FabulousTexan said:

This seems to be a recurring theme for me, especially with AK. It seems I end up spewing chips and I'm digging out of the hole.

I welcome all comments on my analysis of how I played this hand.

 

Hand from the Sunday 13:00 Deep Stack on FTP.

I have AKo in middle position and I'm sitting at slightly over starting stack of 5280. Blinds are 60/120 so I'm in reasonable shape with 44 BBs and an M of 29.

Guy on my immediate right has double my stack and has been playing 5-6 hands an orbit. He makes the standard raise of 360.

 

I'm Never Sure What Do with AK Number 1: From middle position I never know what to do AK or AQ. Part of me wants to be agressive and raise. Part of me wants to control the pot size in case I don't hit. I don't think a bet against an aggressive player will get him to fold so I decide to call and hope that I end up in position.

 

i 3b pre here if villain is opening that many times an orbit,a s well as 3bettting other worse hands for bluff

 

Everybody else folds and I'm heads up against the villain with position. Pot is 900.

Flop comes J 4 3

Villain leads out 2/3 of the pot with 600.

I'm Never Sure What Do with AK Number 2: First, I never know where I am against a player this loose. His bet could mean a mid-pair, AJ, KJ, or nothing. It just “feels” like a mid-pair so I count my outs as 6 for an A or K, 1 for a backdoor nut flush, 1 for a backdoor nut straight. So I count this out as 8 outs and a 33% chance against a mid-pair or KJ. If he does have AJ good for him, I don't know if I can get away from it.

I don't have the simple odds to call but I think my implied odds are better. As aggressive as this guy is he may take another shot at the river or the turn if an A or a K hits.

If I raise it seems all I'll do is sweeten the pot as I don't think he's located the Fold button on the software yet. Plus, I'm thinking it's a deep stack tourney and I should exercise some pot control.

So I do the most passive agreessive thing, I call. Pot is now 2100.

Turn is a 2 and now the board is J 4 3 2.

 

is this his standard cbet size? if not, just fold as his range should be stronger.  if it is, i would float as played, backdoor flush draw, he is cbetting his whole range on this flop which includes a bunch of worse non paired hands, and you have outs against midpairs.  if he checks turn betoir c/b and bet riverr

 

I'm Never Sure What Do with AK Number 3: Villain bets out about half the pot 1155. Now I'm getting 3-1 on a call with maybe as many as 15 outs. If I raise, I'm pot commited so I might as well shove.  I consider shoving but I still have 3k in chips behind me so I'm not ready to put my whole tourney on the line.

Of course the river bricks, he bets about half the pot. I fold.

How to spew 2000 chips in three easy steps.

Again, all comments welcome.

 

i think you can solve this turn spot by just 3betting pre here with AK that doesnt play well postflop and have more bluffs in ur 3b range, but i definitely dont mind shoving turn as played.  you have fold equity , if he thinks ur tight he can fold overpairs or jacks.  you have a lot of equity if called.

Thanks for the comments and feedback everybody.

Looking at this again after the feedback, I agree with the analysis I'm better off raising preflop. If I 3-bet preflop to something like 1080 and he calls, that helps me narrow his range significantly. Maybe he's a calling station and calls with any Ace o any pair, but at least I can reasonably give him credit for a stronger hand.

If I miss the flop and he bets out then I can be a lot more comfortable folding.

This way I would have lost 1k on the hand instead of 2k on the hand.

Thanks to everybody for their feedback and analysis.

The good news on this hand is that it finally happened to me at a time when I can copy the hand history and post it here. Because it's certainly not the first time it happened and won't be the last. So long term this hand will cost me a lot fewer chips in the future.

PS I think I'm using the term Pot Control as a justification to play weak tight. Again, thanks for the wakeup call.

the only reason to flat pre is because you have the intention of 1) c betting to a check after the flop or 2) you intend to fold to a c bet if you miss…..to take the approach of flatting with the intention of 3 betting a c bet from the raiser is probobly a losing ev proposition especially if he is loose – agressive and would 4 bet you with air or with overcards to a small pair on the board…..I think that I would definitely 3 bet hoping that the raiser would shove light and get it to the middle ….if he reshoved on my 3 bet then I could narrow his range and decide whether or not to play for my tour. in this spot…….that being said , YOU DEFINATELY HAVE TO MAKE A STAND AT SOME POINT , and if he is playing as many hands as you say and has won a few pots with less than premiums he might donk off with a less than stellar hand such as a9,a8 ect……..gl bigheaddave

I agree with your comment regarding the 44 big blinds but even though he has 44bb , if you are not willing to take a stand with a player  when you are obviously ahead of his raising range then what spot are you looking for…..I definately think that one of the biggest mistakes players make is to wait it out looking for a “dream spot ” instead of relying on the fact that you are ahead of his raising range now……if the cards were flipped & the villian had kq and he shoved would you call with the ak ? there is always a chance that you lose the race but if you are not willing to exploit the ones who are going to pay you off then you are missing opportunities that could lead to a tour win…….the one thing that this sight has definately taught me is to play your advantages as much as possible and the results will come….once again gl bigheaddave

I totally agree with the re-raising PF, then depending on the board texture I would plan my next move. Floating here when you don’t hit is not always the best play, however always 3 bet folding is not good either. I think floating the missed flop 35% and folding 65% on the flop is ok. Play the turn accordingly. I just don’t like looking like the guy that plays flops passive. I mean you will be playing only premiums in this spot.
That’s how I would play this hand.