NL50 - AQ in SB.. WTF??

[RedBarracuda]

No history with villain.. no idea how he plays or how he got his stack but he is not one of those xtra loose donks that call all the raises..

Pacific Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.25/$0.5
6 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: $23.27
UTG+1: $30.25
CO: $63.95
Button: $100.83
SuperHero: $60.75
BB: $39.4

Pre-flop: (6 players) SuperHero is SB with
2 folds, CO calls, Button calls, SuperHero raises to $2.25, BB folds, CO calls, Button calls.

Flop: ($7.25, 3 players)
SuperHero bets $5, CO folds, Button raises all-in $98.33, SuperHero says WTF?

[80Proof]

[Zuccala]

[k3nt]

[iwanturcoin]

[RedBarracuda]

[kennyg]

it's higher than that number as he could be raising you with total junk.

[WayToGo]

[MTPaid]

Yeah, you gotta call. You got the best possible kicker. Only 1 hand beats you. He limped OTB so it very well could be 55 even though I'd likely raise any hand that hit that flop. He could also have a Q. As a matter of fact, I'd narrow his hand down to either a Q or 55. (If he has KK or AA, he's an idiot to limp in OTB like that).

A Queen represents so much more of his range though as only the 1 hand beats you. And even if it is 55, like Kent said, you have a couple of outs at least. Insta-call, although I personally would expect to see 55 most of the time.

[Rhound50]

[MTPaid]

[Rhound50]

[RedBarracuda]

ya, he had 55 and I was
the thing is .. when I made the call I kind of instantly knew that he has 55 and I HAVE TO suck out.. but I didn't so I lost...

i don't see a lot of this overbet pushes on these flops without full house... be it Q5 by a donk or 55 by value pusher...
the thing is, he knows I will call if I have a Q, and if I don't have a Q but KK or AA I might call as well cause his raise looks bluffy or whatever... also, he can see my stack and I don't think he EVER thinks of fold equity here... he thinks he has the best hand and he wants moneyz for it... i don't think villain will put his stack on the line (or majority of it) here without 55...

maybe my thinking right now is biased cause this happened to me recently, but I also think it's something to think about...

[kennyg]

[MTPaid]

Red: I can't tell you how many times I've made calls or plays lately, perhaps similar to this one, because I've felt I had to even though it felt like the wrong thing to do and I've been right most of the time.

Similarly, I've made a lot of calls, pushes, plays lately that were opposite of the norm (ie calling an all-in with AK high) because I've felt it was right against a particular opponent and in those situations I've been right so many times.

I absolutely don't think you can do anything but call with trips, top kicker, but since the games have gotten tougher, a lot of the players at the lower limits now know the same things you do and they know there's a good chance they are getting paid when they push by decent players thinking it's a weak Queen or a bluff from an idiot. So much more at the lower limits is read dependant per oppoenent than it used to be I think.

Think of it....against a solid opponent, he knows that if you raise oop preflop and make a healthy bet into 2 players on the flop, you've got a big hand.
Big hand = AK (miss) AQ (hit) AA-99 (still feel awesome about your hand because nobody raised preflop) AJs (miss)

So, a solid player (and we don't know this is one) is totally justified in pushing a monster here because:
A - He knows you don't have a read on him and you don't know whether he's just some schmuck who is bluffing or reallly pushing a hand.
B - If you think it's possible he's just an idiot, you probably think you have enough to call an unknown player with a lot of the hands you'd raise oop and pay the implied odds on the next 4 of 5 sets he flops if he stacks you now and makes nothing on the 3 or 4.

He's taking a good gamble on your PFR oop and c-bet that you'll have enough to call him.

Which is kinda why I asked Rhound that question to which he gave a good response and I'm pretty much in agreement.

Again, I'm NOT saying that you can ever fold this hand, but even at the lower levels, it is 55 a LOT more often than you'd like to give them credit for.

PS - I'm a little buzzed right now, so hopefully this might make some sense when I wake up and read it again tomorrow.