$109s - Ugly AK Hand

[Unarmed]

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (8 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

Button (t1205)
SB (t1835)
BB (t1943)
UTG (t945)
UTG+1 (t865)
MP1 (t842)
Hero (t910)
CO (t1455)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K/images/graemlins/spade.gif, A/images/graemlins/spade.gif.
<font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, <font color="#CC3333">UTG+1 raises to t100</font>, MP1 calls t100, Hero calls t100, <font color="#666666">4 folds</font>.

Flop: (t345) 4/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 5/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero bets t200</font>, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t200.

Turn: (t745) 7/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
MP1 checks, Hero checks.

River: (t745) 9/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">MP1 bets t250</font>, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t995

[Unarmed]

Sorry, you guys need more information on this one, as it looks completely retarded.

PF call is standard given I have position on both players.
When PF raiser checks the flop on a draw heavy board I put him on overs. MP1 checks so I'm thinking he doesn't like his hand all that much either so I wing out a bet.

Justification for the bet is:
- PF raiser is folding most of the time here.
- MP1 is folding overs here most of the time, but he'll call with Ax /images/graemlins/diamond.gif or a PP. If he has the latter, my flop bet should give me a free look at the river to catch an A or K.

Does that make sense? Should I be just checking this flop? (doing so eliminates any chance of bluffing anything but the /images/graemlins/diamond.gif but perhaps I have no business stabbing at this pot anyway)

[adanthar]

I think the bet's OK (you take it down more than 40%, anyway, and quite possibly have the best hand)...except that your stack is going to be really short when you miss. Oh, and some people check AA-KK there a lot (I'm one of them.)

If you don't do it every time, I like it, though.

[Blarg]

I'm thinking if you don't check the flop, you probably make AK fold with your bet, as well as some hands that actually beat you, but if you check the flop, you make it very tempting for AK to bet out on the turn almost no matter what the card, and then you're very hard pressed to call. Either one of these guys may have AK and pull that. And if you call with AK vs another AK, you only get half a pot to reward you for the risk. Checking the flop puts AK in a very bad place and probably a fold on the turn. It is a free one, at least.

For that matter, they could have TT, see a blank hit the turn, and likely scoop the pot betting that out, too. Whoever bets first either on the flop or turn is likely to get the pot.

You're taking a risk betting the flop, but I could see you picking up an extra 345 chips doing it.

Being called is grim, and checking the turn behind almost guarantees a river bet unless perhaps an ace or a king comes out and MP1 doesn't have one. The flop call by MP1 provides a good argument for your checking the turn, but the checked turn pretty much means the hand is over for you almost regardless of the river. Oh well.

Perhaps putting in a flop bet that was only roughly 2/3 of the size of the pot was too much of a compromise move, enabling a call that could hardly lead to anything but a loss of the hand if it came. You've kind of signaled with that modest flop bet that you very likely don't have a pair, or a good one -- that you actually very likely have AK. I don't think anybody's really thinking you have a 4, or is all that worried about the power of a draw. You've more signaled that you want people out of the pot than that there's a reason for them to go. The turn check-behind confirms it. Maybe it wouldn't have gotten that far with a pot sized flop bet.