AK good or bad?

[mike l.]

5-5 $500 max nl live 6 handed mediocre game at best. so im sitting there and a sorta pal of mine who plays pretty well is telling me about how he made a really nice laydown in a game the other day. i get AcKs in the bb. it's live straddled for $10. everyone folds to sb, my pal, who calls the $5, i make it $40 straight, straddler folds, sb calls quickly.

the flop is KhKc7c, he checks, i bet only $60 and he calls right away.

the turn is Th. he checks, he has $270 and ive got him covered, so i put him all in.

did i play this right?

[James282]

If you bet whatever you'd normally bet on the flop, then I think it's fine.
-James

[ClaytonN]

[ QUOTE ]
a sorta pal of mine who plays pretty well is telling me about how he made a really nice laydown in a game the other day.

[/ QUOTE ]
I take it for metagame purposes this explains the jam on the turn as opposed to another smaller value bet? Or what?

It looks fine to me.

[lapoker17]

So nobody's worried about what he called you with on the flop? With these stacks, you're getting it all in, but 77 completes the SB and calls a raise. If your deeper, it's often best to play trips in smaller pots until you fill up, but here you don't really have a choice.

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
5-5 $500 max nl live 6 handed mediocre game at best. so im sitting there and a sorta pal of mine who plays pretty well is telling me about how he made a really nice laydown in a game the other day. i get AcKs in the bb. it's live straddled for $10. everyone folds to sb, my pal, who calls the $5, i make it $40 straight, straddler folds, sb calls quickly.

the flop is KhKc7c, he checks, i bet only $60 and he calls right away.

the turn is Th. he checks, he has $270 and ive got him covered, so i put him all in.

did i play this right?

[/ QUOTE ]

Why are you playing in a sub-mediocre game unless you expected it to get better soon?

BTF the raise to $40 seems about right but I guess some would argue for a slightly bigger raise maybe to $60.

Before the flop betting the pot is $85 or so after rake. With a big hand on a semi-drawfull flop I'd bet maybe $70 or $80 but $60 can't be that bad unless you rarely underbet the pot (against regular observant opponents). Then it looks like you are trying to trap.

Before the turn betting the pot was $205 if I didn't miss any more fingers and toes. Your going all the way with this hand and since there is a potential draw you might as well put your opponent with slightly more chips than the pot all-in. If there was no draw I'd bet about half his stack now and the rest on the river.

~ Rick

[Deorum]

[ QUOTE ]
BTF the raise to $40 seems about right but I guess some would argue for a slightly bigger raise maybe to $60.

Before the flop betting the pot is $85 or so after rake. With a big hand on a semi-drawfull flop I'd bet maybe $70 or $80 but $60 can't be that bad unless you rarely underbet the pot (against regular observant opponents). Then it looks like you are trying to trap.

Before the turn betting the pot was $205 if I didn't miss any more fingers and toes. Your going all the way with this hand and since there is a potential draw you might as well put your opponent with slightly more chips than the pot all-in. If there was no draw I'd bet about half his stack now and the rest on the river.

~ Rick

[/ QUOTE ]

These are pretty much my thoughts exactly. The only thing I
might add is that if there were not two clubs on the turn,
instead of betting half his stack, you might bet something
more like 75, as he would be more likely to pay a bet like
that and maybe a 100 bet on the river off if he does not
have a king, and he will probably checkraise a 75 bet on
the turn if he does have one. But then again, he may not
checkraise with a hand that would have called off half his
stack on the turn and half his stack on the river, so you
may be letting him off cheaply. It comes down to how often
you think he will checkraise a smaller bet on the turn
compared to how often he will call off half his stack on
the turn and half on the river.

[mike l.]

i pushed and he folded JJ face up. people are starting to notice in nl that im scared and pushing only with the nuts or close to it. thing is i cant stop being scared and doing this! help! it's irrational because i have played much higher limit games and (unfortunately) dont have any fear about 3 bet semibluffing the turn for $1200, but i get nervous in even the smallest of nl games still even though im playing it more and more each day.

[BarronVangorToth]

Same thing happened with me when I started playing some NL cash games - even though the stakes were far below what I'd do with limit, it still ... was different.

Not sure what it is.

Trepidation ahoy, I guess.

Barron Vangor Toth
BarronVangorToth.com

[Alexthegreat]

It's the amount of BBs you are putting on the line that is scary.

Proves you care more about the game than the money.

[AZK]

It just takes getting used to. Eventually you will stop thinking in terms of bets, and start thinking in terms of % of stack, pot, etc...