Pocket aces cost me 7.75 BB.....so what's new!

[geofrank]

PokerStars 0.25/0.50 Hold'em (10 handed)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
2 folds, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, 2 folds, CO calls, 1 fold, Hero raises, 1 fold, UTG+2 calls, MP1 calls, CO calls.

Flop: (9 SB) , , (4 players)
Hero bets, UTG+2 raises, MP1 folds, CO calls, Hero 3-bets, UTG+2 calls, CO calls.

Turn: (9 BB) (3 players)
Hero bets, UTG+2 raises, CO 3-bets, Hero calls, UTG+2 caps, CO calls, Hero calls.

River: (21 BB) (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+2 bets, CO calls, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 24 BB

Results in white below:
Hero has As Ah (two pair, aces and jacks).
UTG+2 has Kc Jc (full house, jacks full of kings).
CO has Th Js (three of a kind, jacks).
Outcome: UTG+2 wins 24 BB.

Is this just variance in action? My only conclusion is with a pair on board and raises by opponents, fold 2 pair, even if one pair is aces. But I had 4 outs to a full house myself, and the pot was huge. Starting to view poker as an unpleasant experience, kind of like root canal or maybe a prostate exam done 4 times just to make sure! Oh well, comments appreciated. Thanks.

George

[TightWad]

When your turn bet gets raised AND reraised, you need to be able to accept that at least one of your opponents has trips or better. And that being the case, you are only drawing to 2 outs, not 4. A jack will only help you if your opponent has a 33 or 55...but with two people raising your bet, at least one of them almost HAS to have trip jacks. Therefore, you aren't getting the correct odds and should've folded when it got back to you, saving 4 big bets.

At the same time, you're not alone. I don't fold as often as I should either...and I'm sure plenty of others would agree that it's not easy to drop AA. So don't take this as undue criticism, but as a chance to save some bets in the future. As a rule, it's best not to even consider yourself as having two pair when one pair is on the board. In this case, you technically had top two pair on the turn, and top two is generally a strong hand...but with the two jacks out there and based on the action (both flop and turn, but especially the turn), you need to lay down here.

-TW

[EscapePlan9]

Like TW said... you need to dump it on the turn. You could have saved yourself 4 BBs by laying it down after getting raised and re-raised on that turn.

[geofrank]

[EscapePlan9]

[geofrank]

Sounds bad, but I've lived it. I've been hot for over 500 hands so it seems reasonable to be cold for that long. That's only 5 nights of poker. A lot of hands are out of position, like 78s in early position. A lot of times people raise and I fold, like pocket 4s in late position with a raise and reraise in front. I probably play 80% of what Miller/Sklansky recommend. I'm a little tighter with small pairs and suited connectors.

Once upon a time I flopped 2 pair that went to a full house on the turn and improved to quads on the river! Now that was my kind of hand. I actually won that one.

George