Risk Averse?

[ThinkQuick]

sorry, psych is full of God posts again

NL Home Game last night
ring game, 3 Players left at the end of the night
Player 1 is good and has ~$50 in front of him
Player 2 is good and has ~$30 in front of him
Player 3 is weak and bleeding money and has ~$30 in front of him

.25-.50 blinds, P3 is dealer.
P3 folds,
P1 makes a medium size raise which indicates a powerful hand other than AA-JJ. P1 will go all in on nearly any flop.
P2 sees AKo, and folds in order to conserve his chips and pursue further opportunities against P3.

Do you ever make this decision in a cash game?

[The_Bends]

A powerful hand other than JJ-AA, doesn't this mean that AK is dominating most of the time and a coinflip at worst? Why would you fold?

[Ianco15]

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P1 makes a medium size raise which indicates a powerful hand other than AA-JJ.

[/ QUOTE ]
So that means you have him beaten most likely or at worst you are tied. I don't get this fold. AK great hand preflop especially 3-handed and especially if you think you are ahead.

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P1 will go all in on nearly any flop.

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Do you think this is bad or good? I think it is good and here's why: Flop comes K72, P1 pushes. You call and double up.

Because P1 will push on any flop I would tend to just call preflop and hope for a nice flop. Against other players I might re-raise preflop. I would have to have a very strong read to lay this down preflop with these circumstances.

[Ianco15]

[ QUOTE ]
P2 sees AKo, and folds in order to conserve his chips and pursue further opportunities against P3.

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Wanted to comment on this quote.

This is a cash game and not a tournament situation. You can always rebuy. You may be better suited for touranaments where sometimes it is a good idea to be risk averse. In cash games you need to expoit small edges (which is not always true in tournaments). Don't be afraid to go broke and rebuy in cash games.

[jtr]

You say this:

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Player 1 is good and has ~$50 in front of him

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But you also say this:

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P1 makes a medium size raise which indicates a powerful hand other than AA-JJ. P1 will go all in on nearly any flop.

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Those two statements are logically inconsistent.

And no, don't fold AK here. As another poster pointed out, this seems a perfect spot to call, and then call the (apparently) inevitable push on the flop if you hit.

A good cash game player should be close to risk-neutral. Being excessively risk-averse will harm your winrate tremendously.

[jb9]

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Do you ever make this decision in a cash game?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not in a cash game -- maybe late in a tournament.

I understand wanting to avoid the strong/aggressive player and play against the weak player, but if I were feeling too risk averse to re-raise or at least call with AKo in a cash game when I thought my opponent didn't have AA or KK, I would think it was time to leave the game (or play lower stakes -- or play limit or pot limit, which is what I usually do so I don't have to face players going all in on any flop...).

[ThinkQuick]

[ QUOTE ]

Because P1 will push on any flop I would tend to just call preflop and hope for a nice flop. Against other players I might re-raise preflop. I would have to have a very strong read to lay this down preflop with these circumstances.

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[ QUOTE ]

And no, don't fold AK here. As another poster pointed out, this seems a perfect spot to call, and then call the (apparently) inevitable push on the flop if you hit.

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Why let P1 take the pot most of the time?
I think P1 will call most of the time P2 reraises all in preflop (but of course a fold would be fine too). Since P2 is at worst a slightly weighted coin (~43%), why not make this move against P1? It is probably very close to risk neutral and prevents P2 from losing the pot everytime he misses the flop.