AK in BB - hand from $100 party tournament

[freekobe]

Approximately 360 people in the tournament. Approximately 190 left (just before break 1). I have TC 1500. Villian has me covered (TC 2000). Blinds are 25/50.

All fold to SB. SB has played a few too many hands and has raised too many hands preflop. He makes it 150 to go.

I have AKo in the BB. What's your move and why?

I can see a rationale for a variety of options here but would like to hear thoughts.

Results posted after a couple of thoughts. Thanks.

[betgo]

You have to raise here. I would push AK is probably way ahead of what SB has, but may not be ahead after the flop. I don't mind picking up the pot or getting all the money in. If you don't want to "waste" AK this way, you could make a smaller raise and usually go allin on the flop. Flat calling is bad.

[DarrenX]

What betgo said. AK is nice, but not good enough to slowplay heads up preflop. I like the all in myself.

X

[revlis87]

i flat call... with position and a seemingly over agressive player, you save yourself from flipping coins if he has something as good as 10 10 or JJ... you also have position... why not?

[freekobe]

[ QUOTE ]
What betgo said. AK is nice, but not good enough to slowplay heads up preflop. I like the all in myself.

X

[/ QUOTE ]

To me, the decision is between a re-raise, to say 450, or a push. I think there are problems with each.

If I push, he may think I'm stealing and call with a low pocket pair. He may also call with Ax, which I obviously dominate.

If I re-raise to 450 and he flat calls, I have momentum in the hand and will probably win if he misses. However, I might have to make a really tough call on the flop if he pushes.

If I re-raise to 450 and he folds, great. If he pushes, I call, and I'm in the same position as if I pushed but without the fold equity.

I like a re-raise here, but curious as to what others would've done.

I would try to win the pot pre flop too. Laying down AK is not an option. So, go all in hoping to win it there. If get called, you probably have bettor odds of winning. If you lose to some crazy draw, then what can you do. It a part of MTT.

[Iconoclastic]

IMO a reraise is the WORST play. You mentioned that he played too many hands- does that mean he calls more than he should? In that case a Push is a good play as he will call with dominated hands quite often and winning the pot is no small change.

If he actually doesn't call more than he should then a Call is in order. It's still very early in the tournament and with position you can outplay him postflop.

You yourself mentioned the main reason why Reraising is bad. There's a high chance he will call and put you to the test postflop. You have no idea where you stand.

I would probably Push.

[locutus2002]

Hero raises to T400.

Hero is likely ahead and doesn't want to scare villain off with a hand that has any ace or any king. Hero needs to gamble at this point in the tournament: gaining T200 is not going to affect his position in the tournament substantially.

Good point. Only one problem with it is that since villan raises preflop with anything, what if he raises with a rag flop? Unless either A or K hits, I think it'll be a tough play if villan comes in betting.

[nsj]

I'd take control of the hand with a re-raise to 450-500.

If he calls, you have 1000 behind and 1000 in the pot, and you'll probably get to see a turn card if you whiff the flop (fwiw, i'd probably check behind if the flop hit me hard as well, looking to trap and double up).

If he pushes, I think you have to call.
If he folds, you've told him and the rest of the table your blinds are not for the taking.

[locutus2002]

Hey that's poker.

With AK and position the decisions are going to be harder for villain. This is the price hero pays when he gambles: I still like it better than picking up T200.

[freekobe]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey that's poker.

With AK and position the decisions are going to be harder for villain. This is the price hero pays when he gambles: I still like it better than picking up T200.

[/ QUOTE ]

To me, push says "please go away, I think you're stealing."

In that case, he calls with a marginal hand, which, in the end, I suppose is what I want. But - do I need to take this big of a risk?

Whenever a situation like this pops up, where people recommend putting your whole stack in, I wonder what the "pros" would do. And I don't think for a second that they'd re-raise 1350 to win 150 and shut the hand down.

So that begs the question: what would they do? I think they'd re-raise, take control of the hand, if villian pushed, they'd call. If they saw a flop, they'd play it accordingly. If they hit, great. If they miss and villian checks (which is likely), you can take a 3/4 pot bet and probably take it down.

Is that far off?

[TomHimself]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Hey that's poker.

With AK and position the decisions are going to be harder for villain. This is the price hero pays when he gambles: I still like it better than picking up T200.

[/ QUOTE ]

To me, push says "please go away, I think you're stealing."

In that case, he calls with a marginal hand, which, in the end, I suppose is what I want. But - do I need to take this big of a risk?

Whenever a situation like this pops up, where people recommend putting your whole stack in, I wonder what the "pros" would do. And I don't think for a second that they'd re-raise 1350 to win 150 and shut the hand down.

So that begs the question: what would they do? I think they'd re-raise, take control of the hand, if villian pushed, they'd call. If they saw a flop, they'd play it accordingly. If they hit, great. If they miss and villian checks (which is likely), you can take a 3/4 pot bet and probably take it down.

Is that far off?

[/ QUOTE ]a 3/4 pot bet is basically your whole stack, i would jsut push

[freekobe]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Hey that's poker.

With AK and position the decisions are going to be harder for villain. This is the price hero pays when he gambles: I still like it better than picking up T200.

[/ QUOTE ]

To me, push says "please go away, I think you're stealing."

In that case, he calls with a marginal hand, which, in the end, I suppose is what I want. But - do I need to take this big of a risk?

Whenever a situation like this pops up, where people recommend putting your whole stack in, I wonder what the "pros" would do. And I don't think for a second that they'd re-raise 1350 to win 150 and shut the hand down.

So that begs the question: what would they do? I think they'd re-raise, take control of the hand, if villian pushed, they'd call. If they saw a flop, they'd play it accordingly. If they hit, great. If they miss and villian checks (which is likely), you can take a 3/4 pot bet and probably take it down.

Is that far off?

[/ QUOTE ]a 3/4 pot bet is basically your whole stack, i would jsut push

[/ QUOTE ]

Fine. I agree with that. But does that mean you endorse re-raising and taking a flop?

[betgo]

[ QUOTE ]
Whenever a situation like this pops up, where people recommend putting your whole stack in, I wonder what the "pros" would do. And I don't think for a second that they'd re-raise 1350 to win 150 and shut the hand down.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are not reraising 1350 to win 150. You are raising 1350 to win 300. There is 300 in the pot. If you make a smaller raise you are pretty much pot committed. Most of the time an ace or king won't flop, so you will have a trickly situation. I think picking up the pot is a good result here. There is a very good chance that villian has Ax or Kx and he may call a 3-1 dog.

What's wrong with puttiing your whole stack in when it is not a big overbet? Haven't you heard the pros on WPT say "allin?"

[locutus2002]

Villain's range is pretty big here to raise from the SB. It may contain any ace or any king which is about:
A2-AQ X 12 ways = ~120 hands
K2-KQ X 12 ways = ~120 hands


thats about ~240 hands with 3 outs if you forget about str8 and flushes. Almost all of them will fold to a push.

Villain also has a bunch of other hands but this is a sizable chunk of his range.

[curtains]

I think calling is terrible, so then its just a question of how much to raise.

I tend to just move allin here, but I think it's okay if you don't. However if you plan to make a normal raise I want it to be a raise that won't allow you to fold under any circumstances.

For instance I don't want to raise to 500, and then have my opponent call and move allin on a T97 flop and convince me to fold. I want to make a raise preflop where there is zero circumstance that would have me fold later in the hand.

[ekky]

[ QUOTE ]
I have AKo in the BB. What's your move and why?

[/ QUOTE ]

If villain plays too many hands.. I make it 650--700 to play.

1) it prices me in if villain jams the flop (2.5/1 with overcards plus villain bluffing/drawing liklihood)

2) If villain sees a lot of flops, more times then not it will be without pairs.. and we all know that you pair up on the flop 1/3 times... so 2/3 times villain will have a hard time calling our flop jam if he checks. **

3) it gives him the chance to fold post flop. IF we jam, he is going to see all 5 cards for his money (assuming he calls). Try to take that option away from him.

I think a 100% chance of a 50% stack improvement is always a good thing, hence the desire for the flop fold.

** you could argue that if he misses the flop, you want him to call... but I think its normally best to take the pot given the unknown nature of his hand.