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Hi,
This is a problem I've faced a number of times. The situation is as follows: I have a strong hand like AK / AQ UTG and raise. someone behind me coldcalls. The flop comes rags. I check, he bets, I fold.

If I do this a few times, I'm worried that my more observant opponents will start noticing and make this "play" on me with nothing. What do most people do in this situation, especially OOP.

The other problem is again same hands AK/AQ UTG, I raise and feel I'm constantly getting re-raised behind me. Flop is blank, blank, blank. Quite lost as to what to do here.

Are these just standard folds or is it weak/tight to fold these.

[djoyce003]

i usually make a continuation bet after I raise....if they are always playing back at me on raggedy flops, then you'll eventually smoke them with a big pocket pair.

[PokerCat69]

Bet the missed flop, when raised, Re-raise.
Don't play like a pansy. A buyin is nothing, show these guys that you can't be pushed off a hand.

[ajmargarine]

Cat, can I add you to my buddy list. Pretty please. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

haha, be careful with sarcasm(i hope that's what your post was). a newbie like me might start taking that seriously and implementing your advice

Hmm this seems to happen quite a bit. A few suggestions:

First, how much do you raise in the first place? If you are min betting, you are misplaying the hand. I suggest a raise of about 3 or 4x. It's important to be aggressive. Also, I wouldn't check fold when you miss your flop. I tend to use a continuation bet, even when I'm OOP. You'd be surprised how often a healthy raise will take down the pot.

Sometimes, and this depends on the opponent or table, try check-raising. They often put you on an overpair.

--solids

[PokerCat69]

[ QUOTE ]
Cat, can I add you to my buddy list. Pretty please. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]
I play under the name: "WhiteApe69" at Empire.
Listen I don't have problems when playing but OP is being pushed off his hand over and over again.
I told him not to be bullied. Simply put, he needs to more aggressive.

[ajmargarine]

I am assuming full table here:

UTG and UTG+1 can be a tough place to play. Maybe fold AQo in these spots for now. Raise with AK, AA, KK, QQ, and limp with other pp's and fold all other hands. If you play AK and get one caller and the board is rags, go ahead and bet like you would if you had AA. If you get raised, fold. If you get called, shut down unless an A or K comes on the turn, then bet again.

If you get more than one caller when you PFR with AK, check/fold a rag board is fine. If you PFR from UTG and someone raises you preflop, they have a real strong hand. Average players understand that if UTG raises, he usually has something big, and would only reraise with something huge.

[subzero]

Check/folding every time you miss with AK is weak. You can often take down the pot with a 3/4 or full pot continuation bet on the flop, especially if...

- there are just 1 or 2 preflop callers
- your opponents are weak
- the flop appears to have missed everyone (e.g. 7-4-2)
- the flop has just one high card that you can represent (e.g. Q-7-2)
- you are in late position and everyone checks to you

If you're OOP and you're constantly check/folding your AK/AQ on the flop, try playing back at them sometimes with a check-raise. You know you missed, but your opponents don't know that.

Remember, all is not lost if your continuation bet gets called. Your AK can still catch one of the six Aces or Kings in the deck. You may even outplay them on later streets (e.g. you put someone on a busted draw and bet the river).