Ak: a big problem

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nidal55

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Hi! So far ive noticed that calling a 3bet with ak doesnt prove great as most of the time u dont hit and have to fold so its a -ev strategy.3betting with it sucks as u make all worse aces fold and when u dont hit which is common either u have to 2-barrel a c-station or c/f. 4 betting sounds better but dont like it either. What do u propose for the above mentioned situations? Thnx for ur answers!
 
BvBrMTW

BvBrMTW

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I really don't like AK in cash games, but as I'm playing 25nl I stick to a standard strategy:
ALWAYS 3bet, you definetly won't make all weaker aces fold, at 25nl you'll see lots of people call with AT-AQ kind of hands, I don't know about higher stakes.
if I get 3-bet I ALWAYS 4-bet, calling 3-bets with AK is really bad at the micros imo. Now when you get 5-bet you fold , a big mistake bad players make is calling allins with AK, which you should never do unless you have a damn solid read.
when your 4-bet gets called , you can be pretty sure your opponnent doesn't have aces or kings, still I usually play small-ball post flop unless I hit 2pair+, then you usually just get it in at the micros, and you'll get called by AQ/AJ kind of hands.
 
RodneyC86

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Ppl folding to your 3bet is a good result. The bb/100 of AK is around 200 for most decent players

Play AK because it's a nasty good blocker, it's still a drawing hand, it becomes shitty a high 65 percent of the time.

Do you know, when you hold AK, the chance of AA or KK being out there is effectively halved than if you did not held an A or K?
 
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RodneyC86

RodneyC86

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Hi! So far ive noticed that calling a 3bet with ak doesnt prove great as most of the time u dont hit and have to fold so its a -ev strategy.3betting with it sucks as u make all worse aces fold and when u dont hit which is common either u have to 2-barrel a c-station or c/f. 4 betting sounds better but dont like it either. What do u propose for the above mentioned situations? Thnx for ur answers!

Of course you check folda calling station if you miss duh.... Why bluff with a high on a calling station, just play fit fold versus them, simple. And a LOT of microbes (lol) flat AT to AQ in micros.

Calling 3 bets is pretty meh yeah don't do it, 4bet fold it, especially against l3bers. Though I am guilty of calling at times lol:D
But really nut that bad to call IMO. 6 bb into a 13bb pot for 30 percent chance to hit something isn't that bad
 
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ScottishMatt

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I really don't like AK in cash games, but as I'm playing 25nl I stick to a standard strategy:
ALWAYS 3bet, you definetly won't make all weaker aces fold, at 25nl you'll see lots of people call with AT-AQ kind of hands, I don't know about higher stakes.
if I get 3-bet I ALWAYS 4-bet, calling 3-bets with AK is really bad at the micros imo. Now when you get 5-bet you fold , a big mistake bad players make is calling allins with AK, which you should never do unless you have a damn solid read.
when your 4-bet gets called , you can be pretty sure your opponnent doesn't have aces or kings, still I usually play small-ball post flop unless I hit 2pair+, then you usually just get it in at the micros, and you'll get called by AQ/AJ kind of hands.

Why are you 4-bet/folding? If they are willing to 3-bet hands like AT/AJ/AQ why 4-bet and fold out those hands? If you are IP surely it is more profitable to call.
 
BvBrMTW

BvBrMTW

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5-bets are usually allin at 25nl, and in the rare cases they're not, you're left with 20-40 BB, so you'll get it in when you hit an ace or king, and you'll lose to a set of aces/kings.
But really, 5-bets are usually allin when you're 100BB deep at the micros,
 
micromachine

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when your 4-bet gets called , you can be pretty sure your opponnent doesn't have aces or kings, still I usually play small-ball post flop unless I hit 2pair+, then you usually just get it in at the micros, and you'll get called by AQ/AJ kind of hands.

Dangerous assumption. I've seen villains flat 4bets plenty of times with AA/KK.
 
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bnasp2

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I really don't like AK in cash games, but as I'm playing 25nl I stick to a standard strategy:
ALWAYS 3bet, you definetly won't make all weaker aces fold, at 25nl you'll see lots of people call with AT-AQ kind of hands, I don't know about higher stakes.
if I get 3-bet I ALWAYS 4-bet, calling 3-bets with AK is really bad at the micros imo. Now when you get 5-bet you fold , a big mistake bad players make is calling allins with AK, which you should never do unless you have a damn solid read.
when your 4-bet gets called , you can be pretty sure your opponnent doesn't have aces or kings, still I usually play small-ball post flop unless I hit 2pair+, then you usually just get it in at the micros, and you'll get called by AQ/AJ kind of hands.

Are you sure about those folds? After 4-bet you can be already quite deep in the pot. On low stakes many ppl will go all-in with 88+. Against such hands, you have like 45% chance with AK. And you have good chance against anything between 88 to QQ. And there is smaller chance on AA,KK with your blockers. So if there is like 20% of your stack at pot already, it should be EV+.

I agree to fold to some all-in from early position, but after my 4bet I would call it.
 
Rappyness

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I always bet pot regardless of me hitting or not actually if I 3-bet and the person calls and flops comes. If they fold then cool thats a win win and if they dont I will most like fold on the turn if I don't hit. Works good for me most of the time but it depends sometimes.
 
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RamdeeBen

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I always bet pot regardless of me hitting or not actually if I 3-bet and the person calls and flops comes. If they fold then cool thats a win win and if they dont I will most like fold on the turn if I don't hit. Works good for me most of the time but it depends sometimes.

Betting pot in 3bet pots is going to be bad everytime, even when you hit and going to be disastrous when you miss.
 
RodneyC86

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I always bet pot regardless of me hitting or not actually if I 3-bet and the person calls and flops comes. If they fold then cool thats a win win and if they dont I will most like fold on the turn if I don't hit. Works good for me most of the time but it depends sometimes.

Don't you think a we bit above 1/2 is already good enough? You've already shown a lot of strength by 3b-ing pflop
 
BvBrMTW

BvBrMTW

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Are you sure about those folds? After 4-bet you can be already quite deep in the pot. On low stakes many ppl will go all-in with 88+. Against such hands, you have like 45% chance with AK. And you have good chance against anything between 88 to QQ. And there is smaller chance on AA,KK with your blockers. So if there is like 20% of your stack at pot already, it should be EV+.

I agree to fold to some all-in from early position, but after my 4bet I would call it.

Allin in cash games is always bad with AK/AQ against regulars, cash games are not about flipping coins, especially at lower stakes with exploitable opponnents, flipping AK vs QQ is standard in mtt's, but you really don't want to get it in with the worst hand, even if it's slight, in cash games.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure about it. especially because you'll be up against AA/KK most of the time.
 
BvBrMTW

BvBrMTW

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Dangerous assumption. I've seen villains flat 4bets plenty of times with AA/KK.

Obviously it happens, but you can't always put them on an exact range, this is the same as saying every EP limper has aces, you can assume they don't have KK/AA, obviously you're never sure about it.
 
Aces2w1n

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Yeah, bet smaller in 3b pots not bigger
3/4 pot sizing bets is the way to go.
When the cards are dry... sometimes the continuation bets keep you afloat.

ppl will be folding 2/3 times. Unless they don't respect your raises and shown weak playing in previous days/hands
 
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