Pocket AA's vs. Pair on the board

[zebranky]

Got another situation on AA's that I'd like some advice on - I got it wrong (but got lucky), so let me know what you think.
playing 2/4 no limit in a casino, and I get AhAd on the button. No raise into me, so I raise to 20. Small blind and under-the-gun call, everyone else folds.
Two callers, I'm in position - I think my preflop play was as good as it gets...
Flop comes QhQc7h. Small Blind bets 20, under-the-gun calls. I raise to 60. Small Blind goes all in for around 140, under-the-gun folds.

Now the small blind is fairly tight pre-flop, but I'd caught him trying to bluff me off on a paired board twice earlier in the day (once on an A high, once on a flush draw). On the other hand, I'd never seen him push all in. Should I call ( I had him covered)?

The answer is I did call, and he had pocket 7's, for 7 full of Q. I got the suckout Q on the river, and won Q full A over his Q full 7.
Evidently I missplayed it - but should you call a big hand on someone who has consistently tried to bluff you on the small hands?

 

[Jack Daniels]

PF raise was correct. Two callers, $60 pot. Ugly flop for AA. I think you should have just called the flop bet. SB is betting out and UTG is calling in front of you. Need to give some credit as they likely aren't both bluffing. After you re-raise and SB re-re-raises you and goes all in (correctly as he is pot committed with any raise at all), you need to consider that he has a Q. He is showing real strength here (rerasie all in for abt 2.5 times first raise) that he didn't show before (as you hadn't seen him go all in before). It's a tough laydown to make, and I don't know if I could do it in the heat of the moment, but I think laying down AA is the right move in this situation. Too many signs saying you're beaten. Again, I think most of this is avoided if you just call the SB flop bet and see the turn. If it is at all possible that you are behind at this point, the turn will tell you for sure if you should play or fold.

 

[zebranky]

I think you should have just called the flop bet. SB is betting out and UTG is calling in front of you. Need to give some credit as they likely aren't both bluffing.

the problem on the flop is the 2 hearts - I put UTG on the heart draw (he said afterwards that was the case - but I didn't see it), so it was either raise to push him off, or give up the hand. The $20 bet on a $60 pot didn't seem like much of a strength show - I think most people at that table would have made a similar bet with any pocket pair better that a 7.

The part that I know I got wrong was calling the all-in. My stack wasn't really committed (I had him covered, and had to put in 140 when I only had 80 in so far), but I think I was just too afraid of making a bad laydown. It's kinda silly, but I was more worried about him bluffing me out of the AA than I was of losing.

 

[Jack Daniels]

I understand the flush draw and that is reasonable, so the call on the draw was fine by him. On a board with QQ showing, the $20 bet could very well indicate strength, though (as the general tendency is for people to play high cards), so having a Q is not unreasonable. So his intent was to build the pot. If he has the Q, he could be worried about scaring people out of the pot if he bets too big. Hence the flat call on the raise...one could be bluffing or on the flush draw, but in a three handed pot, you rarely if ever see two of the people bluffing. You have to give some credit here, even if laying it down is tough or impossible to do at the moment.

 

[zebranky]

I understand the flush draw and that is reasonable, so the call on the draw was fine by him. On a board with QQ showing, the $20 bet could very well indicate strength, though (as the general tendency is for people to play high cards), so having a Q is not unreasonable. So his intent was to build the pot. If he has the Q, he could be worried about scaring people out of the pot if he bets too big. Hence the flat call on the raise...one could be bluffing or on the flush draw, but in a three handed pot, you rarely if ever see two of the people bluffing. You have to give some credit here, even if laying it down is tough or impossible to do at the moment.

I think everyone else played the way they should have (although I could argue about calling my PF raise with a low pair from the SB) and I just sucked out. I guess the big mistake was reading the all-in as another bluff.

I did apologize for the bad-beat and I certainly didn't gloat, but he tilted his way through 3 more buy ins before quiting. I felt kinda bad, but as they says, "that's the nuts."

 

[Jack Daniels]

...(although I could argue about calling my PF raise with a low pair from the SB)...

This would be a valid argument. Low pair way oop against solid raise = questionable call.

I guess the big mistake was reading the all-in as another bluff.

Yeah, even the loosest player at the table will still catch a good hand here and there.

 

[DeanoSupremo]

I would have called instead of raising.