Would it be a bad thing if I just started folding AK UI to any bet?
 

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know when to release this hand. I frequently find myself making useless continuation bets or chasing the turn and river hoping to pair up. I even call rivers UI sometimes hoping the other person also has a big ace. It's pathetic how much I spew on this "premium" hand that NEVER seems to hit for me. Can I generally start mucking this on the flop in good conscience? Would something like that be devastating to my EV?

Re: Would it be a bad thing if I just started folding AK UI to any bet?
 

You can against a lot of players, especially if the board is coordinated. Against 1-2 players though you often have the best hand. Reads will obviously influence this a lot as will the texture of the board.

The other thing is to consider the effect this has on your big pocket pairs and your hands that do hit (ie if you bet when you have a hand, check/fold when you don't you are fairly easy to play against).

But it's certainly not manditory to raise preflop and follow up with a flop bet - sometimes the best play is to check/fold. "Middle Limit Hold'em" goes into great detail on this and the biggest factors it points out are the number of opponents and your position.

Re: Would it be a bad thing if I just started folding AK UI to any bet
 

hmm...i fold AKo pf if there are 2 players already in.

ok, seriously...NO! How can you expect to get an answer to such a general question? On the flop you often will have BDFD, BDSD and 2 overcards- meaning you can often RAISE depending on where the bet came from.

Things to take into consideration:
-the player betting
-the number of players
-your relative position
-pot size (dependant on how many players
-draws (are they betting TP into you or a gutshot?
-your draws/backdoor draws

so no, you cannot fold to a flop bet ALWAYS but I wouldn't say you can NEVER fold. Poker isn't black and white. You dont want to play with my toy soldier.

Re: Would it be a bad thing if I just started folding AK UI to any bet
 

[ QUOTE ]
hmm...i fold AKo pf if there are 2 players already in.

ok, seriously...NO! How can you expect to get an answer to such a general question? On the flop you often will have BDFD, BDSD and 2 overcards- meaning you can often RAISE depending on where the bet came from.

Things to take into consideration:
-the player betting
-the number of players
-your relative position
-pot size (dependant on how many players
-draws (are they betting TP into you or a gutshot?
-your draws/backdoor draws

so no, you cannot fold to a flop bet ALWAYS but I wouldn't say you can NEVER fold. Poker isn't black and white. You dont want to play with my toy soldier.

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aka read SSH playing overcards section

Re: Would it be a bad thing if I just started folding AK UI to any bet
 

Like everything else in this game, the correct answer is - it depends... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Assume the worst-case scenario - you totally miss the flop, and only have 6 outs for TPTK (3 Aces, 3 Kings) - no flush draws, no straight draws possible. With 6 outs, you'll hit your card by the river a little less than 1 in 3 times. So there needs to be 4 SB in the pot to even consider spending one more bet (which will happen if you raised pre-flop and got at least one caller).

Then, you need to account for the fact that it's possible you get your pair and still lose. This depends a lot on how coordinated the board is - if there are flush draws or straight draws on the board, the pot needs to be higher before you can act.

Then look at your position - if you are closing the action, you can have lower pot odds than if there were 4 people after you who could raise your bet.

Only when you take all of that into consideration can you decide if folding gives you the greatest EV. For me, if I'm closing the action on an uncoordinated board, I'd probably bet if there were only 5 or 6 SB in the pot. If it's a coordinated board where I'm not closing the action, I'd probably need 10 or 11 SB (or more, depending on how coordinated the flop was) in there. In either case, I'd go through the entire exercise again after the turn, when the bets are doubled.

Side note: the problem with a continuation bet here (where you lead the betting), is that it's really not believable after a pre-flop raise, at least to me. Unless you're a maniac who will raise junk hands pre-flop, I have to believe that you missed the flop when it doesn't contain any high cards or good drawing possibilities.

Re: Would it be a bad thing if I just started folding AK UI to any bet
 

[ QUOTE ]
Assume the worst-case scenario - you totally miss the flop, and only have 6 outs for TPTK (3 Aces, 3 Kings) - no flush draws, no straight draws possible. With 6 outs, you'll hit your card by the river a little less than 1 in 3 times. So there needs to be 4 SB in the pot to even consider spending one more bet (which will happen if you raised pre-flop and got at least one caller).

[/ QUOTE ]

This is definitely not the worse case - reverse-domination is much worse. Jason Pohl has some great articles on this.

http://www.pokerpages.com/articles/archives/index.htm

[ QUOTE ]
Side note: the problem with a continuation bet here (where you lead the betting), is that it's really not believable after a pre-flop raise, at least to me. Unless you're a maniac who will raise junk hands pre-flop, I have to believe that you missed the flop when it doesn't contain any high cards or good drawing possibilities.

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On the other hand - if the flop comes 632 and I have AK, if you are holding T9 or A7 you are drawing pretty thin even though I didn't pair up making it a value bet with the best hand.

Re: Would it be a bad thing if I just started folding AK UI to any bet
 

For all they know, you raised with TT+ and are raising for value.

Re: Would it be a bad thing if I just started folding AK UI to any bet?
 

I did not read any responses yet. But there are so many different situations with a hand like AK. You should probably just post some hands where you feel lost, then we can comment on them. You seem to be looking for some type of general rule on how to play AK unimproved, sadly there is not.

Re: Would it be a bad thing if I just started folding AK UI to any bet
 

[ QUOTE ]
For all they know, you raised with TT+ and are raising for value.

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This is of course a possibility. Thing to realize though is that it doesn't matter whether they put you on an ace or a pair. If they can't beat ace high (or even king/queen high) - they are likely behind your entire range and you put a lot of pressure on them to fold.

Re: Would it be a bad thing if I just started folding AK UI to any bet
 

[ QUOTE ]
Assume the worst-case scenario - you totally miss the flop, and only have 6 outs for TPTK (3 Aces, 3 Kings) - no flush draws, no straight draws possible. With 6 outs, you'll hit your card by the river a little less than 1 in 3 times. So there needs to be 4 SB in the pot to even consider spending one more bet

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just wanted to point out that no one should take this advice. no offense.