Bahamas hand
 

Level One. 25/50. I have about 11k.

Two EP limpers, I make it t350 in MP w/ AK. Folded back to the first limper who reraises to 1200. Folded to me.

Do I call? It seemed to me and really felt like he had QQ or JJ. Let's just assume he doesn't have AA or KK, for sake of argument. So if I hit the flop I can win the pot. But he may check and fold if the flop comes A or K high. Meaning I won't make any more than what is already in there.

Or should I reraise, and show him I'm committed to the pot?

You guys see my problem here?

Re: Bahamas hand
 

If I put in the third raise, obviously I'm willing to go all-in and take the coinflip in level one for all of my chips (not sure if I had him covered, it was close either way).

But should I take the flip this easy?

Do I have any folding equity? Would I put in a third raise w/ KK or AA or would I smoothcall for deception?

Or could I flatcall his limp reraise and push over him on the flop, representing AA or KK? This seems too risky.

Thoughts?

Re: Bahamas hand
 

If you make it 3.5k I can't imagine that his push could be anything but AA/KK and I would then fold to a push. If he calls its much much trickier to play the flop.

Re: Bahamas hand
 

I like the reraise to gain more information in the hand. If you just call, you'll be hard pressed to make a move if your ace or king does not hit, and furthermore you don't know for sure if you're ahead if you hit your A or K (though it's safe to say a majority of the time you will be).

Re: Bahamas hand
 

[ QUOTE ]
If you just call, you'll be hard pressed to make a move if your ace or king does not hit

[/ QUOTE ]

Its harder to make a move on the pot if you miss with AK after you put in the third raise. Now on the flop the pot is 7.5k and thats about what you have in your stack. You have to make a big decision here with very little wiggle room.

Re: Bahamas hand
 

He does have position, though. Plus, the third raise is not going to give off a read of AK to villain, don't you think?

I will admit though that I wouldn't know how to address the flop properly if I put in a third raise and the flop missed the AK. If the flop was all rags, how can villain get away from their hand, assuming hero's read? I could see them maybe laying down JJ or TT, but for the most part you're screwed with the pot about the size of your chip stack

Re: Bahamas hand
 

That's right. If he calls the reraise (not a given by any means as I think there are lots of players who will lay down JJ and might lay down QQ here) you also cannot rule out AA (that's how I would play AA in this situation).

So, if you see a flop, 70% of the time you have a pot as big as your stack and no clue if your opponent can lay down a hand which is certainly ahead of you. Not fun. Personally if my 3rd raise is called and i miss im pretty much done with the hand. If he won't fold QQ preflop there, he's not gonna fold it on an undercard flop.

Re: Bahamas hand
 

One thing I did notice was how narrow Tyler's read was, though.

In this case, I guess our assumption is that villain is a tight and solid player?

So how to address with a looser/weak player. On one end, your AK is probably better and more valuable to reraise with, but on the other hand you're getting on the gambling side in a big pot with a lesser-skilled player. Whether or not that's good or bad is up to the tournament structure and situation.

And furthermore, how to play AK in this scenario against a loose aggro? This seems like the opportunity to call the raise.

Re: Bahamas hand
 

loose weak players dont limp reraise very often, when they do I'm inclined to think they have the goods.

Against a LAGy player im willing to call with position here, and hope he bluffs a ton of chips to me.

Re: Bahamas hand
 

In your position I am through with the hand at this level there is no way I would be looking to put a signifcent number of chips in a pot which could be at best a 50:50 shot. Incedently if I was the limp reraiser it would be AA or KK every time without fail.

One of the reasons I deploy the tactic is it is amazing how often an aggressive player will try to blow you off the pot with a big bet with an AK.

Ross

Re: Bahamas hand
 

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in poker is assuming that somebody else plays the same way you do. Just because you would only limp reraise with AA-KK doesnt mean that your opponents do.

Re: Bahamas hand
 

If you reraise to T3000, what do you do if he goes all in?

How many chips did he have?

Re: Bahamas hand
 

I might call the raise and see what develops.

I do not like to gamble that early in a tournament. I had a similiar situation last night that I posted.

Re: Bahamas hand
 

IMO calling is bad. You only hit 30% of the time on the flop, and those times that you do hit your implied odds are 0, so you really don't have the odds to draw (this is the rare case where you can be pretty sure your up against a pocket pair).

Re: Bahamas hand
 

IMO calling is bad.

I can see your point.

Re: Bahamas hand
 

Sorry that is not the point I was making. The question really boils down to is there any hand that he will make the move with & pay you off if you hit an Ace or King?

Answer unless he is very loose or borderline maniac you are unlikely to up against AQ or AJ therefore you cannot be ahead if an A or K falls on the flop you are either absolutely dead to pocket Aces or Kings or you loose your customer.

On balance more downside than upside next hand.

Ross

Re: Bahamas hand
 

i think mlg has pretty definitively answered this thread. i'd fold preflop, maybe he has AA or KK, if he has QQ or JJ (which i doubt), flop is xxx he bets you fold, flop is Axx he checks you bet he folds.