AK Hand w/ DEEP Stacks

[Spladle Master]

This was the first time I'd ever played with so much money (in relation to the blinds) on the table. I tried to alter how I played to adjust, but I'm not sure how I did. I think this hand illustrates how lost I felt with so much money available to bet.

First hand after I sat down, so no reads on opponents yet. Blinds are $0.25/$0.50 and I bought in for $200, enough to cover the table. Eight-handed. Big blind has ~$150 in this hand and button has ~$100.

I'm dealt A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] UTG. I limp. My thinking was that I didn't want to swell the pot with a top-pair hand, plus my position is bad. Mistake #1? I know I'd raise this every time in a tournament, or if the buy-in were closer to what I was used to. Good adjustment or bad?

After I limped, it was folded around to the button, who also limped. The small blind folded, but the big blind made it $5 to go. I was a little thrown by the size of the raise but decided to flat-call and see a flop. Mistake #2? The button called also.

The flop came down A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. Beautiful. The big blind led out with a $5 bet and I raised it to $30. I'm pretty sure this was a bad raise. At the time, I wasn't thinking past what my hand was. In retrospect, I find it hard to believe that my raise will (a) get a worse hand to call or (b) get a better hand to fold. It makes sense if someone's on a draw, but I found it hard to believe that either player was in this pot with clubs or QJ, QT or JT (maybe J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]?)

Anyway, the button flat-called, I almost had a heart-attack, and the big blind folded. This was when I realized that I'd probably made a bad raise, since I wasn't happy with being called. I had no clue where I stood in the hand, so when the turn bricked, (4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]) I thought for a good thirty seconds before announcing that I was all-in. My thinking was that if I checked and he went all-in, I'd call. So if I was beat, I was gonna lose a lot of chips anyway. But if I happened to be ahead of A9 or K9 or whatever, I'd really like to get the money in now before a scare card falls and I'm forced to make a REALLY tough decision.

So anyways, I pushed and he insta-called. Results to follow.

Thoughts?

[Ianco15]

My guess is that button has a set

[soah]

Preflop is good. Position is extremely important when the stacks are this deep. If you raise everyone will have a good idea of how strong you are with a ton of money left to bet. That's not good. Keep the pot small. Calling the raise is good. You have position against him with a premium hand.

On the flop you have a very strong, but beatable and perhaps vulnerable hand. Raising here is good. Although you didn't need to raise nearly so much. You want to find out where you're at before the pot gets out of control. While it's perhaps unlikely that the BB has AA or KK, it's certainly possible. When he makes that weak bet after his preflop raise he probably either has a monster, or nothing.

When button calls the bet and the huge raise cold on the flop, you've gotten your answer about where you're at. On the button with AK he would have raised preflop most likely, so the only strong made hand he could really have here is a set of nines. Maybe A9. He could also have some sort of gutshot straight flush draw, but many players would reraise with that rather than have to face a turn bet when they miss. Against a solid player you're probably up against a set of nines most likely, with A9 and QcJc/JcTc being possible but a bit less likely.

You didn't provide any information on the button so I've assumed he is a rational/decent player. But discussing what to do on the turn here is pointless with no information on your opponent. If he's fishy, then push. If he's not fishy, then you may be screwed.

Edit: didn't realize that this was the first hand you played at the table. With no reads this is obviously much tougher. In the future it would perhaps be a better plan to buy in for less when you don't know your opponents.

[JohnG]

[ QUOTE ]
This was the first time I'd ever played with so much money (in relation to the blinds) on the table. I tried to alter how I played to adjust, but I'm not sure how I did. I think this hand illustrates how lost I felt with so much money available to bet.

First hand after I sat down, so no reads on opponents yet. Blinds are $0.25/$0.50 and I bought in for $200, enough to cover the table. Eight-handed. Big blind has ~$150 in this hand and button has ~$100.

I'm dealt A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] UTG. I limp. My thinking was that I didn't want to swell the pot with a top-pair hand, plus my position is bad. Mistake #1?

[/ QUOTE ]

Limping is fine. Lots of good players would limp more often than they raise here. Even more so on the first hand.

[ QUOTE ]
After I limped, it was folded around to the button, who also limped. The small blind folded, but the big blind made it $5 to go. I was a little thrown by the size of the raise but decided to flat-call and see a flop. Mistake #2?

[/ QUOTE ]

With position on the raiser calling can be ok. I'd prefer it to re-raising. If the raiser had position on you, then folding would be ok on such deep stacks.

[ QUOTE ]
The flop came down A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. Beautiful. The big blind led out with a $5 bet and I raised it to $30. I'm pretty sure this was a bad raise. At the time, I wasn't thinking past what my hand was. In retrospect, I find it hard to believe that my raise will (a) get a worse hand to call or (b) get a better hand to fold.

[/ QUOTE ]

With these thoughts, assuming they are accurate, calling would be the best move, unless you think a raise is very likely to win the pot now whereas allowing a card to come off is likely to lead to you giving up the pot you would have won with a bet on the previous round. That would be bad and a raise on the flop would be in order.

I can see raising and folding to a jam from the original raiser, and playing it as best hand on turn if just called by either player. But I'd be inclined to call on the flop and wait until the turn here, or induce the button to raise the flop with weaker hands. If the button did raise, I can get away if the original raiser then jams, or get it allin if the original raiser folds. If the button doesn't raise, and a safe card falls, I can make a raise on the turn in better shape against those big draws. And if a bad card falls, I can call a bet.

[ QUOTE ]
So anyways, I pushed and he insta-called. Results to follow.

Thoughts?

[/ QUOTE ]

99 is really the only hand to be worried about. Given your limp preflop, he may not give you AK. he may give you AQ, AJ, or some kind of drawing hand and be thinking his A9 is best.

Given that he did not raise the flop, he probably has the top pair and nut flush draw knowing he was likely behind on the flop. Or A9 given he may not have wanted to raise with that on the flop with the preflop raiser still to act behind him with a possible monster. Or the slowplayed set of nines is also possible for his action. He could also have played straight and flush draws this way in the face of strength. As he's unknown, he could have more hands. So you are likely ahead and pushing is probably best rather than risk a probable free card for those drawing hands. As a push is only about pot size, I would push and pray.

If it was much bigger than pot size I would bet about 2/3 to 3/4 the pot and if called, check-call or check-fold the river depending on whether the flush hits.

If this was the first hand after you sat down, wait until the blinds have passed before you join the game, or buy in for a much lesser stack and add chips on your button.

[Spladle Master]

Button turned over J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] and my heart stopped. I held my breath when the river card was dealt, but it was a blank, and so I scooped the biggest pot of my life up to that point with AK.

Obviously, my opponent in this hand was ridiculously terrible, but I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't being weak-tight or anything by thinking I was beat when my flop raise got flat-called. Against THIS PARTICULAR OPPONENT, I probably played the hand optimally, but against most thinking players, a smooth-call on the flop would probably be better.

Thanks for the responses, and sorry for the little "insta-called" bit, but he really did call so fast that I was 99% sure he had a set.

[soah]

Just for the record, I was thinking a bit more about this hand earlier. While I wrote my reply I kept thinking that you really don't want to get 200bb in the pot with just two pair. But I really was downplaying the significance of the big raise preflop, which really doesn't leave you much room to manuever postflop. I was also a bit biased by the fact that I already knew that your opponent insta-called your turn push. Against completely unknown opponents, I'm not sure that I would do anything differently. (I'd be scared as hell that I'm behind, though.)

And I'm not just writing this because of the results either, but I didn't quite feel like getting out of bed and turning the computer back on to post this earlier...