[NL10] AKs and FD on the river

Submitted by : Graisseux

FullTiltPoker Game #8347298961: Table Factor (6 max) - $0.05/$0.10 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 16:01:53 ET - 2008/10/04
Seat 1: Pouf ($18.75)
Seat 2: mileri ($13.45)
Seat 4: boldcat ($20.70)
Seat 5: Dena4488 ($0.70)
Dena4488 posts the small blind of $0.05
Pouf posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #4

Holecards
Dealt to Pouf
mileri has 15 seconds left to act
mileri folds
boldcat raises to $0.35
Dena4488 calls $0.30
Pouf raises to $1.40
boldcat calls $1.05
Dena4488 calls $0.35, and is all in

Flop (Pot : $3.50)

   
Pouf has 15 seconds left to act
Pouf bets $2.50
wildcatz69 sits down
boldcat calls $2.50

Turn (Pot : $8.50)

   
wildcatz69 adds $2
Pouf has 15 seconds left to act
Pouf has requested TIME
Pouf bets $3
boldcat calls $3

River (Pot : $14.50)

   
Pouf ?

I bet turn bigger and give up on river, but then again that's why my won with showdown is positive and my won without isn't.

I like to bomb harder everywhere, preflop id make it like $1.60-$1.80, flop id bet $3.40, turn id be telling him not to mess around with draws, id bet again 90% pot, if you miss river, cooler, check/f ;D

yeah i like a little bigger pf raise here as well. probably 1.6 and then a strong flop bet for about 80% pot. i'd slow down on the turn as i don't think you have much fold equity against this type of player, and you're in position so you can still extract a good deal of value on the river if you hit, especially if you hit the flush.

if you do want to bet the turn, you should be betting it bigger. when you're betting this turn, you're usually betting with the worst hand, so you do need fold equity, and a lot of guys with these stats will be calling you down here w/ 77+ quite often.

as a consideration: if you make the pf action bigger and the flop action bigger, then you can always check back the turn with a pot of around $13 then shove good rivers for value. i prefer this.

What's the point of raising AK so high? it gets beat by any pair 55 % of the time and it also gets beaten by sets. Isn't it just a complete coinflip raising AK to those amounts with you getting the shord end of the stick most of the time? I'm a big noob and this really bothers me when I raise AK

Well, this is AKs, so it's WAY better than AKo.

How to play AK is debated constantly. There was even an exciting debate between Myth and Wobbly or someone like that in the high stakes forum on exactly the question you raise. BUT, in microstakes there is really no question that AK is a great hand to 3bet.

#1 You're not always getting called by pairs. Your opponents are likely to call you with worse aces such as AQ and AJ and even some just Axs. This is especially true at NL10 where 3bet calling ranges are pretty loose. Basically your hand is WAY ahead of your opponent's two betting range (unless he's a huge nit) and you're probably still WAY ahead of his 3bet calling range if he calls. Your hand flops really well, and you can proceed according to your opponent.

#2 It's important that you're not just 3betting QQ+ because then your own play becomes SUPER transparent and you allow your opponents to play perfectly against you (assuming they're paying attention to how often you 3bet).

#1 is by far the more important factor at NL10 because you're typically not worried too much about your opponents breaking down your game, and you're just playing to profit. Still, suffice to say you should ALWAYS be 3betting AK at NL10 unless your opponent is a nit beyond imagining. Of course you prefer to be in position (ip), but if you're out of position (oop), it's still basically always a raise. The major caveat is to know what kind of opponent you're playing against.

I was thinking to raise it higher than most hands in order to eliminate people who hold small pairs like 2s and stop them from getting sets but I don't know how well that would work vs someone holding something decent or if ppl will even fold those cards or even if i want them to fold

i think i'd prefer just taking account of certain player tendencies. some players will call a 3bet w/ all pocket pairs in order to hit a set. others will fold their pps against a 3-bet.

if a player calls your 3bets too often then you should note whether they will fold flops that they miss or call on non-AK boards. if they are liable to call down then you can just check check check until you have something with which to value town them (although don't be too transparent). or of course you can do the double barrel bluff (not recommended at NL10) and fold guys who will call the flop, expecting you to check the turn w/ a missed AK

if the players calls and folds vs your 3bets, then just continuation bet 100% of your range for like 3/4's the pot and take it down way more often than you get him playing back at you. the added bonus is that if you're sure he's only playing back with a hand, you can make some folds which save you money.

your opponents will probably not be super-unorthodox aggressive at NL10 in your 3bet pots, so it should be easy to outplay them

On October 06 2008 12:54 street_hooker wrote: What's the point of raising AK so high? it gets beat by any pair 55 % of the time and it also gets beaten by sets. Isn't it just a complete coinflip raising AK to those amounts with you getting the shord end of the stick most of the time? I'm a big noob and this really bothers me when I raise AK

I used to wonder about the same things until someone told me to think of 3 betting AK as a semi-bluff. Most small pairs won't call your raise. That's good, you're making small pairs which have an edge fold. If they happen to call, you still have a 1 in 3 chance of beating them on the flop.

But let's say you raise a tiny amount, like a min raise. Small pairs WOULD call, because you're giving them set odds. So try to raise 3 to 4 times the raise + whatever limpers there are.

And, of course, you open your 3 betting range so people will not always know that you have AA/KK/QQ when you 3 bet. There are a lot of people who are really transparent when they 3 bet and you don't want to be one of them.

To add onto that, AK is only beat by pairs 22-QQ 55% of the time if you get it all-in preflop. The advantage is you totally destroy every other A or K out there because of your top kicker.

AK shines most preflop though, where you can make nits fold even QQ w/ a 3bet or 4bet shove.

Id 3bet more. At least $1.6 as has been mentioned and since both of you are deep and hes a station you can also 3bet really big like $2.5. flop looks good but I def. check the turn against a guy like this and extract value if I hit. but if you bet, bet like a man. as played Id probably just check it down.

On October 06 2008 12:54 street_hooker wrote: What's the point of raising AK so high? it gets beat by any pair 55 % of the time and it also gets beaten by sets. Isn't it just a complete coinflip raising AK to those amounts with you getting the shord end of the stick most of the time? I'm a big noob and this really bothers me when I raise AK

wtf

imo your line is really weak even if you did 3 bet you'll get called down with any pair here esp since it's NL10.
probably a queen if you decide to bluff.

bet turn larger