What do you do when your top pair gets raised?

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Nesehorn156

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Say you're playing a cash game and open with AJo. The flop comes A 7 4 with two suits and you make a normal bet. The big blind calls, then raises your turn bet pretty big on a blank card.

This is one of those spots where I always start wondering if I'm being bluffed or if they just have two pair or a set.

Would you normally call once and see what happens, or are you comfortable letting top pair go there?
 
It really depends on the opponent and board, but I don’t automatically call just because I have top pair.
If the raise feels strong and the board is dangerous, I’m happy to fold and move on. 🃏
 
In SRP, treating your top pair as a bluff catcher is a useful way to proceed. Most people are passive, and even aggressive regs are not just raising for the fun of it, they usually have decent equity. Flop raises are sometimes high equity bluffs or made hands, but turn raises are almost ALWAYS nut type hands.
 
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A turn or river raise is much stronger than a flop raise, if we have bet all streets with standard sizing. So assuming we are 100BB deep, or at least close, we should either fold to the turn raise or call but not call a big river bet unimproved. There is even an old theorem about this.
 
I’d usually call once and see what happens, especially against an aggressive player. But if the turn raise is really big and they’re generally passive, I’m fine folding top pair there. AJo is strong, but it’s not worth stacking off with on a dry board.
 
I'd say call once and re-evaluate the river. Top pair with AJ is too strong to fold automatically against someone who's capable of bluffing. But I'd pay attention to the sizing and tendencies. If they're generally pretty straight forward and happen to raise big on the turn, I'd be a lot more willing to let it go.
 
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