A leak of mine, common situation: Help

[bdmcgraw]

Seat 1: drgeoff01 ($2,648 in chips)
Seat 2: jack.mb ($2,340 in chips)
Seat 3: bealman ($2,985 in chips)
Seat 4: ESpiersey ($902 in chips)
Seat 6: J.J. McClure ($1,360 in chips)
Seat 7: sknepp ($1,825 in chips)
Seat 8: bdmcgrizzle [AC,KS] ($1,495 in chips)
Seat 10: Dirty-Mac ($1,445 in chips)



ANTES/BLINDS
J.J. McClure posts blind ($15), sknepp posts blind ($30).

PRE-FLOP
bdmcgrizzle bets $100, Dirty-Mac calls $100, drgeoff01 folds, jack.mb folds, bealman calls $100, ESpiersey folds, J.J. McClure folds, sknepp folds.

FLOP [board cards 5D,9D,JC ]
bdmcgrizzle bets $175, Dirty-Mac calls $175, bealman folds.

TURN [board cards 5D,9D,JC,JD ]
bdmcgrizzle checks, Dirty-Mac bets $60, bdmcgrizzle calls $60.

RIVER [board cards 5D,9D,JC,JD,3H ]
bdmcgrizzle checks, Dirty-Mac bets $175, bdmcgrizzle calls $175.

SHOWDOWN
Dirty-Mac shows [ KD,8D ]
bdmcgrizzle mucks cards [ AC,KS ]
Dirty-Mac wins $1,165.



SUMMARY
Dealer: ESpiersey
Pot: $1,165
drgeoff01, loses $0
jack.mb, loses $0
bealman, loses $100
ESpiersey, loses $0
J.J. McClure, loses $15
sknepp, loses $30
bdmcgrizzle, loses $510
Dirty-Mac, bets $510, collects $1,165, net $655


Anyone have a general idea of what one should do here without much of a read? I think the flop bet is mandatory. Do you call the turn bet? Obviously shouldn't be calling the river bet, though some opponents will bluff bet when checked to.

Raise more preflop? This is a pokerroom 10+1 SNG by the way.

Thanks

[jbc]

Yeah, AK unsuited early can be tricky. Given the stacks/blinds, I might have made it $200 PF. Flop bet was fine, I probably would have tossed on the turn. Another option would have been a check raise on the turn, but he wasn't going anywhere with 2nd nut flush if he called >3BB PF (of course, what with hindsight being 20/20 and all).

jbc

[gazarsgo]

[ QUOTE ]
I think the flop bet is mandatory.

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Flop bet was fine, I probably would have tossed on the turn.

[/ QUOTE ]

The flop bet is fine, but it is not mandatory by any means. You should be looking for a reason to fold. The only reason to lead out on this flop is if you think your ace high is good and your opponent is capable of making a laydown. If you do lead out the flop and continue to the turn, I think a fold is mandatory. The top card paired and a flush draw came in -- you are drawing dead vs quite a lot of hands.

Every time you whiff the flop early in a low stakes SNG you need to consider why you should continue in the hand. Playing out of position with ace high is not really where you want to be in the early stages.

I would also not advise you to raise more preflop -- AK is only hitting the flop 1 in 3...

[Creeper_thp]

If I'm going to make a bluff on the flop like this, I usually try to make it against one opponent, hopefully with position. Calling the turn and river makes no sense. Don't start thinking that just because you've put a bunch of money into the hand you're obligated to see it through to the end; the only hand you can beat is a pure bluff and pure bluffs generally don't call solid bets on the flop.

[ReDeYES88]

[ QUOTE ]
Every time you whiff the flop early in a low stakes SNG you need to consider why you should continue in the hand. Playing out of position with ace high is not really where you want to be in the early stages.

I would also not advise you to raise more preflop -- AK is only hitting the flop 1 in 3...

[/ QUOTE ]

I have found myself lately actually limping early rounds UTG or UTG+1 w/AKo. A reasonable raise never seems to get you isolated, and all it takes is one EP caller and everyone else seems to follow along like sheep.

I also am not in favor of an overbet PF, because that will either win the blinds w/out a fight, or if there is a caller (a sign of a very good hand) and I whiff the flop, then the action is to me and I am in a quandry. The pot is artifically too big, and I must bet a HUGE chunk of my stack for a believable continuation bet with Ace high into someone that I have reason to believe is holding good hand. I don't typically like doing that.

I think that limping UTG and playing it similar to a pocket pair can be a reasonable approach in the early rounds. You aren't committing a lot of chips with a hand that is only A high unless you connect, and it can be surprisingly easy to creep up on opponents that will bet or call with their Ace/weak kicker to the bitter end. Yes, I am likely to call a bigger PF raise with AKo than a pp after limping. Sometimes it is actually good not to have the lead in a hand, especially out of position.

I'm not looking to double up with AKo UTG early. I'm more than happy with winning a few hundred chips, or only spending a fraction of that trying.

Position, position, position.