AK against two calling stations?

10+1, SNG, $800, 15/30. 8 players.

2 loose passive players Mr. A $1565 and B $645 swap chips among themselves. 6 typical players. Hero $640.

Hero UTG AK raises 3bb, not 4bb considering the two calling stations.
Mr.B UTG+1 calls as suspected.
Mr.A BB calls as suspected.

Flop 97Q rainbow. Mr. A checks. Hero thinks for a long time about continuation bets. Hero feels Mr A and Mr B has a little bit and will call hero down. It is still early. Hero checks. Mr B checks.

Turn 97Q 3 rainbow. Mr. A bets $150. Hero folds. Mr. B calls.

Sour taste in hero's mouth.

[Melchiades]

Well you can't really make continuation bets with air against calling stations, can you? Unless you know an ace is coming on the turn off course.

[Sciolist]

I think you should know whether you're going to continuation bet or not on the flop before you reach it. If you're pausing for 10 seconds then betting, it doesn't give the same impression as if you time your bet identically to your easy "I just made tptk" bets.

And no, if they're calling stations, not much point continuation betting here.

Thanks. The thinking was a mistake.

Can I exploit the situation better by limping or min raising preflop?

[Melchiades]

Why would you not make a real raise when you have a couple of calling stations that will call with trash hands? Limping or minraising seems to be the worst way to play against people like this, you will make them play almost correct. You just need to get better hitting the flop.

[Sciolist]

No. If you do that, firstly you are letting in more hands like 55 or 78s, which can really damage you if you flop tptk as you still have little idea where you might be.

Secondly, it's good to have two weak passive players calling you preflop with worse hands. You don't have to take every pot to make a move +ev. I'd simply be raising my normal amount preflop, and letting the hand go if I don't make anything on the flop. The chances are they're going to come along with a weaker ace/king, or something stupid like 2nd pair. Those're the times that pay for the preflop bets.

Thanks for the advice guys.

[Sciolist]

Welcome. Hope it helps. Hope I'm right :]

[splashpot]

If you KNOW they're going to call with worse hands, theoretically you should go all in preflop. You should want to make the biggest raise that you think they'll call with incorrect odds.

Thanks. This is a revelation to me. I was schooled in this line of thought:

"
Early on, the correct strategy is very simple: Play tight, tighter and tightest. Your primary goal right now is not to win chips, it is to ensure that you have chips to play with later. Survival is the key; winning chips is just a cherry on top. Why? Because it is much easier to outplay the opposition when it is down to fewer players, and you lose this opportunity if you foolishly waste your chips now.

Playing generally tight is important, but just as important is specifically avoiding hands that have the potential to lose a lot of chips by making a second-best hand. This means hands like A-Q, A-J, A-T, K-Q,K-J, etc. should be treated like the plague early on in a no-limit SNG,unless you can steal the blinds or win a small pot with them. Even in a limit tournament, playing a hand weaker than A-Q is asking to be taken down a notch.

Note that these examples assume that no one has raised before you enter the pot. If someone has raised, you do not want to fight him unless you are quite sure your hand is the best. If the raise is around 5-7 percent of your stack, you can call with any pair hoping to flop a set. A-A and K-K are clear reraising situations. Q-Q and J-J are borderline hands.

Hands like T-T and A-K should usually be folded to a raise of more than 10% of your stack. Even when the raiser is very loose, you can easily get into trouble on these hands. If you do play them, play them carefully, and do not attempt to push a small edge.

"