AK out of position v. best player 10-10-20NL

[Ulysses]

Best player at the table (very tough pro w/ about $2500) opens for 80 UTG+2 or so. Folded to me in SB. I have about $2100 and AKo. What now?

[turnipmonster]

will your opponent ever open limp (it's 40 to go, right?), or is that pretty much his standard open? also, is the big blind doing the two card shuffle, or counting his chips?

if it's likely to be heads up, I vote for calling and checkraising the flop. I think the important factors to consider are the level of respect VTP has for you, and how often he'll try to steamroll you here.

--turnipmonster

[SpaceAce]

Since all we know is he's a "very tough pro", I say reraise. If you can't play AK against this guy, it seems that you've pretty much decided to roll over and play dead in any pot he opens. You're out of position but I don't think that's reason enough to dump AK here unless you think he can straight outplay you no matter what falls.

Of course, I don't play against any tough pros, so what do I know?

SpaceAce

[sam h]

Honestly, I think raising is the worst option here. I don't want to put in 250-300 out of position with only AK and then feel compelled to bluff at a lot of boards when I miss against a tough player.

I would probably call and checkraise if an A or K hits. But I don't agree with the people that say folding here is way too weak. AKo isn't a great NL hand with fairly deep stacks and the importance of position is magnified against a tough player. There's no shame in folding here. NL is all about picking your spots, and there's nothing wrong with resolving not to mess with the big dogs in marginal situations.

[ML4L]

[gaylord focker]

I think your best option is to just call. The problem is, if he is a tough player, your not going to break him with that hand. If he has queens or jacks or whatever, you arn't gonna get paid off when the ace hits. If the board comes ragged, he will probably get aggresive with you and possibly get you off the best hand. I'd be cautious and look to get your chips in agaist someone else. I like the idea of calling preflop, and checkraising the flop if an A or K falls. If you miss you miss, no big deal. Also, what are his EP raising standards? A lot of tough no limit players are capable of bringing a lot of hands for a raise even from early position so that might change things. Was this game at the Commerce?

[SpaceAce]

[ QUOTE ]
Honestly, I think raising is the worst option here.

[/ QUOTE ]

So you don't think there's any value in raising? It seems that calling puts you in the passenger seat and then you can't play at all unless the flop hits you. You might as well fold, then, since you're going to be forced to lay it down unless you smash top pair off the bat.

Whatever. I guess this is why I don't play against tough pros [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

SpaceAce

[sam h]

[ QUOTE ]
So you don't think there's any value in raising? It seems that calling puts you in the passenger seat and then you can't play at all unless the flop hits you.

[/ QUOTE ]

If the tough player was very likely to fold to a reraise then maybe raising has value. Most tough players, especially live, aren't folding here very often though for another 150-200. They're calling with the hope of breaking you or pushing you off a better hand. Which is why I'd much rather be in the position of missing the flop and check folding after calling preflop than of missing the flop and having to decide whether to bet out or not after reraising preflop. Sure, sometimes you'll get a fold. But sometimes you'll bet 400 into a T72r flop and get called. At that point, you're probably done with the hand and have pissed away $700 to your toughest opponent out of position with Ace high when you could have probably sat on your stack and waited to trap one of the idiots at the table with a big hand.

[theriverwild]

I'll actually come in for a good rr. It depends on how he plays though. Would he typically limp rr with a big pair AA or KK. but that's unlikely since u have AK. A good pro will prefer to outplay the players on later streets than put a lot of it at risk preflop. I think you should raise the pot after calling his bet. You've taken controll of the hand. The other option is to lead out into him with a big bet regardless of what hits after just calling his bet, a bit bigger than the pot should be fine. Although with the 2nd option you r giving him a chance to hit his hand and you're have no idea what he has since u didn't rr preflop.

[theriverwild]

BTW a lot of people even some pro's will virtually always limp rr with AA or KK. If u know that's how he plays i'd surely bet so much that no matter what hits we r both stuck for all out chips. You'd be surprised what hands he'd lay down. QQ JJ. He doesn't want to risk all his chips preflop with anything but a lock. When u smack him with a big rr that's what you're doing. And you eliminate the fact that you're out of position on all betting rounds. I think the most important thing is don't give him any odds to break u with a lot of the marginal hands a pro would open with. Don't let him risk 80 to win 2100. if u flop top pair can he run u off of it? One of the best ways to stop from getting killed by better players postflop is to not let them see the flop cheaply with your good hands.