Suited AK in the cut-off.... Outside of the river -- thoughts?

[BarronVangorToth]

Normally at Foxwoods I play the 5-10-Kill or the 10-20 game, however, with a waiting list on both and my sessions as of late being more profitable than normal, I thought I'd sit with my boy Bruce at the 20-40 for a little while while I waited for a table to open up at a lower limit.

This one came up...

I'm the cut-off (one off the button).

Two limpers in front of me -- both of them will raise with the better holdings so their limping strikes me as smaller pairs or random 10-J suited kind of business. One of them open-raised with AJ-o and the other one time raised with A10-suited and they limp and awful lot, so, for all I know, it's suited mid-connectors. Regardless, let's see what I have:

A /images/graemlins/spade.gif K /images/graemlins/spade.gif

Raise it up -- Mr. Button, please fold. I can think this all I want but he's played every button and just about every late position hand he's hand: he's flipped over 3-5-offsuit on the button after getting a A-3-3 board that sucked in a pair of AK hands like a hoover vacuum cleaner.

He, of course, calls, even if this is the second time I've been in a hand in the last hour and the first time I showed pocket Queens.

The blinds fold away and the two limpers call, so we have:

Pot $170

Let's see the flop!

Q /images/graemlins/spade.gif 10 /images/graemlins/club.gif 6 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

Overcards, runner-runner-flush, gutshot straight -- it could be worse, but those limpers could have any random 10 or Q and I'm not getting paid off without hitting something else ... or any pocket 6's I'm shot without the runner-runner or random Jack.

Let's see what happens.

Check.
Check.

Good.

I'm thinking about betting to try to buy it up -- but the button looks awful excited. Excited to the point of raising if I bet excited. Maybe that's what I want?

Nope -- check it.

He bets.

Both limpers call.

Can I fold here?

Yes, well, I can -- but I don't: pop in the $20.

Pot $250

Turn: 10 /images/graemlins/spade.gif

That's interesting -- there's the spade I needed, now I have a Royal Flush draw, but the random 10 means someone in there with second-pair now has trips. Who knows, any 10-Q (something ANY of my three opponent's could have) makes a full house.

Where am I at?

Check.
Check.

Interesting. Bluff at it or wait and see...? The button loving the flop so much really makes me annoyed. I'm not winning at the moment -- there is no chance I'm ahead. But it's a lot of money out there...

Check.

Button bets.

Both limpers fold.

Wow...

Can I fold now? Nope (Well, I can, but I don't).

Pot: $330

River:

Q /images/graemlins/heart.gif

Ugh. Horrendous. Check.

The button doesn't like the river?!?!?

I see it.

He goes to check and then bets -- and it's a complete tell. It's so obvious I almost raise, but then don't since I don't feel like being wrong and getting hit for a reraise, especially since my table is coming up.

I call.

He flashes KJ -- he was open-ended the whole time -- and mucks before I even show that I had the nut-nothing of Ace high vs. his King high.

Thoughts on previous streets?

On this whole hand?

Note: in the you-probably-don't-care-department, I won't be following up on this post 'til next week as I have a convention I have to attend for WWE that I'm leaving for soon, but I thought this was a saucy hand that might get some comments as to my probable horrendous play (Even though I'm ecstatic about my read at the river ... I'm just glad I didn't have to show my holdings).

[LarsVegas]

Preflop: No-brainer. And not that it matters much, but given your description of button, you expect him to call, and you don't mind at all either. I doubt anyone playing 53o voluntarily (probably in a raised pot?) is a very good post-flop player either. When it's becoming multiway like this, with no signs of extreme strength (AA/KK) elsewhere, AKs is rapidly becoming as big a powerhouse as AA, and easily KK. These hands WANT customers.

Flop: Your hand is strong enough to bet, and I think it was Rick N who once said that he would hate to have to fold for a bet and a raise, so he chose to bet some hand himself. Even though I don't think you can fold even for two bets back to you, I think you should bet this one yourself. You have a pretty decent draw with four nuts out, ten outs to pick up the nut flush draw and six cards giving you top-pair top kicker. All-in-all 19 pretty nice turn cards to hit. And in hindsight I am pretty sure you can see what a disaster checking here could've been if this had allowed someone behind you to come in with a Ten or a weak Queen that would've folded for two bets, when you could've gotten it headsup with the button and just seven outs against you.

Turn: Obvious call, although there is a slight chance you are drawing to just one out (just like it's often a slight chance of drawing to just two outs with AA).

River: Once you have gotten to this point, which you had to, it's a nice opportunity to get to a showdown with an unimproved AK too. When you make what's likely to be an excellent read as well, you of course call. I wouldn't raise, although against extremely high level players, you could get some very thin calls on a river raise (such as precisely from hands such as KJ), as your river raise would seem very strange and could come across as a desperate, counter-feited pocket pair. But still, I don't think I would be able to raise this river against anyone.

lars

[BarronVangorToth]

Lars,

Thanks for posting regarding this, and, a week after the fact (and an exhausting convention behind me) I agree with you completely that I should've bet out on the flop instead of checking and hoping it would get me a "free" turn. Said "free" turn could've cost me the pot as a bet and a raise in front of me invariably would've put me off the hand.

Good advice. Now that I'm back in CT, once I write my weekend report for work, I'll be back at The Woods hoping to NOT make similar errors. We'll see.


Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com (http://www.BarronVangorToth.com)

[elysium]

hi barron

you played it fine. you can't really play it any differently than you did. it's pretty run of mill baron.

it's very difficult to tell which posts are the saucy ones, and which are run of the mill, without some feel for when you are playing it differently than most other knowledgeable opponents would have played it. often, the hands that seem very mundane are actually more complex, and can offer additional theory for similar and, sometimes, very different situations. usually these type hands are found outside the jurisdiction of pot odds when plays are being made based more on cutting down the risk than keeping within the safety parameters of the math, or calling down a bad player. with the exception of the reminder than AK can stand to call down when heads up against this type opponent, there is not a whole lot to learn from your post. and by the way, merry christmas.

give us your AQo hands. we also like TT over-carded once flops. top two pair against a 3-bet.....not too shabby. how to tackle a bum with your AKs is old hand.