Am I giving up on AK too soon?

[teddyFBI]

I frequently find myself in this situation: raise preflop from last position w/ AKo, and the flop comes A,T,9 for example -- rainbow. I'm last to act, it's checked to me, I bet, it's folded around to one other player, who raises, I 3-bet, he caps. Now: turn is a blank, and the other player leads out. I typically fold here.

I was already representing a strong hand w/ my pre-flop raise, then 3-bet on the flop. If the other guy caps the flop, then leads the betting, I figure that I'm beaten more often than not. Sure, I've got top pair/top kicker, but I'm thinking that he's likely got AT or A9, in which case i'm drawing to 3 outs, worst case scenario, he hit a set in which case i'm more or less dead.

Occasionally I'll call this down, and inevitably be shown two pair or better on the river, but I fold the majority of the time...do y'all think I'm giving up too soon?

[justin]

i dont care if i think im beat i still probbaly wont get rid of it. With other players involved in the action i would but not one on one

[helpmeout]

I usually call the raise on the flop and depending on the opponent i'll either checkraise the turn of just call it down.

Some people just go crazy on the flop with TPMK. I've called down with hands like AJo to be shown ATs or even A5o etc.

[Nick C]

[ QUOTE ]
I figure that I'm beaten more often than not.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree that you're usually going to be behind in the situation you describe. But if you knew that you'd end up winning, say, 40% of the time, through a combination of those times you outdraw your opponent and and those times you're ahead already your hand holds up, then folding would clearly be bad. By the time you get to the turn, there's a lot of money in the pot already.

I'm not saying you're going to win 40% of the time in this situation. I'm just pointing out that you don't need to win over half the time for staying in to be the best move.

[Lawrence Ng]

This is very opponent dependant. If it's online against an unknown opponent I will often call down.

If it's live against a solid player who knows I won't 3-bet w/o a solid hand I will fold. If it's a loose cannon, I usually raise the turn.

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

Yes.

Against an online unknown I call this down. Against a strong known player, I probably still call this down much of the time. Took a nice pot last night (Party 3/6) with almost this exact scenario. I led out, he raised, I three-bet, he capped. I called it down from there out, he showed A3o and MHIG. Of course, you are not up against idiots every time, but many online play AQ or AJ the same way. Bottom line, your hand is good often enough to call it down.