over the top of an all-in with AK

#1 09-12-2005, 03:16 PM

couldn't find the hand history, sorry... anyway, it was fullring NL25 @ party, some donk who just lost a big pot pushed his slightly less than $10 stack all-in from EP. the player to his left just called it, leaving about $10 in his stack. i was sitting in the SB with AKo.

now, i figured that the short-stack was just making a frustration play and the caller didn't have to have much of a hand to call him with (didn't have any real reads except that he seemed to be on the loose side), so i pushed all-in over the top. standard or too loose? how do you all interpret someone just calling an all-in when there are players yet to act? i find AK such a hassle to play pre-flop sometimes.

Hoopster81 · #2 09-12-2005, 03:42 PM

The flat call wreaks of AA/KK

#3 09-12-2005, 03:45 PM

With a read I can call this. If the first player was loose and obviously frustrated he may be pushing with a TT to QQ (and even AJ, AQ). But you also need a read on the caller. The two hands that you are afraid of here KK and AA would probably go all-in to isolate (a good player would do this). But a poor player may just call with those hands. He may also be calling with weak hands. Your odds to call here are 3:1 and the chance of flopping the A or K are about 30%, but if the A or K does flop, you may be able to get some bets out of the caller. This is an easy fold against tight/solid players but against loose/poor players I might gamble it.

MINETZ · #4 09-12-2005, 03:49 PM

ALL IN, his smooth call can be a huge range of hands, plus you have good pot odds /w your ak.

JeanieJ · #5 09-12-2005, 03:51 PM

I really don't like the call. It's just AK afterall. Calling a tilting player is okay if your read is correct. Calling him +1 caller is probably a bad idea. The caller makes all the difference and you're charging yourself too much to see if you can hit the flop with this hand.

I would fold and find a better spot.

If there was no caller in front of me I would call in a heart beat, but that's not the case this time.

#6 09-12-2005, 03:53 PM

you have to consider that this is party $25. i'd seriously put the first guy on whatever random chaff he happened to pick up. like A2o and beyond. wasn't concerned about him at all. but the smoothcaller, no idea what range he could have, and how to interpret the call.

JeanieJ · #7 09-12-2005, 03:56 PM

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you have to consider that this is party $25. i'd seriously put the first guy on whatever random chaff he happened to pick up. like A2o and beyond. wasn't concerned about him at all. but the smoothcaller, no idea what range he could have, and how to interpret the call.

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Which is exactly why I don't like calling here. You have no clue as to what the cold caller has. You almost have to fold or go in praying hoping you hit your hand and it's best. It's a choice between gambling and not gambling. You're not gambling with the first opponent you're 80-90% sure you have him beat, you're gambling with the range of hands an opponent might JUST call a ten dollar push with.

nothumb · #8 09-12-2005, 04:16 PM

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you're gambling with the range of hands an opponent might JUST call a ten dollar push with.

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But realize that you're getting significantly better odds than if you were gambling straight up against this (possibly) strong hand. I think when you combine the fact that you are pretty likely to be at worst even money against the caller with the extra equity you get from the all-in (which makes up for some of those times you are up against a very strong hand) it's tough to get away from this one.

In my experience at the 25NL you will see the push from as many as 50% of the donk's hands and are a strong favorite. And there is a solid chance that you are a dominating favorite against both, as poor players at this level will happily call a steamer's all-in with most aces, suited aces and kings, any 2 paint, etc.

Bayes tells us here that they are both far more likely to have big cards you can beat, or at worst a pair and it's a coinflip.

NT

#9 09-12-2005, 04:55 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I really don't like the call. It's just AK afterall. Calling a tilting player is okay if your read is correct. Calling him +1 caller is probably a bad idea. The caller makes all the difference and you're charging yourself too much to see if you can hit the flop with this hand.

I would fold and find a better spot.

If there was no caller in front of me I would call in a heart beat, but that's not the case this time.

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