What's your typical pre-flop line with AK facing a min-raise behind?

I think AQ has to be included in the range. Have seen people make this play many times before with AQ. I think this problem has to be viewed in the larger context of the tourney. Half the field is gone, above average chip stack, is this the spot you want to play a big pot? For me, its a spot id call in. It lets you see three cards, and also has some deception. AK is not a hand i would give someone credit for if they called behind me after a small reraise. So if a K hits, they may not be able to give you credit for it if they have JJ or TT. Also, if an A hits, and they have AQ, they cant give you credit for the K. And, if they have the dreaded AA, KK it minimizes the chances that you will lose everything. With no reads, calling is my best option.

[jedinite]

still looking for more feedback / discussion, trying to define my standard line.

Currently I'd say i'm 70% call 30% push as a standard line, but I'm wondering if that needs adjustment.

Calling then check/folding no ace or king feels too weak overall but thats often the no-read line I'm taking OOP here.

never mind too many beers, deleted post

dont think i heard anybody include QQ in his range.

[jgodin]

I'm just calling a large percentage of the time here..but I'm gonna play devil's advocate.

How about a raise to 550-600? This screams big hand and should give you an accurate read as to where the villain is. (At the very least, it will get JJ to puke in their mouth)

Villain pushes = you're beat

Villain folds = donkey delicious

Villain calls = tough spot, I agree. Assuming the villain is a thinking player (not a terribly good chance, considering "push-raise-button" raise), what hands do we put villain on now?

My guess would be 77-JJ, AJ+. along those lines.

How about we bet 500 on any flop (assuming you didn't hit a monster)?

Wishful thinking, but we are hoping for one of two things:

1) 77-JJ = overcards came to his pair and he lays it down

2) Rags come and he lays down AJ+

If he comes over the top - lay it down (poopy)

If he just calls on the flop - shut it down.

Again, I'd hate to be in this situation, but is it a viable alternative?

[M.B.E.]

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How about a raise to 550-600? This screams big hand and should give you an accurate read as to where the villain is. (At the very least, it will get JJ to puke in their mouth)

Villain pushes = you're beat

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Problem with this line is that Villain's push easily could be QQ, in which case you've given up the chance to outflop him, as well as having cost yourself chips. His push might also be AK, probably suited. (For that matter, Villain's push might also be JJ or AQs, but those are less likely.)

[M.B.E.]

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still looking for more feedback / discussion, trying to define my standard line.

Currently I'd say i'm 70% call 30% push as a standard line, but I'm wondering if that needs adjustment.

Calling then check/folding no ace or king feels too weak overall but thats often the no-read line I'm taking OOP here.

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Your stack here is a little too large to come over the top with AK after the minreraise. I would always call.

Against an unknown player, I'd guess he has AA/KK/QQ around 60% of the time, and since we have one ace and one king, break that down further to 15% AA, 15% KK, 30% QQ. The other 40% of the time he'll either have a decent hand like AK/AQ/JJ or he'll be fooling around with small pocket pairs or suited connectors.

If the flop comes king-high, I'm not going to bet or raise, but just hope that Villain's bets are small enough that I can call them.

If there's no ace, king, or queen on the flop, probably just check-fold although the pot is small enough that betting out (and folding to a raise) is also an option.

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Calling then check/folding no ace or king feels too weak overall but thats often the no-read line I'm taking OOP here.

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I agree with what several of the other posters have said, to call and see a flop.

But I don't agree with your point of check/fold on a blank flop as being weak. If the flop is rags, then the only hands that your AK likely has any value against are something like AQ, KQ, etc. Is your opponent the kind of player who will reraise with a hand like these, or something less?

A lot depends on the size of the pot and the size of the opponents bet, if he bets when you check. If the flop is rags, you have three options, semi-bluff open bet, check and fold on a bet, and semi-bluff check-raise on a bet.

IMHO, AK is one of the more overplayed hands on the flop, especially out of position.

I'm probably calling preflop, and then check-folding on an empty flop. If I catch an Ace or King, then whether I bet and how much I bet, or whether I check-raise, or check-call, is dependent upon the opponent, the size of the pot and the content of the rest of the flop.

This is a kind of situation where I'm probably looking to get out cheap if the flop misses me, or if the flop hits me with something like A or K and rag-rag then I probably figure to be ahead and need to try to extract as many chips from the opponent as possible.

As with everything else, I would hopefully not have a "typical" line with AK or any other EP hand. I'll sometimes call (rarely/situational), but will usually raise if first in. However, I won't raise the same amount with that hand every time. I'll vary it a little, up or down, to give the opponents something else to think about.

[Sam T.]

I'd like to add a few points here:

First, I don't think a re-raise is a good idea, and certainly not a good idea of you're talking about a RR all-in. You're waaay too deep for that. The problem with any raise is, of course, position. Assuming your raise gets called, you've created a fairly large pot, and it's your turn to act when the flop comes Q72r. Enjoy your dark tunnel bluff, bro. Call and have a look. If you decide to make a play on the flop, you can do so for far fewer chips, which brings me to my next poing.

I don't think you need to check-fold here. If the flop comes all rags, a bet is not a bad play - represent tens that wanted to make sure overcards didn't flop. If he's on AK or AQ, he's going to have a hard time calling. (Unless he's aggro or a donk.) If he raises, you can let it go, for far fewer chips than you would have lost had you 3-bet pre-flop.

[A side note: A few months ago there was a discussion of AK here that was started (I think) by a Cardplayer article, that made the argument that based on the reverse implied-odds it's okay to fold AK if you are re-raised. The logic was that if an A or K hits, you're not going to get any more money out of QQ, JJ, etc., but you will get busted if the A or K made the re-raiser's set. On the other hand if you miss, you are stuck betting into what may well be a made hand. This of course only applies if your opponent cares about kickers. If he's a donkey who thinks AT on an Ace-high board is the nuts, then you're in good shape. If it's Sirio, you're in trouble.]

Finally, and this is a more general point, I don't think there is any shame in folding up AK against aggression when you are out of position. Yes, it is a lovely hand pre-flop, but when the flop misses, it's Ace-high.

[Dave D]

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Context, if it matters much: Party large-field MTT, $11 - $55 buyin range.

You're halfway through the ~2000 person field and are sitting about double average chips with ~T3000.

You're in EP with AKo and make a standard 3x BB raise to T150.

You're min-raised behind to T300. The min-raiser has you covered by a few hundred chips. You have no reads, he just jumped to your table.

No callers, back to you. T525 in the pot, T150 to call.

What's your standard line? Call and play your standard post-flop OOP with AKo, or raise now to try to better define your hand?

I feel this is an area I can improve, and am curious to hear some thoughts from the forum...

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I would just call. Play the flop. He has position on you, you don't want the pot getting too big too fast. If the flop sucks you can get away easy. Also I like sort of hiding my hand here in that he doesn't really know what I have if I don't raise.

I'd also just call with AA-TT for the same reasons.