Re: standard $109 AK hand?
 

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Furthermore, I think that ICM overvalues my strength when I call and lose because I am UTG and will take a blind that cripples my remaining strength.

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Don't get me started on how much ICM undervalues your strength when you call and win.

4 handed with one stack at 500! You with ~5k! That is SNG heaven.

Edit: I think this particular hand is almost too close to matter against most opponents.

Re: standard $109 AK hand?
 

oops, i realized that I would have a big stack but didn't realize that I would be the big stack on the bubble with a shorty in the SB, good point.

If you use the IMO more realistic hand range (the first one) this is a 23.13, this is a -.7% call for ICM. Granted, the big stack puts me in a very +EV situation, but so does folding. If I fold I have a very healthy, almost even stack with low blinds and plenty of time to outplay my opponents. This is definitly looking closer though.


What do you think about doing something other than raising to 400 utg here jman?

Re: standard $109 AK hand?
 

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What do you think about doing something other than raising to 400 utg here jman?


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Haven't thought about it much. The raise to t400 is my standard play. (I guess it would be a good idea to think about plays we make)

Maybe open pushing would be better, or at least about as good.

I guess it really depends on your opponents. The more aggressive they are, the more you should lean toward open pushing, since you are not interested in getting involved in a coinflip here.

I'd need to look at some ICM to get exact here. I know that you wouldn't mind just taking the blinds, and you would like to get all in v Ax or Kx. You want pairs to fold.

Just a guess, but I think pushing may usually be the best play here. You may get AQ to call. You likely take the blinds. You probably get 22-99 to fold, and maybe TT?

I'm not going to reread my post, as it's now bedtime, and I probably have made a few mistakes that I don't want to fix. I'd prefer to just type this disclaimer.

Re: standard $109 AK hand?
 

Here's my thinking on the hand:

I do agree that you should lay this down against most opponents. I will call in 2 situations.

1. This is an overly aggressive player that comes over the top frequently.

2. This player, or a couple of other players at the tables are multi-tablers that you play with alot. A utg raise means strength and if you lay down it shows you do not want to play for all your chips even with some of your best hands. With a number of regulars I like to appear as I will not get pushed around, and with a hand this close I think this is a good time to show you are willing to play with them for all their stacks.


I would never consider limping here. Pushing is an option on certain tables, but I still prefer the raise to T400 or 425.

Re: standard $109 AK hand?
 

I like the t400 raise because you aren't getting pushed over the top too often, and a lot of the time, you should be showing AA-QQ here. Gotta keep your range tight here though, which sucks.

Re: standard $109 AK hand?
 

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I like the t400 raise because you aren't getting pushed over the top too often, and a lot of the time, you should be showing AA-QQ here. Gotta keep your range tight here though, which sucks.

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It isn't just someone pushing over the top though, its any action. Do I want the button just calling and us taking a flop?

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2. This player, or a couple of other players at the tables are multi-tablers that you play with alot. A utg raise means strength and if you lay down it shows you do not want to play for all your chips even with some of your best hands. With a number of regulars I like to appear as I will not get pushed around, and with a hand this close I think this is a good time to show you are willing to play with them for all their stacks.

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I don't know if this is too big of a concern. The regulars know that you aren't a donk, so they are going to obviously respect your raise. As such, they are probably only going to reraise with a strong hand, and expect you to realize this. I would also raise 88 here, and folding to the push is certainly reasonable. If they knew that you were folding AK here then it would definitly be bad, but they can't tell if you're laying down a monster or a maraginal pocket.

Re: standard $109 AK hand?
 

Meh, yeah. I guess reads are really important here.

Action sorta sucks, especially OOP, but man, I've seen way too many Villains call, check to me on flop, and fold to the random bet I put out there.

Re: standard $109 AK hand?
 

Ok, I understand a little more now, but I think I disagree with lastchance here. If your factoring in 'no reads' my general thinking, at least in his situation, if he pushes over the top with any marginal hands (AJs, etc) hes gonna get you running enough of the time to make it possibly worth a re-steal chance here. Picking up this hand brings him to about 3500, giving him a solid edge here on out in this tournament.

Like I said before I'm not positive on how to handle this because I dont play 109s, but it seems like you can add those marginal hands you put in your math earlier to the list, and brings this to almost a 50/50 call fold imo. Just like Mike McD said, gotta go with whats in your gut.

Re: standard $109 AK hand?
 

Its very well possible that he's pushing things like AJ, but this is a very large raise that he's making. If you were holding AJ there, do you think that you would raise all in? I think that I might play it safe and call on the button. I'm only risking 400 instead of 2200 and position is huge here. There's the added bonus that I'll be able to get more chips here without a showdown as well. If I raise all in off of a continuation bet, I'll be restealing around 1200 of my opponent's chips instead of just the 625 that are in the pot pf.

This is one of the reasons why I'm not too certain that even AQ is in there. Some opponents might be smooth calling on the button with AQ as well.