Played it wrong.

[Jayarr85]

Ok. I get dealt AA with pretty bad position. I limp in, expecting a raise, but I don't get one. Ok, I'm ok with that. Flop comes 9 6 3 rainbow. Ok, I'm thinking at least I'm still good with my AA. I bet $3 in a .5/1 NL table. I get 2 callers. Next card is a 7. Im still thinking no one called my bet with an inside so I'm still good. I bet $5. I get raised from $5 to $10. I, of course, go over the top and go all-in, which isn't very much more than the raise. I get called of course. River is a 2, still rainbow, I'm thinking I must have this won. Guy flips over 4-5, he caught a 3-7 straight. Huh? I know I should have raised pre-flop, but my position was so bad that I thought someone would raise for sure in a 10 person table, considering there haven't been many family pots for awhile. After the flop, should I have bet bigger, or was there no way for me to win that hand, besides going all-in pre-flop? Please help, I've lost $200 in these .5/1 NL tables in the past 2 weeks. Things are not looking good.

Thanks.

[Fat Tony]

with AA you have to go in hard pre-flop otherwise you're just giving people a chance to catch, as happened to you in the hand you described. it can still happen even when you bet hard pre-flop, but when you end up winning (the odds are in your favor) you maximize your return.

[Jayarr85]

All I wish for is to watch these loose players get slaughtered by a kicker or by a low flush. They don't realize how much it's going to bite them in the ass.

[hookedonholdem]

I assume this is happening online.?.? I'm by no means an expert, but I've spent a lot of time in both online tourneys and ring games. I've had aces cracked by 34o when I flopped the third ace and an idiot called two big bets with an inside str8 draw and filled on the river... I firmly believe in making a solid raise, say 3 to 5 bucks in a .25/.50 NL game or 4 to 8 bucks in a .50/$1 game for that exact reason. I know the thought process of "well, if I limp in I can sting everyone with my pocket overpair and make a killing." As you've seen, it doesn't work that way as often a you'd like. If you limp in, you have no idea what guys are playing. I played with a guy the other night who had over 275 bucks at a NL 25 table and firmly believed in seeing every flop if it was cheap to do so. He kept flopping two pair and str8s, small flushes etc. and was just killing guys. At least if you raise big, you assume guys who call have overcards or a pocket pair (although at partypoker, many times guys will call with suited rags just because they are suited and will call huge bets on a flush draw or str8 draw). If you are playing pocket overpairs against 4 or 5 guys and you haven't hit a set, chances are pretty good someone has you beat with two pair, str8, flush, or a small set of their own. Don't get sucked into thinking that you don't want guys to know you have aces or kings... Raise strong and if you only steal the blinds, so be it. Don't worry, there are a lot of greedy guys who can't help but call a 5 dollar preflop raise with suited connectors on the off chance they flop a str8 flush, etc. They will call your raise and hopefully they don't hit, then you get paid nicely. Also, beware that if all mid or low cards flop that someone could have a set... It's tough to lay down a pocket overpair, but sometimes you gotta be careful when someone plays back hard at you with rags on the board. That's a feel thing though... Some guys will call a big raise with A8o and when the flop comes 7 8 2 will play back at you... Personally, the biggest pots I've taken down are when I have a small pocket pair and hit a set against someone with AA or KK and no set. Hope this helps. Good luck.

PS If there is a note-taking option at your site, I suggest you take notes on people you play against. I have a pretty good library on players at pp and it's amazing how they tend to do the same things time and again. Ex. There is a guy who plays suited anything, calls to the river on a flush draw and then goes all in with a busted flush virtually every time. You'd be amazed at how many times people lay down their hands thinking they were beat all along... I've killed him 4 or 5 times now on this and I'd don't think he remembers...