How not to play AKs

Here's a few 10-20 hands I played tonight. I had AKs in all three hands, and played two of them badly.


Hand 1: The LIVE Straddle


A super loose Asian guy (SLAG) straddles for $20, and I look down to see AdKd. A loose aggressive player (LAP) and a loose passive player (LPP) limp to me, and I raise it to $30. It's folded to SLAG, who reraises, limpers call to me, and I cap it at $50. Four of us see the flop.


The flop comes A86 with two hearts and no diamonds. SLAG bets out, LAP folds, LPP calls, and I raise. SLAG looks intently at me for a few moments before making it $30, LPP folds, and I call intending to raise on the turn. Heads up.


The turn brings an offsuit T. SLAG bets out, I raise, he reraises (oops), and I call.


The river brings another 8, SLAG bets and I call.


Hand 2: Flushed out


Three hands later, I am dealt AsKs. The same loose passive player (LPP) from the hand above raises UTG, I reraise, SLAG cold calls from the button, the same loose aggressive player (LAP) from above calls in the BB, and LPP calls. Four of us see the flop.


The flop comes 2s 3s 4h. UTG bets, I raise, SLAG reraises, LAP calls, LPP calls, I cap, and all 3 call.


The turn brings the Ad. Checked to me, I bet, SLAG raises, all 3 of us call. Oh well, at least I still have the flush draw.


The river is the 3d. LPP bets, I fold, SLAG raises, LAP folds, LPP reraises, SLAG reraises, and LPP calls.


Hand 3: Strike Three


I am in the BB with AhKh. One loose player limps (LP), an aggressive player (AP) raises from the button, I make it 3 bets, and both call.


The flop comes Ac Kd Tc. I bet, LP calls, and AP folds. Heads up.


The turn brings the Jh. I bet and LP calls.


The river is the 7d. I bet and LP raises. After thinking for a few seconds, I reluctantly call.

Coilean-


Hand 1- I don't see much of a reason to raise the flop. I wonder if anyone else does?

Hand 1: Yeah, SLAG had me beat on the turn with ATo. I should have folded the turn; some players might get frisky with a check raise on the turn, but the third bet usually means something unless the guy is a maniac. My only solace is that at least I wasn't drawing dead to a set.


Hand 2: LPP had AA for aces full. SLAG had 33 for quad threes. This is the hand I don't think I played that badly. On the flop I don't care whether or not anyone calls my first raise, since my overcards are more likely to be good if I can get it heads up, and after they all come anyway, I am still getting good value on all bets with 3 other players in and a nut flush draw with a gutshot. My turn bet might be questionable, but it can't be too awful with the nut flush draw and 3 players still in.


Hand 3: LP made the straight on the turn with Q8o. I shouldn't have paid him off, but at least I made it to the showdown for only one bad call instead of the 2 bad calls I made in hand #1. I should have check called the river to induce a bluff from a worse hand or save a bet against the straight. This was my third big error for the evening, so I played a few more orbits, then racked up and went home to lick my wounds and confess my transgressions here.

Hand 1:


I like the way you played this hand. I'd keep re-raising pre-flop against a straddler if I had AKs. If the straddler got lucky and flopped a set and made a full house (or quads) on the river then that's just part of the game. I hope you don't think you made a mistake by not 4-betting the turn. That would be overplaying top-pair/top-kicker.


Hand 2:


Again, I think you played this well. I hope one of these guys had a 5 to beat your Aces-up. Did the LPP play AA passively? He seems convinced he's got the best hand on the river.


Hand 3:


You played this well too. You've got to push top two pair until you get some resistance. I assume LP had a Q to beat you with a straight.


In all three hands you raise as much as you can pre-flop with AKs like you should. All three times, you get a good flop and bet out/raise with a powerful hand/draw. I agree with every bet you made in all three hands. All three times you seem to end up with a second/third best hand. You're going to have to tell me where you played badly. I like your play.

Hand 1:


Considering this guy was a straddler, I wouldn't have folded on the turn. He could have anything. Straddler may not be the same as Maniac. But they're at least cousins.


Hand 2:


Agreed.


Hand 3:


Check/calling on the river may have been more prudent. But the LP had the nuts on the turn and didn't represent any strength. Usually this means he's got a hand like a pair of Aces with a soft kicker. He probably feared AA or KK and wanted to make sure the board didn't pair on the river.


I think you're being too tough on yourself.

I think you are being too hard on yourself too

Seems to me like you played these hands pretty well.

In hand 1 on the turn I might not raise with one pair head up vs a wild and dangerous player like the one you describe - -I like to call down with one pair in this spot and hope I'm good- good chance he;ll bluff you lots of chips over the long run too - if you don't slow him down with a raise- you avoid getting hit for a bunch of bets when you are beat too - you know this is just the kind of guy who will make things tough that way.


Hand 2

You really are in a bad spot with AKs vs a very passive players EPR- in my experience this is the type of player that calls very frequently but hardly ever raises - but when they do -especially from Early pos - watch out!

I'm not saying I'd have played this hand much different myself but I sometimes wonder what (if anything ) I'm giving up by just not getting involved in this sort of spot.

Hand 3

There was something about this hand too- maybe checking the river -was there a 1 card straight out there?

Many times this guy maybe can't or won't call the river without a better hand than AK - I'd rather check it to him and hope he bets a worse hand - but again - I'm not so sure about this one.

Overall - good job I think and I'm glad you are not in my game!

Hand 1: SLAG seems to play pretty well after the flop. Im not sure why Kevin thinks you shouldnt raise the flop. because noone acts after you maybe?


Hand 2: I would jam this flop with a solid draw, but I dont consider A's or K's to be good.


I would slow on the turn, and fold the river.


Hand 3:


I would check the turn and hopefully get a free bet from his most likely garbage hand. How bad is this player? What will he call with?

I don't think you played the hands too badly. I think you might have lost one or two too many bets, but a lot depends on how well your opponents play.


1) You've put in 5 bets pre-flop and this player can still 3 bet the flop. If he's a maniac I play it the same way as you. If he can think, I realize he likely has me beat and I call him down. He should realize that you have at least AK, and he doesn't seem worried.


2) Why raise the flop? All you have is a flush draw and a dubious str8 draw/overcard. Of course they all called so it worked out fine.

I think it's fairly likely this guy has an ace (he played an AK from a straddle the same way about a half hour earlier). I'm not ready to slow down on the flop with one more player still in the hand and a flush draw on board. I still think I probably have the best hand (maybe a tie) at this point, and it's definitely too weak to slowplay in a pot that's already over 10 big bets.

Hand 1: Yes SLAG was very loose, but I hadn't seen him get out of line on the turn without a decent hand yet. He just called way way too much.


Hand 3: My bet is forgivable, since I would call if I checked and he bet anyway. Calling the raise is definitely a bad play, IMO. This guy was also very loose, but more opportunistic than aggressive: he will bluff occassionally in the face of weakness after his opponents check to him, but doesn't often get out of line in the face of strength.

You may be right that I shouldn't raise the turn in Hand #1. There is an awful lot of money in the pot to fold for a raise, so I should be thinking about getting to the showdown more than about winning more bets.

In hand #2, I didn't think my pair of aces on the turn was good either, but I thought there was a chance that I had some extra outs now, which would make it worth betting.


The player in hand #3 would probably call with any A, and most Ks. He's pretty terrible. But he's very unlikely to get out of line while I am still showing strength, so I should fold for his raise.

I see your point Coilean, but would you agree that the primary purpose for such a raise would be one of value, since it's very unlikely anyone's gonna fold for one more bet after having initially called. If anything, they are probably MORE correct to call again after you raise...


Why not wait to see what the turn brings? If it's a bad card, you might be glad you didn't raise the flop. If it's a blank, NOW you can raise for value and collect double bets when they are an even bigger dog to draw out on you. You say calling the flop is weak. I don't see this. If you're doing it for the right reasons, I think it's quite a strong play if anything.

1) SLAG's 3 bet on the flop doesn't mean much, but on the turn he wouldn't get out of line without a decent hand. I think maybe Payoff is right that I should just call SLAG down after he bets the turn. The pot is so big I should be more worried about getting to the showdown cheaply than winning extra bets. I just got a little carried away with being heads up against a fish.


2) With 23 bets in the pot, I'm not going to lose anyone with the smallest piece of this flop for only 2 bets more, and everyone has to have at least a pair or two overcards given the flop. It doesn't seem too likely a 5 or 6 would be out there (I know LPP won't have one at least) calling 3 bets cold preflop, although lord knows I've lost extra bets with that thinking before.

My response was a little ambiguous I see. /images/wink.gif I meant my hand was too weak to slowplay on the flop, not that I thought calling was a weak play. I did think about just calling the flop with the intention of raising the turn, but I was out of position to blow LPP away for 2 bets cold on the turn, so I decided to stick with the straightforward play while I was pretty sure I was ahead. As it turns out, SLAG blew LPP out for me, which I can't be unhappy about given the size of the pot. In this situation, I often do just call the flop to trap the other players in for an extra bet on the turn. I didn't do it this time, which I don't think is either a mistake or a better play, just different.