AK in the SB

[DaveB]

Normally I would 3 bet this preflop. What do you think of my play here? Typical Party 1/2 players.

Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (6 max, 5 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A/images/graemlins/spade.gif, K/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
UTG raises, MP folds, Button calls, Hero calls, BB calls.

Flop: (8 SB) J/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 6/images/graemlins/heart.gif, J/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="blue">(4 players)</font>
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG bets, Button folds, Hero raises, BB folds, UTG 3-bets, Hero calls.

Turn: (7 BB) 8/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, UTG bets, Hero folds.

Final Pot: 8 BB

[MisterKing]

3-bet the flop to punish people like me that tend to raise with KQ, KJo, etc.

[naphand]

Playing overcards strongly at Party $1/$2 is a sure way to lose money; these guys wont fold any part of the flop.

If your read on UTG was that he would bet the flush draw (very common) then your play is good. Otherwise, his 3-bet sure looks like a J but at least you found out cheaply on the flop. I think you can consider a fold to the flop 3-bet here, you have to decide if he has a J, 4 or flush draw. Only some Party $1/$2 players will 3-bet (or cap) a flush draw, and they are easy to spot. Very few will 3-bet a 4 like this. By calling the 3-bet you are hoping to see what on the Turn? TP? That is probably not good enough for you.

Playing overcards hard works very well on tables somewhat tighter than Party, UB for example, but it is very difficult to win with AKo unimproved at SD here. His raise on the flop means it is definitely going to showdown (except where you have the right read). If you can put him fairly hard on a draw, then you can call down, but in this game I think you have to quit boards like this early, too many ways to lose.

One of the reasons I encourage people to look at the other $1/$2 games, which can be far tougher than Party $1/$2, is to play some hands like this with a degree of meaning. The Party $1/$2 school is a terrible place to try and learn good poker; you can get away with horrendous mistakes/leaks and make a profit by just playing tight and betting TP through.

Don't always give up on big overcards, esp. HU, but you have to play them with a LOT of caution at Party. People just do not fold anything and you will find yourself beaten by any kind of crap, 80-90% of the time. That said, I think your flop raise is the best option, but I would probably fold to the 3-bet quite a lot of the time, without some other re-draw possibilities.

[Schneids]

Just a FWIW, but I think if you're going to play AK like this it's better to check raise a flop that looks like T62 than one that is J6J. Your flop check raise looks suspicious and very "convenient" on the latter board and a lot of opponents will return fire because of this fact, so, your check raise does little other than put more money into the pot when out of position and still unsure of where you might stand.

I actually like to check/call on this flop and see what the turn brings. I also have no problem with check/calling unimproved AK the whole way against a lot of Party players.

[stripsqueez]

pre-flop i dont care where i am - if your giving me 3 way action with AKo i want to play for more - its hard for me to be too far behind and its easy for me to be big time in front

this hand is a good example of the fact that whether you slowplay pre-flop in this spot or do something else its still ugly

stripsqueez - chickenhawk