$1-2 NLHE hand -- Venetian poker room

[cag8f]

Hey all. I'm a regular low limit SNG player but found myself at a $1-2 table in the Venetian last weekend. Here is an interesting hand that I'm sure others have been in plenty of times before. Wanted to get some thoughts.

This table had *just* opened and everyone bought in for roughly $200. First hand of the table, so no reads on anyone.


NLHE Blinds $1/$2

Button (200)
SB (200)
BB (t200)
UTG (200)
UTG+1 (200)
MP1 (200)
MP2 (200)
Hero (200)
CO (200)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with ,
4 folds, Hero raises to 10, 1 fold, Button raises to 30, 2 folds, Hero calls 20

Flop: (63) , , (2 players)
Hero???

Option 1: Check. What do I do if he bets? He could cb with a lot of hands I beat (TT-QQ, AQ), 1 hand I tie (AK), and a couple I am behind (AA, KK, 99). I could call a half pot bet and get away from it if he second barrels the turn. If he pots his flop bet though, I have to decide to push or fold, and isn't pushing my only option? If I c/f the flop, why did I play the hand in the first place?

Option 2: Lead with half the pot. What do I do if he raises? Options then are push or fold.

Am I correct in reasoning that the only way I can get away from the hand on the flop (or blank turn) is if I put him squarely on AA? Obviously I'm behind any set/2pair as well, but am I really factoring them into my decision? If villian continues his aggression, is it +EV for me to put him on AA and fold, or do I go to the felt with this?

[Fnord]

What'cha think of the button? If he giving any information off?

My default line here is to re-raise to $70 and shove any flop. Fail that, fold if I can't read the guy and I think his 3-bet range is stupid. Fail that, call if I think I can read him.

[cag8f]

Reads were this:

--caucasian man, late 50's, average height, average build
--re-raised me rather quickly

Other than that, no reads at all. Sat still, made no noise.

I did not think I could read the guy. You're saying you could have found a pre-flop fold in my shoes? I *was* out of position in a big pot w/AK. I guess that should have been another question: was my pre-flop line OK?

[Fnord]

Does he look like a degen that came for action or some older guy pitching a tent waiting for cards?

I fold AK pre-flop more often than all but the biggest nits. I see it as a hand that can be played lots of ways and it really comes down to what I think the other guy has.

That said, last time I played live this hand went down:
$3/$5 ($300 max) I have around $400 and change.

I limp AQo UTG, guy with around $375 and a short buy button in front of him makes it $20, like 3 or 4 guys call, I re-raise to $100.

[Fnord]

Another thing to consider, does it look like he planned to re-buy? How much money did he show when he bought in? Did he use Twenties? Casino chips? If he's some tourist who brought in a single buy-in for an evening of fun, you're way behind his range because he won't put in lots of money pre-flop without at least AK/QQ+ maybe not even AA/KK although he could be fucking around with crap and just give it up if you make him put more than a c-bet into the pot.

[cag8f]

I don't spend too much time in casinos, but if I were to lean towards anything, he looked like some rock waiting for cards. I didn't see him buy in--he had chips in front of him when I sat down. I didn't see any other cash in front of him, so there was nothing to indicate his future plans. It was about 11 am on Sunday FWIW.

Thought I had odds to see a flop based on preflop betting, but since it was the first hand of the table, I guess I could have found a fold. Thanks for the advice.

[Fnord]

Snap Fold and act like you were goofing around.

[Fnord]

Thought I had odds to see a flop based on preflop betting.

I ruv rive poka.

[pokerfan]

i raise, reraise or limp/reraise but rarely call 3 bet with AKo in live games. It works just fine