Multiway pot

IMO you did the right thing by checking on the flop. CO's call could easily be a PP that is either a set or a gutter.

It is possible that you are ahead. But even if you are, are you willing to call down on the turn and river?

If we had the A of spades then I think a call can be decent but even if we hit runner runner flush here we could easily be behind.

Also the bet sizing by CO feels more like a value bet like 99/8Xs kind of hands than a bluff. We block T9/JT hands and we slightly block flush draws.

It seems relatively close as to whether you should continue vs a flop bet with a medium ace high and some weak backdoor draws. I also question myself in these sorts of multiway spots, but I like the fold.

The board hits the big blind's range pretty hard, so the IP player can't really stab with impunity. Also the bet size is relatively large.

I would be more likely to continue vs a small 1/4 pot bet and/or if you had the ace of spades instead of the ten of spades.

I think the key to playing this sort of spot is to make sure to check often with your stronger hands. So many players bet every time when they have an overpair, flush draw or set, and it leaves their checking range incredibly weak and impossible to defend.

Thanks guys good points.

Seems fine to me. CO's bounty chasing could give them a lot of hands that smash this board. You don't have anything. In multiway pots we generally want to play more straightforwardly. I'm out on any loose peels once the BB is out, since they're the only bounty we can win. And I'd rather keep this large stack to win bounties later than punt any of it playing a guessing game OOP against a covering stack.

I might bet the flop small if I had the As.

Also I generally agree with GreatWhiteFish's post.

Yes I agree. I didn't have much read on the IP player at this stage, but after sitting with him for a while it became clear that the insight around him not being ahead of the BB range (a good point) is above his standard. I'm quite sure he is betting either (1) because he has a made hand, and its this one most of the time, or (2) he hopes everyone will fold, but without any thoughts around the likely range of the caller in the BB. Maybe I am being too harsh, but i doubt it.

My regrets around folding are just that I potentially have outs, with two backdoors and a couple of over cards. I agree that the lack of nut potential is a factor, and I agree that folding is best.

I would be interested to know how people address studying multiway pots?

You also have significant reverse implied odds in this spot, being this deep. He could easily have something like A8s, A7s or A4s. You could turn an ace and still not be ahead.

I think if you did think he was stabbing with a lot of weak hands you would probably be better off check raising than calling. Really though this hand isn't the greatest hand to check raise bluff with. Like if you had the ace of spades you would block over half of his flush combos when a third spade hits, which would enable you to continue bluffing spade turns. With your exact hand a 9 gives you an open ender, but there aren't that many turns that are great for you. Even a ten completes some straights, plus AT is still behind something like JJ, so a ten is not really a clean out either.

As for how to study multiway spots, I often try to adjust ranges while making certain assumptions for how people will be playing and then solve for similar heads up spots, recognizing that we will be playing significantly tighter with another player in the pot. Really it's far from ideal but it's not that easy to study multiway spots.

There are some tools like monkersolver that can supposedly solve for multiway postflop spots, but I don't know how useful it is in practice. When there are multiple players the solution becomes more dynamic, so if your opponents respond in unexpected ways it can completely flip what response you should make. You sort of have to make a lot of assumptions.

When you have a hand like ATo and get called twice, you need to start with the mindset: I am not a favorite to win this pot. I don't have >50% vs the other 2 players. When you see a flop like this, which doesn't really connect with either your hand or your range, you can adjust that down even further. Not only did you not flop well, you don't really have many good turn cards. Hitting a ten would be nice; hitting an offsuit Ace would be great. A 9 would be good as it gives you a strong draw, but draws to 4 liner straights don't offer much in the way of implied odds. As pointed out elsewhere, your backdoor spade flush is of minimal value as well. But even the good cards might still be 'bad' for you, in that they give you dirty equity; you might already be further behind than one pair. One last point, this is a VERY dynamic flop. Pretty much every card in the deck other that 2x and 3x that aren't flush completers will change the texture of the board. Dynamic boards OOP and deep with marginal hand/very marginal draws are terrible.

This would be a good flop cbet if we were IP versus a blind, but 3 ways, OOP to the button, this hand loses most of its EV when we see the flop. I don't see how this hand can be a good continue when the button bets given all that above.

I agree with the others in principle. But playing on Pokerstars myself and on similar Bi:s I feel that many players IP in this spots bet the flop way more than they should. Sometimes even with four players in the pot. Quite often you see them slow down and check both turn and river when called otf. Or fold when check raised. So given this Im a little bit more inclined to call here, especially since we have two backdoors also.

I would not cbet, as you missed it and it is a bad flop for your range. I would be tempted to x/r, however, as the in position bet looks suspiciously like a bluff.

Why does it look like a bluff? I'd guess a lot of villain would use a big sizing with their 99/8x/7x. We have one very bad blocker to their bluffs, that Ts blocks JT/T9 and spades. This seems like an easy fold. I'd rather check raise a hand like AsJx as now we have a nut draw (although our BDS is not as strong).