109- AK limp raise

[inyaface]

I don't limp big hands UTG very often but since I did what do you think of this line?

Total number of players : 10
Seat 2: onkhh ( $1150 )
Seat 3: jockson ( $845 )
Seat 5: play_fo_food ( $1305 )
Seat 6: smellme2 ( $765 )
Seat 7: donkosapien ( $815 )
Seat 8: bluke51 ( $1320 )
Seat 10: Nancy999 ( $945 )
Seat 9: HERO ( $850 )
Seat 4: actionjim01 ( $1040 )
Seat 1: pokachump ( $965 )
Trny:14748699 Level:2
Blinds(15/30)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to HERO [ Ah Kd ]
HERO calls [30].
Nancy999 folds.
pokachump folds.
onkhh folds.
jockson folds.
actionjim01 raises [150].
play_fo_food folds.
smellme2 folds.
donkosapien folds.
bluke51 folds.
HERO is all-In.

[Apathy]

Well obviously folding isn't an option. If he raised to 90 you might get more value out of playing post flop but you are out of position here with AK so you need to eliminate that factor by pushing here.

As as aside: Did you limp utg with no real plan for the hand? It would seems obvious that you limped here with the intention of limp-raising but now you are asking about the hand AFTER the limp. You need to think about your plan for the hand and why you are doing certain things BEFORE you do them.

[45suited]

I play the 11s-33s, and I make this play often. Of course, I prefer there to be some more dead money out there, but I have found (for me) that this is the most profitable way to play AK from EP in levels 1 and 2.

You just have to be able to get away from TPTK if the pot is multi-way and unraised. But if there is an active player at the table who can be counted on to likely raise after early limpers, this play is fairly standard for me.

[raptor517]

i dont really limp with ak, but i used to make this play a lot.. i dont mind it. u get AK to fold almost every time, and can pick up some chips easy. its not bad, i duno how good it is though. id prefer to open for 90 or so, but of course you know that /images/graemlins/wink.gif mixing it up never hurts though. keep yer options open. holla

[bigt439]

What Peter said is pretty much bang on. You have to have a plan even if that plan is heavily reliant on contingency plans. I personally raise to 100 and go from there though. I'd limp reraise this in level 3.

[raptor517]

[ QUOTE ]
What Peter said is pretty much bang on. You have to have a plan even if that plan is heavily reliant on contingency plans. I personally raise to 100 and go from there though. I'd limp reraise this in level 3.

[/ QUOTE ]

oooooo, every1 gettin on first name basis. ruh roh. its like a bad horror movie is beginning. holla

[bigt439]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What Peter said is pretty much bang on. You have to have a plan even if that plan is heavily reliant on contingency plans. I personally raise to 100 and go from there though. I'd limp reraise this in level 3.

[/ QUOTE ]

oooooo, every1 gettin on first name basis. ruh roh. its like a bad horror movie is beginning. holla

[/ QUOTE ]

Haha I know. I've known him too long to start calling him Apathy though. It'd be like starting to call one of your best buddies by some internet name he made up for himself. Haha, can't do it.

[deathpotato]

[ QUOTE ]
i used to make this play a lot

[/ QUOTE ]Hahah, I used to do this all the time too, but I switched to just raising 3BB too and that's working better I think. I still do it occasionally for fun, there's nothing wrong with it I don't think. And at a lot of tables you can know it's going to work. And then someone calls you with AQ oh cool /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[inyaface]

Yeh Like I said I usually raise to 95-125 here but it was a fairly agressive table and I liked the possibility of a limp raise (yes I did have plans for the hand and I followed through with them and whille I make a living on being a total luckbox I sometimes consider poker strategy).

I especially like limp raising here because I'm getting shortish and it's a pretty good way to trap some chips if I can get the raiser to fold plus AA and KK are the only hands I'm worried about and since I have AK chances of the villan having AA or KK...blahblahblah read TPFAP. Also if its limped around and I miss the flop I can dump it and I'm not going to be in terrible shape. Finally I won't have to worry about playing AK OOP if my original raise gets flat called and I miss the flop.

I was just wondering what other people thought of this line. I guess after the limp the consensus seem to be poosh which is kind of what I expected. In fact since nobody's really suggested another line I'm thinking my play was pretty standard.

Everyone's saying raise which is also pretty expected for this hand but I gave my reasoning for the limp raise in this situation even though its a play I don't usually make.
That and with all my random OT posts I needed some sort of strategy related post.

At what levels is this play respectable? I hate it at the 11s where I assusme they call with more, and where I assume hitting TPTK is worth more chips against a worse TP. Am I wrong to hate it at the 11s or is there some higher level where it becomes a fine play?

[inyaface]

Meh TPTK is pretty good with AK at almost any level in a raised pot and your usually getting called by a lot of junk aces on A high flops. Thats the advantage of raising and hitting a flop with an ace or king. Also you could take the blinds down even if it is from UTG.

The thing about limping which sucks is having it checked through and hitting an A or K high flop with a lot of action or a scarryish board in a multiway pot. While missing the flop and being forced to check fold with a hand as strong as AK sucks its not horrific as you haven't invested a lot in the hand.

As for the the advantages of being all in vs seeing a flop...you don't have to play the hand OOP you get to see all 5 cards and you get a lot of hands to fold with dead money in the pot, your often called by a worse hand that might bluff into you and force you to fold a missed flop IE AQ, AJ, KQ even...people really suck, also your not getting total value out of your hand if someone holds AQ or KQ or lower if you both check down these hands on a missed flop. I think this play might be just as or more profitbale at the 11's as a lot of hands with an A or K might raise. So will alot of PP's which probably won't fold. I think it's definatly a play to be made only occasionaly and in the right situation's...I wouldn't get to FPS with it but it's something to try occasionly.

I could be wrong but I like this play better at 11s as opposed to 100s as you will often get called by AQ, AJ, AT and even less.

I'm with the majority though, I raise here every time, maybe I should mix it up a bit, yes I think from now on I will limp here 1% of the time lol.

[Moonsugar]

I will make this play rarely with AKs. I think you will get good results on this move alone, plus you will get more action on limp/rr with AA and KK.

109 have a lot of the same players who will exploit you so if you want to limp utg with weak hands you are going to have to limp with some big hands, IMO.