PRE-FLOPI like the flat
like to have some of the drier Aces protecting my flat range here
I don't think this needs to be a concern of ours AT ALL here, our range that calls the 3bet will have a whole ton of powerful hands in it 79TJds, AKKT and so on, whereas I'm sure there is some merit to having AA in our range for A-high and low paired boards post-flop I think our range (providing we're calling enough PF) will be plenty strong enough on boards like A86 not to worry about being capped at no AAA, I think actually our range will play VERY well on this board given that EVERYONE (at all stakes) over-CBETS those boards OOP as the PF 3bettor.
Whereas it's quite cool and tricky flatting PF, I think the spots that its best to do it in are quite complex to identify and I think at these stakes where the player pool is very wide and the standard of play tends to be less aggressive you'd really struggle to ever find a spot where 4betting is not better than flatting, given how many immediate benefits there are to 4betting;
1) Most money in now with an (almost certain) equity advantage
2) He can make some very bad calls vs our 4bet - our 4bet range is very AA** heavy, yet I see al the time (at all limits) people calling here with KK** AKJ9etc, dbl pair hands (im guilty of that lol) so when we have him commiting 25~big blinds with hands that play very poorly against us it creates for us a VERY good spot
3) Play-ability, obviously this type of AA is much easier to play when there is $5 in the pot and $6.50 behind, it's very, very difficult for us to make a mistake (basically 99% of the time we'll just be AI on the flop in whatever way)
4) Less of a concern again with the wide player pool, but people noticing you not 3/4betting AA makes you a MUCH MUCH easier target for 3bets pre-flop, given that you are very likely not 4betting often enough if you are not 4betting AA in spots like this.
Often people seem to play these AA passively in spots such as this because they are nervous about playing a big pot with what is likely to only be 1pair, whereas its defo correct to be nervous about that, you just have to embrace it and pounce on the fact that there is a very equitable play available, and not taking it will almost certainly cost you money, imo.
POST-FLOPonce we get to the flop here, folding is defo not an option (which in a way is kinda a shame given how ropey the board is for us - and one of the reasons for playing our AA passively Pre-Flop is so we can get away on bad flops) however we just have too much of it here, the
blocker (very relevant) backdoor flush draw and a 6 (although more useful for blocking 2p hands than overly beneficial to our equity) and given that he has a lot of KK in his range (a lot of which will hit this board quite well though) so our options are call, and be prepared to get AI reasonably light on some nasty turns, or just shove now.
It's close for me.
I think if I were to call, i'd be folding on J, K, 8 and diamond turns for sure, I think 7 and 5 turns we have to go with, same with 9's, and obviously A's hearts and 6's we'll be loving, the two really tricky ones are o/s T's and Q's i'd be pretty I'd hope we'd get the chance to check back on a Q and i'd be pretty tempted to fold if he bets...also would be pretty tempted to go with it on T's and if it's checked to me I think I'd have to pot to protect my hand.
On the two of clubs vs another bet I think it's a very clear jam, we have only 1 relevant blocker to bluff rivers on certain cards and we have some FE, I think going AI now is defo the best play.
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