Mid Pair with an Ace

I will sometimes (esp. late position) bet the minimum if i have mid pair with an ace. It's to see if anyone has top pair -- they will usually raise if they do, and I can get out. And it weeds out people who missed the flop entirely, but are holding high cards. I generally require that there be a rainbow, and no good straight probability.

You like?

I'm not playing NL atm but it sounds good to me, jsut be careful Vs Weak players as they will probably check/call you down with top pair.

I'm not playing NL atm but it sounds good to me, just be careful Vs Weak players as they will probably check/call you down with top pair. Also stronger players may do the same but re-raise you on the river.

Originally Posted by LeFou

I will sometimes (esp. late position) bet the minimum if i have mid pair with an ace. It's to see if anyone has top pair -- they will usually raise if they do, and I can get out. And it weeds out people who missed the flop entirely, but are holding high cards. I generally require that there be a rainbow, and no good straight probability.

You like?

Well I rarely play Ax suited or not in no-limit, but let's assume I have A6

Flop J 6 3

Checked to me,


A min. bet on the flop signals one of two things to me usually...


1. You have a monster (in this case a set)
2. You are showing weakness

Although a monster hand would probably check in this situation. I wouldn't want to signal my bet as weak, so I would probably bet right around the pot or check/fold. If I bet, and someone calls, I figure I am beat. What sucks is if I see the turn (by betting or checking through) and hit 2 pair, yet someone fires out a huge bet before me. That's why playing those types of hands can get you into trouble.

I'm just not a big fan of betting anything less than the pot, unless certain situations come up. This isn't one of them in my opinion. So I would either make an attempt to take it down now, or check/fold.

Once again, just because someone might not have correct pot odds to call a min. bet with overcards, there stack might justify it.

I am not sure if I like your play here. When I used to play pl I would say people in late positions bet min, which means to me, most of the time, that their hand is weak, all I do is go over the top; even a dollar raise would make them fold regardless of my hand and at that point I was risking 1.5 for 3 -4 dollar pot. I would normal do it at least with a draw. When you min bet it becomes very easy that someone out plays you, which in my opinion is worse than a bad beat. I am no expert so take my advice with that in mind.

Originally Posted by Yeah

I'm just not a big fan of betting anything less than the pot, unless certain situations come up. This isn't one of them in my opinion. So I would either make an attempt to take it down now, or check/fold.

I'm a fan of 1/2+ pot bets. Usually around 3/4. When I got the goods I *want* weaker hands to call. When I don't have the goods I want to have enough chips behind to get away from the hand.

That being said, the minimum bet is never correct unless the pot is 3BB or smaller. Even then, you should be over-betting to defend against implied odds.

Like Yeah said, the problem is you're giving too much information about your hand for too little value and giving anyone with any kind of draw on you amazing implied odds against your stack. From late position, you're better off with a (semi-)bluff or taking a free card.

[quote="FnordLike Yeah said, the problem is you're giving too much information about your hand for too little value and giving anyone with any kind of draw on you amazing implied odds against your stack. [/quote]

and then when you hit your draw, they complain about you being a chaser!