1/3 first hand at table AA

You need to get over the fear of playing multi-way pots OOP with premium starting hands.

Even multi-way, we're starting out with the best hand, an uncapped range, and the betting initiative. If we open 5x and get four calls, so be it. The pot is bigger, and we have more equity than any of our opponents. Maybe not more than 50%, but still, the most of anyone involved in the hand. From a pure EV perspective, we're printing.

When I see people at the table grousing about having to play big PP's OOP and multi-way, my first thought is, "you don't know how to play post-flop." This is a situation that is going to come up time and time again, so it's worth studying and thinking about it.

Having a solid baseline strat for post-flop play will remove a lot of the anxiety about playing OOP multi-way. My default play is to check range on the flop, from OOP as the PFR. If the flop comes super wet and dynamic, maybe I'll c-bet, and maybe for a huge size, but otherwise, I just check, and let my opponents stab at it with whatever they have.

The alternative is to bet HUGE, which will often just lead to complaining that no one called and we just won $4.

Rather than do that, I think maybe I'd size down, to hopefully induce a light 3B. Especially if I look around and see a lot of deep stacks, or some short stacks. Make it $10, instead of $15, like you're a fish and don't know any better. Let some wingnut jam for $120 with JJ or KQs after three people flat, or let some aggro kid get cute and iso to 8x from the CO, BTN or SB with A5s or 87s.

Wish that was the case but alot of guys at my casino are coming from ohare airport to gamble and will continue bet with almost anything it makes it difficult to put them on a hand until i've gathered more information on the play style. But the one good thing is these tables play like 2/5 on the weekend and ill get my small ball game going until I chip up and then extract like crazy when i've gotten more comfortable with not risking my stack on an all in.

We're only "printing" if it's checked down postflop and we realize that equity advantage (which isn't going to happen). Otherwise, having a big equity advantage preflop isn't nearly as big a coup as you think it is if we're deep, OOP and our opponents are capable of putting us in tough spots. I certainly wouldn't say this is an -EV spot, but the less expert we are the more it quickly may become less +EV than other options. Not to mention the toll high variance can have on both mental health and the ability to play well (some will cope with this better than others).

Ggoodlucktousall,imoG

No offense, but you need to learn to play better post flop in multi-way pots if these are your opponents.

1. From an EV perspective, we're printing (EV) whenever opponents put money into the pot with a worse hand, regardless of the ultimate outcome. The "E" in "EV" stands for "expected", in case you didn't know. It's a way to measure the value of a play compared to the alternatives, not a guarantee of any particular result.

2. We either have an equity advantage or we don't. It's not something that we should be qualifying as if it's fungible in some way, when it isn't. Yes, it's harder to realize equity OOP, but that doesn't mean we have less of it.

3. Likewise, if we're buying in for the table max, I'm assuming we're comfortable playing deep. I know I am. If OP isn't, then he should buy in for less, so that he won't find his way into "tough spots" post flop with AA (gasp - what a pickle, going to the flop with the best starting hand! Pardon me for clutching my pearls.).

4. Your selective quoting skills are as sharp as ever. You conveniently ignored the part where I offered a suggestion for post-flop play, and an alternative raise size for pre-flop. It seems like whenever you see something with which you disagree, you stop reading, and start arguing.

5. It's amazing to me that you espouse a rigid adherence to a limp-range pre-flop strat, because it apparently works wonders to keep your variance low, yet you seem incapable of accepting that there are post-flop strats which likewise diminish variance (case in point, mine, to check range from OOP).

6. If someone's mental state is going to be thrown into turmoil by having aces cracked, they shouldn't play. If they do play, I want them at my table. Dealing with variance is part of the game, and arguably unavoidable, even for someone who insists on limping in with his entire range.

7. Given the choice between playing a limped multi-way pot with AA, and a raised multi-way pot with AA, I choose the raised pot, all day, every day, as would any thinking player capable of doing pre-school math. The percentages (equities) don't change, assuming the same number of players in either scenario, so playing AA as a raise is going to be higher EV than limping with it.

8. Perhaps it's time you confronted your own apparent fear of variance, and considered how much EV it's costing you. Your stubborn adherence to your style is likely stopping you from improving, even if it shields you from the occasional downswing. No one ever achieved greatness without embracing some risk of failure.

This is great advice especially line 8. I made a pot that I've been getting a string of bad beats lately so yes it has been affecting my play. Normally I wouldn't mind playing deep I think it's been somewhat more difficult lately because of the monsters under the bed thoughts lingering.

The whole reason I'm on here is to improve my game I have been listening to audibles and re reading some of my books to catch the flaws. You could be on spot that mentally my game is being stifled by those thoughts.

I do not mind playing multi way post flop and as long as the board wasn't super wet I would run a c bet. Most likely I am not going to check the flop to allow others to catch up when it checks around.

I've ran a few Sims but didn't really get enough out of them because I put a great deal more into playing the player then the hand itself. I believe playing online is alot more about playing GTO and really checking out the ev ranges etc.

Sorry if I came off as selective or argumentive when I'm at work I tend to skim the replies and get a fast response off. I do value your input and your last line hit true. I have been spending half my poker study time with mindfulness training, so my game can stay grounded even after a variance loss.

Preflop sizing is really bad. There are some donks who will 3! small with QQ+, but it looks like you don't have a premium hand. Maybe you have something like AQ/TT and want to build the pot and not let it go for the tiny raise. Making it 17 with JJ+/AK would be terrible.

When you 3! scs, you would like to take it down preflop. That is a good result, as you could have just folded. You could make it 40 and usually take it down or get HU. Then you usually want to bluff the flop and often the turn if you miss. Remember, you should have JJ+/AK a lot. Also, if you get it HU and make a flush or straight, it is more often good.

It is important to represent big preflop hands. That also makes you harder to play again, as when you 3! with AA, you could have 7-high and be playing it the same way.

I don't bluff obviously nearly enough. Except last session when u had a hell of a read on this talk box who gave away his plays during the game from a wsop live he played and lost. Ended up bluffing off his hands with complete air and for big too.