Blid resteal paranoia

[Buckmulligan]

I have been playing a lot of 1/2 and am noticing a donk tendency of restealing, and am not always sure how to handle it. I have a hypothetical situation that isn't that uncommon and a hypothesis to go with it....

You are on the button with AK and it is folded to you; you raise; sb folds and BB either calls or 3 bets. Would it be accurate here to conclude that this hand must be seen to the showdown almost regardless of the board and the villain's actions? I can think of almost no reason to ever lay this down, as any subsequent action by villian could be him trying to play back at what seems to be a steal. Agree or disagree?

[econ_tim]

I don't like getting involved in raising wars over small pots. Maybe if the blind has a history of donk defense, then call down.

[Buckmulligan]

I never said anything about a raising war.. I was thinking more in terms of this series of action:

he calls my raise, flop comes 8Q7 and he check raises me or leads out; from here I would slow down to the showdown. Even if he were to check/call the flop and then checkraise the turn, I'm still almost willing to conclude that this hand shouldn't be folded here, even unimproved.

[econ_tim]

I think calling down against a restealer with AK will probably win money. AK is the high end of blind-steal hands, though.

What's your plan for hands like A7 or K9s? Would you raise your stealing requirements against this type of player?

[Aaron W.]

[ QUOTE ]
I have been playing a lot of 1/2 and am noticing a donk tendency of restealing, and am not always sure how to handle it. I have a hypothetical situation that isn't that uncommon and a hypothesis to go with it...

[/ QUOTE ]

The first time it happens, I tend to let it go more easily. Restealing is a more sophisticated play, and most players aren't sophisticated. My experience has been most preflop 3-bets are actual hands that just look like resteals.

[ QUOTE ]
You are on the button with AK and it is folded to you; you raise; sb folds and BB either calls or 3 bets. Would it be accurate here to conclude that this hand must be seen to the showdown almost regardless of the board and the villain's actions? I can think of almost no reason to ever lay this down, as any subsequent action by villian could be him trying to play back at what seems to be a steal. Agree or disagree?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a stupid conclusion: "He 3-bet me preflop, therefore I must showdown my AK UI." I would certainly cap preflop (I have position and a very strong HU hand), but deciding to see a showdown every time is not such a good choice. In this case, I would see the turn and generally fold UI. The exceptions would be if the flop were particularly ragged (953) and villain has shown himself in other situations to be aggressive. In these situations, you're often ahead or drawing to a full six outs, so I'm more comfortable moving forward UI.

If it happens a second time in the same way, I'm more inclined to look him up.

[aK13]

If he 3bets, you cap preflop.

Really depends on texture of the board whether to call down or not, but I think if you're going to only pick one to do all the time, calling down is still +EV.