What to do when AK misses the flop?

[Karak567]

There's a few scenarios where I have had trouble knowing what to do when AK misses the flop.

I generally triple the blinds in a raise with AK (is that the right thing to do?) and I usually get one or two callers.

Say the flop comes... 283 rainbow. Is AK usually the best hand? Should I bet hard out of early position or check? Should I raise out of late position?

Say the flop comes... QJ3 Now what do I do? Do I call any bets with overcards and a gutshot draw? Do I raise? Do I fold? Is there a certain bet I should call and one I shouldn't?

I'm a newer player, and playing AK when it misses the flop incorrectly has lost me a lot of chips.

Any insight is appreciated.

[rybones]

my first question is: what level are you playing and where? If you are playing at Party at 20+2 or lower, the 3xbb raise level 1 or 2 will not push too many out. That is great when your A or K hits. If it doesn't then I agree playing A,K is very tricky.

scene 1: the flop comes rags "2,8,3 rainbow"

If you are the first to act I would say min bet. most people hate min betting, but I love it here. what you are doing is value betting. the nub who stays in likely hit the 8 with the 6,8o that he decided to play. Now if you get a serious raiser, he likely hit a set or has an over pair. fold now!! However is someone then only re-raises you the min. I would call. Alternatively, if someone min bets into you I say re-raise for 1/2 the pot. If someone bets 1/2 the pot or more before you, just fold and fight another day.

Scene 2: The flop comes Q,J,3

in most ways you are in the same boat as the above situation. you still have overcards. The big difference here is that someone is more likely to have hit this hard and to bet this hard forcing you to give the hand up.

All that said I would say that at the lower limit party poker tables there are a lot of passive betters who will call your min bets and pay you off when your over card hits. Additionally, this min bet often keeps others from betting larger as they ponder what you might have. These same people usually bet big when they do hit so you know when you are beat. As an aside, the min bet is also good as these nubs really have the check raise down. so if you are the first to act with your min raise and someone comes over the top they might be bluffing, but in my experience they are not. You likely have 6 outs but sometime even those wont help as the nub has hit his two pair.

these are just my thoughts and others may play it differently. At higher limits, I would never play it this way (ok, I hate the word never -- how bout almost never).

anway hope this helps you think about A,K and as usual any comments on my line of thought are great.

Ryan

[housenuts]

early in the tournament i just check-fold. no sense throwing away chips when you have nothing. this is what cloutier advises in his book, and i generally stick to it. also i would raise 4x PF

[Keres]

[ QUOTE ]

scene 1: the flop comes rags "2,8,3 rainbow"

If you are the first to act I would say min bet. most people hate min betting, but I love it here.
Ryan

[/ QUOTE ]

I hate the min bet here. The min bet in this situation yells "I missed the flop. Hopefully this will hold you off." If I saw a min bet here and I have any hand at all I'm going to bet the pot. If AK has the guts to go reraise allin, then I'll throw my hand away. But you've got to be crazy to do that move with AK in the Party 10sng - its a losing proposition. It's rare to see someone throw down their cards after reraising, even if they only have 10-8o with a flop of 8-6-3 rainbow. For the same reason, a min bet - though I'd still say check - with Aces, KK, QQ, JJ here may work. If you get raised/reraised holding premium hands you should go all in and will probably be surprised at the garbage people will call with. Players not being able to drop their cards after raising is a huge weakness in the $10sngs.
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This is how I normally deal with AK:
I'm going to assume AK in the first round, blinds of 10/15 and a starting chip stack of 800.

For AK if I'm in early position and the flop missed I'll usually just check but will occasionally - very rarely actually - bet the pot. Hopefully everyone folds. If I get reraised I'm out. If I get called (which I hate in this position) things get dicey. If the flop looks like it had a draw (e.g. 2 cards same suit) I'll shoot again on the turn if its a blank- this has to be a meaningful bet to force anyone out. If the first bet was 100 and the pot is now 300, Bet has to be at least 225-250. When you start with 800 chips a move like this is pretty risky but quite often works. I hate getting myself in this situation and thats why I usually check the flop.

If I'm in late position AK is pretty easy to play. If its checked to me, I bet the pot. A reraise I'm out. If a potsize bet comes to me I'm out. If a smallish bet comes (say 30-40 in a pot of 100) I'll most likely call. A minbet comes and I'm betting the pot.