Married to AK?....do you lay this down?
 

Absolute .50 NL....8 handed.

Hero is MP1 with A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] with $68
Villian is in CO with $98 Villian just sat down, no read whatsoever.

Hero makes it $2 to go, MP2 calls, Villian calls

$6.75
8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]7 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
Hero bets $4, MP2 folds, Villian calls

$14.75
7 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
Hero bets $9, Villian minraises...hmmmm...Hero calls.

Bad call? Reraise?

$50
8 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
Great, two pair on the board and an Ace which I've paired.
Hero checks, Villian bets $29.50

Hero???

I thought long and hard about this....do I think the 7s or the 8s helped him? Is he bluffing his missed draw? Flop a set that turned into quads? Normally I'd think I was good because who's calling a 4x pf raise with a 7 or an 8 but I've seen a lot of donks out here at this level.

Re: Married to AK?....do you lay this down?
 

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I thought long and hard about this....do I think the 7s or the 8s helped him? Is he bluffing his missed draw? Flop a set that turned into quads? Normally I'd think I was good because who's calling a 4x pf raise with a 7 or an 8 but I've seen a lot of donks out here at this level.


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FYI - I, and I suspect a lot of people in this forum, might call a standard raise (4xbb) by a deep stacked player while holding suited connectors in late position.

I only say this because you implied that holding a 7 or an 8 would make him a donk, when that wouldn't necessarily be the case. A person who plays position well will call a standard range with a wide variety of hands because he has position and because you can't put him on a hand.

Regarding this specific hand- its very tough without a read.

Typically the turn minraise is a sign of real strength.

Your best hope is he has an ace and a weaker kicker and, he thought you missed the flop and could push you off of a pocket pair (under aces).

I think more often then not, he has a fullhouse.

Re: Married to AK?....do you lay this down?
 

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FYI - I, and I suspect a lot of people in this forum, might call a standard raise (4xbb) by a deep stacked player while holding suited connectors in late position.

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Oh yeah. Late position, preflop, with a few callers, I'll call with 77, 88, 87s, and 98s. You're getting good implied odds from the deep stacked player (and the other callers).

Re: Married to AK?....do you lay this down?
 

Are two other players enough?

Re: Married to AK?....do you lay this down?
 

You have to get out. Very few players in my experience are going to try a bluff on that board. He's got a full house-probably the 7.

Re: Married to AK?....do you lay this down?
 

My thoughts are he has limped and has made a fullhouse. This is one of those tough ones to lay down but has to be done.

Re: Married to AK?....do you lay this down?
 

Agree with the laydown... full house seems very likely.
Personally, I am not a big fan of AK at low limits. There´s just too many guys out there playing Ax to a preflop raise, making AK a trouble hand with an Axx board. I try one pot sized raise and if I get called I will check it down or lay it down. Might miss out on a few pots, but think you will lose a lot less.

Re: Married to AK?....do you lay this down?
 

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Are two other players enough?

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It depends. If they have big stacks and I think they're the type of players who'd pay me off if I hit, then yes. I play full ring. I usually like to see 4 or more people in the pot.

Re: Married to AK?....do you lay this down?
 

It's REALLY tough to do (I don't know if I have ever done it), but I think your best action is to lay this down on the turn. He filled up with that 7 90% of the time I think (edit -- or hit trips? I didn't realize that second 8 came on the river when I first wrote this). With the great pot odds you're getting from a min-raise it's painful to fold, but it seems like you're nearly drawing dead a vast majority of the time to a turn min-raise. And you know you're going to have to call a big river bet to this line from villain. So, unless you have a read on him that he's capable of making a bluff like this, I think you should lay it down on the turn (I hope I can make this play one day in the heat of battle).

Re: Married to AK?....do you lay this down?
 

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Are two other players enough?

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Sure. But that seems to me like a "limit" question. In no-limit, the number of players isn't as important- stack sizes are.

Think of it this way:
You have 60bb and you find yourself on the button with pocket 4s. Which situation would you prefer:
(1) There is a raise to 4xbb. By the time it gets to you, there are 3 players with 20BB
OR
(2) you are heads up against 1 player with 60bb for a 4xbb raise

I would argue that heads up is better. You have a better chance of winning more because the chances are that the flop isn't going to hit all 3 opponents, so 1-2 of them are likely to disappear after the flop. So you're not likely to have the potential to will all 60bb.

Now if you're heads up with the raiser, you know that he likes his hand more then a bunch of callers, you can generally put him on a range of hands, and you have a better chance, I think, of having access to his whole stack.