($16) AK from the BB
 

2nd hand of tournament, no reads

Blinds are 10/20, we are 9 handed

Relevant Stacks:

MP t1500
Hero in BB t1500 and AKos

Folds to mp who calls, folds to hero who checks.

Flop is A [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]T [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] pot is 55

Hero bets 40, MP calls 40

Turn is 8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] pot is 135

Hero bets 100, MP calls 100

River is 9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] pot is 335

Hero checks, MP bets 100, Hero Calls

Okay so, I didn't want to buld a big pot early OOP with a hand like AK so I just checked to see if I'd hit the flop and maybe destack a limped A-x. Well I hit my ace, but with 2 worrisome cards on the flop. I'm confident he doesn't have AQ due to the lack of an open raise, but weaker aces are possibilities.

Every draw hit on the river and the only ace I beat is A7 and below. I figured my hand does have showdown potential and I can beat a complete bluff so a check/call was the best line for the river but can a case be made for check/folding? Granted getting 3:1 is hard to fold a reasonable holding in general but I was just wondering what people thought.

Anybody play this a little harder? I was using what I like to call "cautious aggression" aka value betting.

Re: ($16) AK from the BB
 

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Okay so, I didn't want to buld a big pot early OOP with a hand like AK

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why not? you've got one of the best hands in poker so why are you not raising with one caller and only BB to act? Then doing at least a pot-sized continuation bet on that scary flop? (and folding most likely to a big re-raise)? The way you did it you basically have no idea where u are at until the river.

Re: ($16) AK from the BB
 

One pair hands like small pots.

Don't get involved in big pots out of position without a dominating hand.

NL HE 101

PS, I think it is funny how willing so many people are to raise/re-raise out of the BB/SB with AK but how unwilling they are to open raise from the CO-1/CO/Button with 77+.

Re: ($16) AK from the BB
 

[ QUOTE ]
Don't get involved in big pots out of position without a dominating hand.

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you have t1500 and it's early so even with a 3xbb raise it's not big compared to your stack. I realize you're OOP, but the SB gives you position against the caller for now which you can use to your advantage and I think with BB still to act a raise is definitely in order here with AKo. Am wondering what other posters think. maybe I'm smoking crack here but does anyone not raise here ever??

Re: ($16) AK from the BB
 

That's bc AK is a better hand than 77. It's "behind" PPs, but it's still better against the possible range of hands your opponent might be playing. It dominates any ace or king your opponent is playing, and is at worst a coinflip against a pair. 77 can be in far more trouble preflop, and is at best a coinflip. Besides, it's a trickier hand to play postflop after a raise.

EDIT: I also raise 77 here.

Re: ($16) AK from the BB
 

I raise here a % of the time, I mean just to mix it up but if you are gonna raise here you gotta do it more than 3xbb. 4-6xbb helps reduce their odds to see a flop.

That isn't to say that raising out of the blinds is something you should NEVER do, but not raising out of the blinds here is not a leak imo which you seemed to imply it was in your response.

Re: ($16) AK from the BB
 

There are both advantages and disadvantages with both PF lines.

Having elected to check behind, I'm looking to check-raise this flop. A lone MP vs just the BB, I think we get a c-bet here quite often.

Re: ($16) AK from the BB
 

If I dominate any ace or king why do I want them to fold preflop? I want us to hit our hand together and then for him to give me as many chips as possible.

Hence why I checked.

Re: ($16) AK from the BB
 

Given that you didn't raise PF, it's going to be pretty hard to figure out what's going on here. I'll just comment that this kind of board can be a disaster for AK, particularly out of position, since there are 1 billion draws, lots of ways for weirdo two pair hands to be out there (any two broadway seems like it's in the limping range of a pretty large number of low buyin SNG players, in my experience), and 88 (EDIT: 77, a middling pocket pair that doesn't actually make a set, is more what I meant.) is less likely to be hanging around and paying you off on these kinds of boards. Your plan of trying to show down relatively cheaply seems good, and is more or less what I'd do.

Re: ($16) AK from the BB
 

I think if I would have raised preflop here and gotten a call a c/r would be alot better, but given the pf check a bet/3-bet all in is optimal IMO.

That is to say, a c/r is very likely to get villain to fold his hand on the flop or to our inevitable turn push if he does call whereas if he does have an ace (AJ for instance) he is likely to raise me on the flop and I can 3-bet all-in and he may call me.