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flatting Aces in position

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flatting Aces in position

Against a aggro player with 3 bet around 8-10% i feel its more profitable and important to balance by flatting with big hands like aces. Specifically when we are on the button being 3 bet from the sb or bb.



My question is what % of the time would you flat aces vs this type of player 100bb's deep. what about 200-300 bb's deep?

how does this change with KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ?

what about vs a tighter player 3 betting 5-7% of hands?


Thanks!

11 Comments

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igotya 12 years, 3 months ago
First of all you have to think about of how villian reacts to a 4b from you and also what you accomplish by 4betting w/e hand you have - e.g. 4betting AKo vs a unk tag reg in a MPvSB scenario. (Usually accomplishes nothing but folding out his bluffs and getting it in bad vs a QQ+, AK range).

- If you feel that he is folding a lot (A moneyprinting 4b bluff spot) you basically dont wanna 4b any of your premium hands.

- However if you have dynamics and he isn't gonna be folding too much vs 4bets, then 4betting premiums very likely is higher EV than flatting.

This topic can get a bit more advanced I would say, theres some other theoretical things to consider aswell, but I think this should be some of what you were looking for.

ps. dont think of balance but rather the highest EV play.
Michael Gazonda 12 years, 3 months ago
"Against a aggro player with 3 bet around 8-10% i feel its more profitable and important to balance by flatting with big hands like aces. Specifically when we are on the button being 3 bet from the sb or bb."

To me, this doesn't sound good. Much of the time, reraising has so much value that you shouldn't need to flat AA often if ever in this spot. Being balanced can be good in a lot of situations, but you don't need to be balanced here without further information about your opponents and how they see you/what they do in 3bet pots and how they react to your 4bets.

Could you please give more information about why you feel the need to be balanced here?
vanity02 12 years, 3 months ago
Would it be more correct to say that he is balancing the wrong area and that he should 4b bluff more to balance his 4betting range so that villain is less likely to fold vs his 4bets when he is holding premiums?
Adrian Milroy 12 years, 3 months ago
I would say if you feel like a guy's running you over, especially in the 3bet game - Flat a couple big hands IP, AA most importantly. Play the hand to get the most value. If you flat JJ and QQ, don't expect to fold them when you flop an overpair vs this player and understand that 1/2 the time an overcard will come, and put you on the defensive instead of sitting there wondering how to get his stack in...That's why flatting AA here is better. If you flat AK, you're going to miss 2/3 of the time, as well. Again, flatting AA is better.

Conversely, if you start 4bet bluffing his high 3bet %, and he keeps jamming over you, you know that you'd like to have big hands there. Its all about finding the spots that your opponents seem to dominate you, and find a way to be stronger there. Some guys jam over 4bets alot more than others, some stack off real light on the flop, some just pick up the big hands vs. you which artificially inflates their 3bet % in your eyes...These are things you need to find out, and then adjust your game accordingly.
igotya 12 years, 3 months ago
Hmm, I think you're simplicating it a bit too much and perhaps forget to consider some important factors.

Yes JJ&QQ, will have to be played defensively on some flops, however vs a guy who is folding a lot to 4bets you dont really accomplish anything by 4betting except getting it in vs a rather tight range - AK and sometimes a lower pp (and folding out his bluffs which we should gain more EV by keeping in his range). When it comes to AK, I feel very good about flatting this hand vs a polarized range, since we can peel most flops if not all and when we do hit an ace or a K we dominate so much of his Axs, Kxs 3b bluffing range.

I think the same applies to AA (I agree wtih Micheal Dolle), he really needs to have a very polarized and be non-defendant vs 4bets in order to flat AA because there is so much value in getting it in vs AK 93% eq and a lower pp 80% eq.

So unless hes spewy post I think 4betting with AA is just higher EV.

So yeah vs a very polarized guy (who is folding a lot to a 4b) QQ,JJ,AK,KK is a flat, AA is close but 4betting likely best imo.

-igotya
Michael Gazonda 12 years, 3 months ago
igotya - "you dont really accomplish anything by 4betting except getting it in vs a rather tight range "

This can be a legitimate concern, but I want to bring up that there's also a lot of value in taking the pot down right now. It can be easy to see that 4-betting is +EV when we get a lot (too many?) folds. It's harder to show that it's +EV to flat these hands pre... although it certainly could be so.

My concern here is that someone could be folding to the 4bet too much, but that it's still more +EV for us to 4bet anyways. An example would be someone that won't put much (any?) money in on the flop except in really +EV situations (they flop a big hand/big draw, or the board is really good to cbet).

We can always go deeper, that's one of the things I love about poker :)
vegandiet 12 years, 3 months ago
I have been thinking about this a lot thanks for the comments guys!

I really like the suggestions about flatting AK more and 4 betting AA more.

I have definitly noticed a trend of more players shoving over 4 bets lighter so i think it is better to fully realize the equity of your AA and not let AQ, AK, 99+ hit a bad flop where the rest of the money doesn't go in but would have preflop as a huge favorite. And lately i see guys like shoving over 4bets with Ace rag so you gotta love getting it in vs A5 etc


really love the suggestions about flatting AK more, because i agree you can peel many flops and get paid of by worse hands as a huge favorite. vs the same range as above 99+,AQs+,A5s-A4s,AQo+ getting in AK preflop we are only a 52% favorite, a truly marginal spot. But when we flat and flop or turn top pair we can be a huge favorite against weaker aces and under pairs, so i really like this line to find a bigger edge and decrease flipping variance.

CreativeLine 12 years, 3 months ago
It's also worth mentioning that by flatting AK pre you are going to be able to move your opponent off AK postflop when you share the same hand and both miss.
WM2K 12 years, 3 months ago
I flat AA vs aggro 3 bets a lot IP. Obv if I have a read that he s calling/jamming over my 4 bets lite then I ll 4 bet but otherwise I think having AA in our calling range does a lot of good things for us. Firstly you basically always flop a monster and it greatly strengthens your calling range making the potential to bluff with the marginal part of our range much more reasonable. Also everyone is going to play TP for stacks almost always so you get many opportunities to cooler the weaker part of their range.

I agree that calling with TT-QQ and AK is mistake though. They do not flop nearly as well and you probably want some kind of 4 betting range and those hands play very nicely aipf. AA is quite a bit different as they are just so strong and they have a lot of blockers. Ax is known as a good 4 bet bluff hand due to the blocker potential so adding a second A is only going to make your hand extremely good at getting folds.

In the end I mean ya I can t really disagree with 4 betting the nuts preflop. If they are quite tight (under idk 7%?) I 4 bet almost always as I have very little of a calling range so don t feel a need to balance that. You also don t want to miss the chance for the cooler preflop.
Adrian Milroy 12 years, 3 months ago
Good and concise post. Pretty much what I said, but explained better... 4betting the AA with two blockers is another powerful point that I overlooked. Against an opponent that jams lighter (77-88, KQ) its obv a must 4bet. But against most aggro 3betters, that don't necessarily jam over 4bets that lightly, its best to trap them for a street of two then get it in. If you get outdrawn, I think we all can feel better that you're more likely to stack some TQs on a T73 flop than, it stacking you on a TT5 flop, in the long run.
vegandiet 12 years, 3 months ago
nice post WM2K.

This sure is one of those subjects where selective memory comes in!!!

You always feel like a fool when you flat AA IP and get outdrawn, but well sad that also a lot of times your stacking the lower end of their range when they flop a flush draw with sooted cards, straight draws and top pair.

I do think calling is a good way to punish over aggresive players that will play many flops fast and turns fast. And you also make a great point it helps make our bluffs credable.

This is a interesting spot to balance, but it looks like everyone agrees that if your flatting with them its vs a extremely Aggro player when your IP.

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