surely losing value because they could be opening with such a wide range and if they do happen to have say TT JQ KQ KJ the fact that you're holding AA makes it only half as likely that an A will flop so they will feel secure in firing that 2nd and if they make TPGK maybe that 3rd barrel and paying a river value bet.

That is not what you said in your first post.

BTW - I don't think it's fancy play - just trying to maximize value in specific situations. AA only comes around once every 220 times (I think?) and collecting the blinds or one raise with it seems like such a waste.

can't win a stack every time with AA or a set...

I'm not contradicting myself here...

If someone opened in UTG and I'm in MP i'd be stupid to flat because there are too many variables behind me (more flat calls) but OTB from a MP raise with 2 nits in the blinds the risk of it not being head up is minimal.

It's hard to describe how little this adds to the conversation. Sorry.

I guess he's saying this guy never 3bets his monsters and is a losing or break even player over a huge sample - he never gave the answer....