$1-$2 NL about 4 hours into the session, I've built my initial $300 to $700.

Villain sees a lot of flops and calls raises with a wide range of hands.

The play in question comes immediately following this hand:

Villain and three other players see a flop for $12.

Flop 999

Villain (from the BB) leads out $100 into a $50 pot

Middle position player calls

Turn J

Villain bets $75

MP calls

Villain bets $65

MP reraises all-in for $200 more

Villain tanks for a long time and eventually folds showing 10 10

MP didn't show, but we all assume he had the 4th 9

NEXT HAND  (Villain $400, Gorilla $700)

I get AA in MP and raise to $15, two callers including the villain

flop 994 (two diamonds)

Villain (in the small blind) leads out $50 into a $50 pot.

What's the play?

Do you have the Ace of Diamonds?

Its likely he could have a 9, but probably not.

I would flat too, and re-evaluate on the turn.

Your villian in the previous hand controlled the betting and folded a boat to the re-raise. If he pushes after you reraise 1.5x the pot then I would assume he hit and save the other $250. If he folded a boat to a re-reaise, odds are he'll fold a draw and only shove if he made the 9's. Its nice that jgambles thinks that you're good enough to rebuild your stack, but why would you want to?

Jeff you started this post by saying that the villian saw a lot of flops and called a lot of raises with a wide range of hands. With that being said, I have no idea how he was playing his hands after the flop except the one that you mentioned. With him laying down that full house to nothing but a possible nine, I would take it that he was a pretty savy player.

A 15 dollar raise in AC is nothing to a lot of people. His range of hands could be any Ace, any pair, two face cards or suited or non suited connectors. When the board shows a pair on the flop with that player having that kind of range, I would be very hesitant to get involved too heavy with him. You only have 15 dollars invested at this point. Sure you could gamble and possibly win a big pot but you could also lose most of your profit with this hand.

You only have two options at this point that are worth talking about. You either shove over the top or you turn your aces face up and fold. If you push and get called, you are probably beat. If you fold, you will tell him that you are capable of folding a big hand and you can use that to your advantage later on. You are not running a marathon but a steady race to increase your profit margin. You don't need to do it all at one time.

With all of this being said, I am going to gamble and see what he is made of. I'm all in. I hope you came out ok.

This situation is incredibly read-dependent. I think I am likely best here vs. all the 4x combinations villain could have. I would likely call, trust my read, and hope that villain fires again so I can win the maximum by letting him bet for me. After all, if we're ahead, our victim is drawing thin. No need to raise and blow him off the pot just yet. If a miracle ace comes off on the turn and villain actually is holding a nine, we will stack him comfortably ...

NB. I would never fold AA face-up here.

Thanks for all the insights/info....especially from PL who says it's a play based on "feel."  I thought I was going crazy because some people I talked to said it was an auto shove.

After his $50 bet into a $50 pot, I go in the tank and here's what ran through my cranium.

As Carlos wondered..the villain's post flop play was a factor in my assessment. Earlier in the day when I'd raise pre and he'd call, the villain was content to check and fold to a c-bet.  So the fact that he over bet the pot out of position was a red flag.  I also considered the "tilt" factor that he was either steaming OR trying to make it look like he was steaming to get me to bite on his made hand.

I mull over his possible holdings...44 for a flopped full house....many combinations where he holds a 9 and flopped trips (A 9, K9s, 10 9, etc.)....a suited Ace of diamonds where he's on the nut flush draw. (I have two black aces)

I consider my betting options....

min raise to $100.....may or may not give me information on where I stand...but I can feel confident folding if reraised right here....if he calls..the next card, bet, and my read are tbd.

shove...takes all poker out of the equation...If I'm ahead, Villain either folds and I win $100....or calls and I can scoop $400 or get sucked out on....if I'm behind I'm nearly dead...I don't have the Ace of diamonds...so I can't save myself with a backdoor flush draw...and would need to hit a two outer to win the hand.

call....passive play that I feel is the worst of all the choices.

fold...defensive play that I prefer not to do, but weighing the pros and cons I only have $15 invested and can live to fight another day while not risking my $400 profit that I was able to build through solid play.

raise...3x to $150. This is the move I contemplated the longest.  This may slow the villain down...or it could keep him pressing forward where he has the chance to reraise all-in.  My feeling was that he was willing to got to the mat on this hand...either with the goods or a last gasp effort to recoup what he just lost the hand before and is willing to go broke. 

If villain reraises all-in right there...am I committed to calling $250 more?  I'd say "yes" because, how can I justify folding after betting $150 when I could have folded for free?  Getting all the money in here (or if he just calls I'm sure the rest goes in after the turn) doesn't give me any more info. If villain does shove after my 3x bet....what have I learned?  I'm back to square one because I still don't know if he has the goods or is steaming.

Debate on two moves...as I weigh the pros and cons:

Reraise 3x: (which will ultimately be a $400 bet)  PROS: I'm ahead and will win a big pot.  CONS: I'm behind and virtually dead OR he hits the flush or miracle card and I'm back to my original $300 buy in. This isn't poker it's gambling, which I wasn't comfortable doing after playing well all afternoon. I built my stack on knowing where I stood most of the time and making solid, calculated decisions.  I really had no idea where I was in the hand.

Fold: Pros: I only have $15 invested and preserve my stack.  CONS: I have the best hand and miss an opportunity where I'm a heavy favorite to nearly quadruple my starting stack.

I was really in a defensive mode and didn't want to be baited into doubling him up. I had a strong feeling that the overbet was a bit of a trap because he knows, I know he's steaming. He also was playing pretty conventionally post flop most of the day.

I opt to fold and move on.

A lot of people will say this is a pussy cat move and I've lost my genitalia. But I'm a tight player who, in the last year, has opened up his game enough to take advantage of weak players and to gamble when I have a pretty good sense of where I am in the hand. I felt by getting the money in bad and losing 4 hours of profit on what I deemed a "gamble" was worse than the up side of having the chance to take down a big pot.

Villain's reaction...he tables pocket queens.  I show no emotion, congratulate him on a good hand and don't let anyone know I had bullets.  I agree with PL that showing AA here is a bad move.  I don't think at a 1-2 table that the play is sophisticated enough to understand what it means to lay down a big hand. 

I think it gives them a license to try and make moves on you and that you could become a target with opponents thinking, "if he (gorilla) can lay down aces, I can get him to laydown other hands when he (gorilla) has the best of it. 

To me that's just another variable that I'll have to decode in the future...is my opponent legit or trying to force me out a hand.  I rarely show...it's usually not worth the time and aggravation.

Conclusion:

After mulling everything over for the last week...I'm glad I folded, even though I was way ahead (somewhere in my mind I'm assuming the villain was going to river a queen anyway!)

As we all try to learn and improve our games my hindsight is in overdrive.  I think reraising to $100 or $125 would've been the slightly better move.  It would have given me a chance to take down the hand if I could freeze the villain and get him to back off (not a guarantee)....or if reraised....it's an easier fold than betting the 3x $150.

The other hindsight sophisticated play I've come up with is to announce "raise" (without a number) and then implement the Chris Short method of psychological warfare. Talk out loud and run over all the scenarios to try and elicite a reaction to see where I am in the hand. The villain wouldn't know if I'm min raising, 3x raising or shoving all-in until after I try and read his reaction to my ploy.

Of course that scenario was thought of 5 days after the encounter and was never a thought at the table.

Thanks for reading and offering feedback!

G-man

So let me get this straight, you've already been involved in hands with this guy who seemed like a decent player. He folded to your c-bet on more than one occassion and you think he'd bet here instead of check raise/call if he had a 9? I think you missed this part while trying to think through your hand. If I'm heads up and out of position against a player that would normally bet after the flop I would definitely check. The last thing I want to do is risk losing those extra chips by being too aggressive. He had a read on you and probably wasn't putting you on a 9 if you raised pre. He saw the flush draw and bet enough to push that out. You definitely should have raised 125-150 here. That would have scared his QQ and most likely would have just called giving you control of the pot.

My assessment was based on his bet sizing. A pot-sized bet to me would indicate an overpair and if you're making folds like this you're missing out on a  lot of money. Any other bets lower than pot would indicate a 9 or flush draw trying to jam. If he had showed 44 then he made a serious mistake trying to get money from you in a heads up situation. The chances of that happening are fairly slim and you don't have enough information to put him on 44.

Yes, you get information from that, BUT he also gets to see another card.  Is the info from his original hand or has it improved on the turn?