I have no reads on the villain. I just sat down, and this is the 3rd hand I've played at this table. I have the max buy-in ($10) and villain has just a little more that that.

This is a $10 NL table at BoDog (.05/.10 blinds)

I get UTG

I limp in, planning on re-raising big when someone else bets. I've read here that that is a good play to do when you are UTG and have a big hand.

Villain is in MP and raises it to .50. (5x BB). One caller behind him, so pot is $1.25. Blinds fold, and it gets to me. I re-raise $3. Villain calls. Other caller drops, so it is just me and him.

What do I put him on? I'm thinking either TT-QQ. I think if he had AA, he would have re-raised PF. AK-AQ? I'm thinking a decent player would maybe lay this down. But I guess there is a small chance that is what they have.

Pot is now at $6.75

Flop comes

Damn, Ace on the flop. I bet about half pot ($3), so I have about $4 left. Villain min-raises to $6. If I call, I have around $1. I guess I am thinking that the min-raise is to try and scare me into thinking he has an ace, but he really has TT-JJ. So I re-raise my last $1, and of course, he calls and we are all-in.

He flips over...... !!!!!!!! He called my huge PF re-raise with AT. And then re-raised me on the flop with AT!! I could have easily had AK and had him dominated. I could have had AA with my betting too. But he called and raised the whole way with AT!!

Turn comes another A. River is a T filling him up as the poker gods laugh at me.

Tell me how bad I played this. Or was this guy a total donk and got lucky. The only other explination would be that he is super good, and was able to put me on KK right away preflop and hoped for an A to come on the flop. Or else he can see everyone cards and knew I had KK.

Looking back, I think I re-rasied PF too much. I think I should have re-raised only Pot. And maybe I should have checked on the flop when that A came and folded to a good size bet.

Thoughts?

Preflop re-raise was too big for the stakes. I'd raise to around 1.50 there.

Betting 1/2 to 3/4 pot on the flop is good, your opponent will tell you where you're at.

Min-raise on the flop could mean a lot of things, including that he has an Ace. I'd probably fold.

But you learned a lot about this player from this hand, mainly that he's more than willing to risk a stack with top pair / medium kicker. Put him on your friends list and punish him for his foolishness. You'll get your stack back.

I am in the camp of pushing preflop if I make this play of limping and then raising. With AA I might raise big and see the flop but with KK I am happy to take down the pot right there.