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Hey guys, writing up my first post here and wanted to get some thoughts on this hand I played last session. There was a lot of action and a combination of players that were playing ABC and straight up gambling.
Im in UTG +2 with A7 clubs, I open for 10. Player to my immediate left calls, then the CO raises to 40. It folds back to me and I think about it for a little bit but end up making the fold. My thought is that he’s only raising that with a moderate to strong pocket pair, or a better ace. On top of that the player to my direct left was a looser playing and I was expecting him to call, although he folded.
It seemed straight forward to me but the more I thought about it I wasn’t sure if this was correct. Was this too tight of a fold pre-flop? I’d appreciate your thoughts, thanks guys.
I think this is a very good fold in practice. Unless the player has been playing very aggressive preflop a 4x 3-bet after a raise and call from early positions is strong. This raise would make up the range you said, of Ax pairs and some KQ, KJs. And assuming you hit an ace there is a lot of reverse implied odds of him having a better ace. If you also feel it may go 3 way A7 becomes even more likely to be outkicked. And with no straight draws only other equity is a flush which depending on their holdings may be face up and get no value after a 3-Bet preflop. I think the fold is the best option given all these things.
Utg2 should be folding A7 suited in the first place. This is more playable in the cutoff or the button. I would even argue that you can occasionally use this hand as a good 3bet in the blinds but I think it should be a definite fold preflop utg2.
Suited Aces are horribly over-rated in my opinion. As such, I don’t like raising with this hand from early position.
You didn’t give us your stack size, but if you had a stack of $200 here you would be putting in 20% of your stack pre-flop, out-of-position with a marginal hand (if calling the actual 3-bet). That is a terrible position to be in. If three of you had seen a flop here at $40 each, you would have a $120 pot. Now what do you do if an Ace flops buy you don’t have a flush draw or two pair to go with it? You might be pot committed to paying off a better Ace. Again, you would be in a horrible spot. This is a super easy fold to the 3-bet, in my opinion.
I’d have limped pre-flop with A-7 suited in early position. When it gets raised I then decide whether to proceed or not (based on the raiser and likely number or callers). But by keeping the pot smaller I have room or maneuver if I play on (instead of facing pot commitment on the flop if the pot gets bloated). Many advocate never limping, but I like it here and see use in limping in some cases. I would simply fold here at an aggressive table with talented players. Generally, I’d rather fold this hand than raise with it, though, because it’s not strong enough that I want to play a raised pot out of position with it.
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