Learning how to call with A-high and win

I think the turn call is ok looking to setup a bluff on the river if the SB fires again and looks weak

Could also consider a turn raise (fold to a 3bet jam) with the same idea in mind

I feel this is bad. Firstly, he's leading into 2 people, so he's more likely to have a solid hand. Secondly, why are we floating and bluff catching a rando at low stakes who we have no priors on?

Perhaps you have perfect gut, but in that case, why post the hand?

Also the title suggests results, and you should know way better than that with the amount of hands you've posted.

I am so bad at making A-high calls historically that I plan on bumping this thread with various A-high calls next year.

The reason I don't like the turn call is because there is a person behind who may or may not have quite a bit of 9x in range. If the turn was a pure brick, like a 2, I think I could get behind it more. SB can also be monkey-betting some AK that is ahead of you, which would be a disaster.

Once you call the turn, you aren't folding the river, though. Perhaps you answered your own question... the way to call A-high and win is just to spike top pair on the next street.

I just fold to turn bet. It’s a guessing game at this point. You are usually whiffing river and facing a bet deciding to hero call with A high or not. The main thing is that SB is uncapped checking in flow OTF. He has 9x, he has 55. He even has TT (his stupid min raise pre is bad with any holding so I wouldn’t discount this). This stab could certainly be a small pocket pair that is value/protection betting after the flop checking through. Heads up, could make a case for calling if you strongly suspected this to draw to 6 (+counterfeit) outs and IP river bluff opportunities, but it’s a lot of wishful thinking.

Calling the turn is pretty bad with just overcards.

Calling the river is OK only if you were afraid the chips you already contributed were lonely and missed their companions.

What's the normal open size in the game?

In the 1/3 games I play, the usual open is $15, so a normal 3B is going to be $45. I don't think we should be 3B'ing to a smallish size just because SB opened to $6. If the UTG only has $80, I might 3B to $40 here, so that if UTG jams it re-opens the betting. I could see 3B'ing smaller if everyone is short stacked, but otherwise, I don't like this 3B size.

Flop check seems ok. But I think I'd just c-bet 1/3 pot, maybe a little less, when it's multi-way and a 3B pot, if only to clean up some equity.

I dunno about the turn. We have no pair and no draw, just two overs. What are we hoping for here? I guess we could (and maybe should?) call after checking back the flop, but now we're just bluff catching with ace high, while blocking his combos of QJ that might be stabbing at this with an OESD. Folding is also fine.

If SB was a more capable player, I'd expect a bigger turn bet, for value or as a bluff. Since he's already shown a tendency to bet small, I don't know that we can read anything into his bet sizing.

He's betting $90 into $190 on the river, less than half pot. That sizing is usually thin value or a bluff, so calling with TPTK seems pretty standard.

I know you're asking about the turn, but I think pre-flop and flop are problematic, such that there's not much to talk about on the turn or river.

FWIW the good bluff catches with ace high that I remember making were usually from OOP, not IP, in spots where my opponent's actions on previous streets ruled out stronger holdings.

Like, I raised pre with AQ, c-bet the 9-high, semi-connected flop, got called, the turn checked through when the board paired 9's but also brought in a BDFD, and then V bets half pot when I check again on a river brick. Kind of hard for him to be betting anything for value after checking back the turn.

In this hand, I'd feel better calling turn if we were HU, OOP and checked twice, giving him the green light to start a bluff. Here, we don't know enough about V to think he's going to start a bluff first to act in a multi-way pot, just because the flop checked through.

I think this is well played. The short stacked guy iwho limped and cold called a 3bs likely to stab or jam flip with any piece and I wouldn't be too concerned about him.

Sb is telegraphing wrakness with his bet size. You have the best hand sometimes, he will give up river sometimes, and when you hit a pair you can get value by betting or from him monkey betting. So even without direct odds to improve we probably have a profitable float on the turn.

Not sure what effective stacks are, but you could certainly consider raising river for value too.

We generally should size down our 3bets when the open is to an abnormally small size, but not by the same factor, especially when there were limpers. So if we normally 3bet 3x, I am not going to go just 18. Honestly in position 36 is on the large size, 25 or 30 makes sense to me. But it looks like he got called but two recs with what are likely very weak ranges, so it looks like his size was fine.

Recommending 40-45 pre in position over a 6 open is pretty wild. You say flop check is fine, but then you say you would bet it and later you say the flop was problematic. Flop check multiway is good.

You don’t have ace high

Looks fine to me. Did UTG limp-call?

I think it's better to bet flop though since UTG only has $44 left.

Allow me to clarify my post you quoted.

First off, OP didn't give us effective stacks for hero or SB, or anyone else at the table other than UTG, nor tell us exactly how many people limped (I assume a "few" is three, but I may be wrong), or the limpers' stack sizes. When it comes to figuring out the correct 3B size, we're just guessing, without that info.

The $6 open is very small. How much we should 3B is debatable. I wasn't suggesting $45, simply because the usual open is $15. I was pointing out the disparity between the usual size of $45 and OP's chosen size of $36, which may or may not be the "right" size over a few limps and a min-click open, and might induce light calls from the limpers, if the usual 3B is for $45.

My thinking is that we want to raise to the largest size that still gets action from at least one player. However, we also want to be able to put in the last bet if the short stack jams. Noting that the short stack UTG started with $80, I think 3B'ing to $40 is marginally better than $36, especially if $45 would seem ludicrous. Raising to $40 means the betting will be re-opened if UTG jams.

I said flop check seems ok. That doesn't mean I think it's best. I think c-betting small is likely to be higher EV. I think c-betting small is better than checking, and checking is probably better than c-betting big, especially when UTG only has $40 remaining getting to the flop.

I also think c-betting is good when UTG is unlikely to stab at the pot as a bluff, considering there will be so little fold equity. C-betting 1/3 pot or a little less puts pressure on UTG, who only has $40 remaining and is next to act, and SB, who would be really capping his range by over-calling again. I could see c-betting to $20 here, again, because betting will be re-opened if UTG jams.

I think the pre-flop action and flop action together are problematic - we 3B to a small size pre, and then checked back the flop. These two actions in sequence allow our opponents to get to the turn with a pretty wide range, such that we're basically guessing about what to do in response to SB's less than 1/2 pot turn bet, with UTG left to act behind us.

The problem I see is that we just have two over-cards against a board that would seem to favor UTG's limp-calling range, and if we're to believe SB's bet, also interacts with his min-raise-calling range.

Ordinarily I'd agree that SB looks weak here, but we don't have much of a read or history on him. If he has any piece of the board, or just a PP, he's beating our ace high, so I could see folding turn.

If we think his line is FOS and want to bluff catch, I think that might be okay. But we need to consider that we're likely to face a river barrel, probably for at least double the turn bet size, so bluff catching is likely to cost us >$120 when we don't improve and don't have the best hand.

Like I said, I think when we 3B small pre, and then check-back the flop, it's problematic, because we're put to a decision on the turn - do we want to bluff-catch with ace-high, or fold?

I think folding is fine. But if we don't fold turn, we're effectively saying we think SB is bluffing, which somewhat commits us to calling his river bet, even if we don't improve, but especially when we do.

We were 100bb deep. UTG started with $80.

utg's stack kind of sucks for it but id rather raise than call the turn if you want to continue

I fold this before the river but just a general note: if your V in low stakes are under bluffing even a few % (and most are massively under bluffing) then all your bluff catchers are -EV. You need to target specific players with hero calls and over fold vs. the generic live low stakes population.

And I'm talking the whole bluff catching range not literally a bottom bluff catcher. I'm talking JJ fold on on a double barrel dry K high board type of over folding.

He's min raising and then calling your large raise pre-flop. That's someone who doesn't really know the game. There's nothing wrong with thinking he's full of it but he probably has something that he's overplaying. That said, the real problem here is, "Hero calls right away".

You're not thinking things through, getting a live rear from him, trying to talk to him, etc. You're just calling when you had no plan on the turn. This isn't how you play most any hand and win.

Also, a lot of the time when you have ace high, you have to RAISE to win. People can get out of hand with something like a middle pair. You make a read that they're weak, you're correct and their 77 beats your AQ high.

I totally get what you mean about calling without a plan. Not a great thing in practice whatsoever.

In this hand I realized the ranges were fairly complex and there was a good chance he would give up if I had the best hand already, so I decided to put my thinking cap on On the river if it was necessary. When my hand improved and he didn't jam, I knew there was no way I could ever fold at that point.

I don't mind the flop check so much if UTG has more behind, but I feel like you kind of have to range bet $20 and then see how UTG and SB respond (and SB should be v. worried if UTG shoves -- but maybe your read on SB is that he isn't good enough to be worried).
Maybe check if the 5 was the 5d.
Also kind of need to be checking AA here if you are checking this.

I would mostly fold turn here unless your read of the SB being bad means he's going to call way too much pre and try to bluff you out of 3bet pots.
Much more likely bad randos are going to have a pair here and just be randomly betting because you checked flop, and won't always fold 88 ever.

If I start calling turn with just overs I'd do it with a single heart, which I'd then be looking to bluff on heart rivers.

Also raising turn might look weird to V, even if you are checking flop with AA and raise that on turn.