Spotting the AA limp in 6-max

[redhouse]

Continuing with my 6-max adventures... I've noticed that a lot of players always limp/call with AA or even KK. Are there any cues I should be watching for to spot these situations. Or is it just one of those things where adjusting to the possibility makes you too passive so you have to just keep playing agressive even though you'll get burned sometimes.

Case in point:

$3/$6 Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, October 12, 17:57:32 EDT 2005
Table Table 54832 (6 max) (Real Money)

Dealt to Hero [ Qc Ac ]
Hero raises [$6].
Button calls [$6].

Everyone else folds - so heads up.

** Dealing Flop ** [ Td, 3d, 7c ]
Hero bets [$3].
Button raises [$6].
Hero calls [$3].

** Dealing Turn ** [ Qh ]
Hero checks.
Button bets [$6].
Hero raises [$12].
Button calls [$6].

** Dealing River ** [ Ks ]
Hero bets [$6].
Button raises [$12].
Hero calls [$6].

Button shows [ Kh, Kc ] three of a kind, kings.
Hero doesn't show [ Qc, Ac ] a pair of queens.

Ok.. the river was a terrible call. But you see my point - without the K on the river, I think I'm all set to pull in a nice pot

[EscapePlan9]

[Kuso]

[redhouse]

[Stu82]

although this can sometimes lead to a larger pot to the AA or KK it can backfire as well.

Recently i had a situation where i was in the SB with 37o in a 6-max game and limped in.
The BB had AA and both of us saw the flop of X37 he bet out i raised he bet again etc.
In the end it cost him a hefty pot because he was getting greedy and wanted to make sure he had at least me & him involved in the pot so decided not to raise PF.

He actually said to me after the hand that he deserved that and i told him i would have folded PF if he had raised the pot.

[EscapePlan9]

[Stu82]

Well i dunno probably would have called his raise but then again im OOP and have a terrible hand PF. I dont know why i even limped in to be honest i think i was on one of those hot streaks where u win say 3-4 pots in a row and well hell! who cares what the cards are i can win with anything sorta mood. The fact that he had AA made me think i would have folded but i prolly wouldnt. Still i figured i would tell him that just to piss him off a lil more

[Kuso]

dude, you should've dropped it PF anyway. 37o is like in the bottom 10% or so of hand ranking. you were a lucksack on that one. have you been taking lessons from MK?

[Stu82]

Yes! MK is my new idol! hehe

In all seriousness though reading about how MK plays through his journal has opened my eyes a bit. Before i wouldnt have even thought people would open raise PF with say 45s but now im aware it happens it can save you alot of money knowing someone might have a suited connector and being aware thats its a possibilty. Also once in awhile i have been throwing in the odd PF raise with suited connectors myself. On a tight table sometimes u can collect the blinds, also the way it disguises what hand you have is gold!

[MecosKing]

LoL. Thanks Kuso, but not even the mighty mizor that is MK limps in with 73o!

As far as cold calling with big hands like aces and kings, theres not a whole lot you can do about it- but i dont really see this as a huge issue because even if he had three bet you and led the whole way, its not like youd have laid your hand down (unless you decided not to peel a card off with your unimproved AQ). You may not have CRed the Q, and thus youd have saved a little bit, but the bottom line is that if you make a big TPTK hand like AQ on Qxx board or AK on Kxx board (even worse), on a short table in a headsup pot, you are playing it hard, and if you are beat, you are paying off- if you can limit your payoff hands to TPTK hands, then beleive me, you are way ahead of the game as compared to most of us. I wouldnt worry about this a whole lot, except i will say that you oughta make a note on that player because players that do that will almost always do that (i know i do), and it oftentimes if they threebet you when they are in a first-to-call-a-raise position, then you can usually infer that they dont have AA or KK, and its always nice to know that.