AA Facing River all in

AA Facing River all in

PokerStars - $0.02 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (SB): 130 BB
BB: 76.5 BB
UTG: 67 BB
CO: 108.5 BB
BTN: 128 BB

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A A

fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.5 BB, Hero raises to 9 BB, fold, BTN calls 6.5 BB

Flop: (19 BB, 2 players) Q 5 Q
Hero checks, BTN bets 6 BB, Hero calls 6 BB

Turn: (31 BB, 2 players) 3
Hero checks, BTN bets 22 BB, Hero calls 22 BB

River: (75 BB, 2 players) 4
Hero checks, BTN bets 91 BB and is all-in, Hero

BTN shows Q K (Three of a Kind, Queens)
(Pre 18%, Flop 91%, Turn 95%)
Hero shows A A (Two Pair, Aces and Queens)
(Pre 82%, Flop 9%, Turn 5%)
BTN wins 244 BB

30 Hands on the guy. VP 43 - PR 29 - 3B of 15

Should I call river?

23 February 2026 at 09:39 PM
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18 Replies


Earlier posts are available on our legacy forum HERE

no - villain had trips


If we assume villain is not playing balanced, then the question gets simplified to "is villain overbluffing or underbluffing?"

If overbluffing then the answer to "Should I call river?" is yes.
If underbluffing then the answer is no.


On 2nl you should fold in 3-bet pots where it ends with shoving On The River (most of the time). One tip, if you would have bet the flop 6bb, you would have know where you stand a bit more when you get raised etc. You also get value from a lot of other hands that doesnt contain a Q.

The board is also dry, bluffs are not making anysense. if it was like QT852 with uncompleted flush you could consider a call etc.


I like the x/c line on the flop. I think betting only causes him to fold worse and call with better. I like the check because it keeps his bluffs in.

Turn you have to call

River, mathematically speaking is probably a call however as an exploit I think you can lay this down. River spots are way underbluffed at 2-5nl and so overall I think you’re behind in this spot. If we were at higher stakes it’s probably a call


by 4nonymous

On 2nl you should fold in 3-bet pots where it ends with shoving On The River (most of the time). One tip, if you would have bet the flop 6bb, you would have know where you stand a bit more when you get raised etc. You also get value from a lot of other hands that doesnt contain a Q. The board is also dry, bluffs are not making anysense. if it was like QT852 with uncompleted flu

Why would you bet the flop and get him to fold his bluffs? Betting 6bb will either a) make him fold worse or b) he calls with Qx or 5x (admittedly not many 5x combos in his range here) that he’s never folding.

The only hands you can really get value from are pocket pairs


You never bet at these boards with AA on 2NL?? I think AJs, ATs, A4s, A3s, KJs JTs wil also stick around and yes pockets. I also suggest betting small, your story is more true when I would have suggested to bet 100% or overbet flop. Besides not many natural bluffs in his range on these dry boards. Maybe a one stab bluff.
But I can live with x/call I think you can go both ways


by 4nonymous

You never bet at these boards with AA on 2NL I think AJs, ATs, A4s, A3s, KJs JTs wil also stick around and yes pockets. I also suggest betting small, your story is more true when I would have suggested to bet 100% or overbet flop. Besides not many natural bluffs in his range on these dry boards. Maybe a one stab bluff.
But I can live with x/call I think you can go both ways

Maybe I’m misunderstanding your post but before you said he should bet small (6bb) to see where we stand? Apologies if I’m being stupid and misunderstanding your post!


by avro_504

Maybe I’m misunderstanding your post but before you said he should bet small (6bb) to see where we stand? Apologies if I’m being stupid and misunderstanding your post!

No worries, I think its a good thing if someone reacts to a reaction. It gives me a change to think about my answer and review it. So ty m8 and keep doing what you do.


by 4nonymous

You never bet at these boards with AA on 2NL? I think AJs, ATs, A4s, A3s, KJs JTs wil also stick around and yes pockets. I also suggest betting small, your story is more true when I would have suggested to bet 100% or overbet flop. Besides not many natural bluffs in his range on these dry boards. Maybe a one stab bluff.
But I can live with x/call I think you can go both ways

I see what you mean. I forgot the ?


~130 bbs deep in a 3 bet pot at 2nl. I don't think your population overbet bluffs the river often enough that you can safely fold on the whole. It's not a horrible call considering his stats, but I'd still slightly lean fold.


you are not beating any value here, in 2NL this type of line is extremely weighted towards value. you also have a pretty terrible catcher. we should be calling with some of our overpairs here but AA with the ace of hearts is not the move, someting like JJ or KK with a club and no heart is probably a better call as it unblocks fds and blocks QK/QJ. your current hand blocks the most likely bluff he could have


Preflop size is an invitation to villain to call any 2 cards and crack your AA.


by avro_504

Why would you bet the flop and get him to fold his bluffs? Betting 6bb will either a) make him fold worse or b) he calls with Qx or 5x (admittedly not many 5x combos in his range here) that he’s never folding.

The only hands you can really get value from are pocket pairs

Villain should have hands like A5s, 56s, 54s in their range considering they faced a 9BB 3bet and they have position with >120BB behind. On this flop they absolutely have to call a 1/3pot cbet with any 5, unless they have a reason to think Hero is a nit. They also have to call KJs with backdoor straight draw / backdoor flush draw and "pair draw". And anyway, getting called by *only* pocket pairs would be a reason good enough for bet considering the vast amount of such hands they can have.

Checking with strong hands to "let villain bluff" is most often bad poker logic. At least, it should not be your first idea in a given situation.

I believe checking and betting are both OK on this flop.


by boulgakov

Preflop size is an invitation to villain to call any 2 cards and crack your AA.

Thanks for the input, what size would you recommend in this spot?


by avro_504
by boulgakov

Preflop size is an invitation to villain to call any 2 cards and crack your AA.

Thanks for the input, what size would you recommend in this spot?

I believe the GTO size is 12BB, I learnt the charts for 12BB vs 2.5x open so that's what I'm using. I'm not pretending this is the only size one can play and I'm not pretending I play it well.
GTOw has also charts for 10BB vs 2.5x open. But the smaller you go the wider villain in position can call you, you have to add more hands also etc etc. Even for 10BB you have to 3bet pure all the Q9s, J9s, etc... You should not have a narrow range and a small size otherwise they can play easily by calling a wide range preflop and nut peddling.


by 4nonymous

On 2nl you should fold in 3-bet pots where it ends with shoving On The River (most of the time). One tip, if you would have bet the flop 6bb, you would have know where you stand a bit more when you get raised etc. You also get value from a lot of other hands that doesnt contain a Q. The board is also dry, bluffs are not making anysense. if it was like QT852 with uncompleted flu

The typical 2NL villian will call flop and turn, shove OTR.


Preflop BTN opens to 2.5 you 3b to 9bb, Standard and good. Size is fine OOP.
When he calls, his range is roughly: broadways KQ, QJ, QT, KJ etc, pocket pairs 22-JJ maybe slow played QQ sometimes, some suited connectors, some Ax.
With 15% 3b stat, he's aggressive, but here he just flats, so he's capped some what, QQ slow play possible but not super common
Flop: Qs, 5h, Qd 19bb
You check, he bets a small bet of 6bb and you call . This is the first big decision point, on this paired board in a 3b pot, range advantage is yours . You have, AA, KK AQ, QQ, overpairs. He has more Qx overall, but you still have the stronger range, checking is OK, but CB small 25-33% is usually better. It denies equity and defines ranges earlier, when he bets small, he bets his entire range very often, includes air, underpairs, backdoors, some Qx, calling is fine
Turn: 3h 31bb, you check, he bets 22bb 70% you call, now it gets serious, when he bets big here, his range starts polarising, strong Qx, occasionally slow played QQ, bluffs, missed broadways, maybe some hearts, some 55, does he barrel 77-JJ here big at 2NL, not very often. Tendencies at micros, big turn bet = value heavy. Calling is still defensible, but this is already uncomfortable
River: 4d, you check, he jams 91bb, and over bet shove, you must call 91bb to win 166, you need about 35% equity, does he bluff more than 35% of the time here
What value hands shove, KQ, QJ, QT, QQ, 55, that's a lot, would this player shove worse for value? JJ almost never, TT? No, 99? No, random 5x? No, so his value range crushes you
What bluffs does he have? Missed hands, AK, AJ, KT, maybe some random floats, would a 2NL player: barrel turn big, then over bet jam river with complete air, rarely, at 2NL, river bet over bet jam = massively underbluffed, especially after, you x/c flop and you x/c a big turn bet, you look exactly like an overpair. Bluffing here requires him to think, "he has JJ-AA and might fold" that level of thinking is uncommon at this stake.
Your hand, blocks nothing relevant, doesn't block Qx, doesn't unblock bluffs meaningfully, you only beat, pure air triple barrel, and you lose to every Qx, 55, QQ
This is a fold, "I have an overpair, I can't fold", but this line, small flop bet, big turn bet, overbet river jam, is value heavy at these stakes.
As you said your leak is calling when you know you're beat. When he jammed, did you feel comfortable? Or did it feel like ugh he has it? If it felt gross, that your signal . Folding here is strong discipline poker.


I think as played with villian stats you probably have to call the river.

His stats suggest hes pretty aggressive.
Its such a small stakes too, that no matter what people say there's always
some chance of a spazz out by fish.

Really comes down to the player maybe villian never does this without
having you beat. But you would need alot of history with any player to
determine that.

I would call and get pissed when he shows trips oh well

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