AK at the micros

Hey all, this is TyrannicalRaest here, unfortunately I had some issues with my last account and ended up making a new one. I had no idea that wasn't allowed (who actually reads stuff like rules and T&C anyway?) but thanks to some help from the admins got it all sorted.

Anyway onto the subject, now that I got past the stage where I was playing like a robot and having quite a bit of runbad, I've had 2 major hands that I think my play is questionable with and just wanted to get your thoughts on how I played them and how you would play AK in general at these micro stakes.

1st hand:

pokerstars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

UTG ($2.31)
UTG+1 ($1)
MP1 ($2)
MP2 ($0.66)
Hero (MP3) ($5.72)
CO ($0.93)
Button ($0.95)
SB ($4.32)
BB ($1.91)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with K , A
UTG bets $0.08, 2 folds, MP2 calls $0.08, Hero calls $0.08, 2 folds, SB calls $0.07, BB calls $0.06

Flop: ($0.40) 4 , 7 , 3 (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets $0.22, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.22, 2 folds

Turn: ($0.84) 3 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.56, UTG calls $0.56

River: ($1.96) 5 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $4.86 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $1.96 | Rake: $0.07

UTG was 7/4 over 590 hands so I think a 3bet here is out of the question but I'm obviously not folding AKs here. Now he also had a really low went to showdown stat (13) and that is why I though I could just push him off on the turn and win that way, while still building the pot in case I hit. Is the went to showdown only relevant for river bluffing? In which case should I have checked the turn and hoped he would fire the river or is it better to just make my river bet smaller, probably 50% in this case?


And the second hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (9 handed) - PokerStars Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

CO ($2.08)
Hero (Button) ($2.08)
SB ($0.86)
BB ($0.40)
UTG ($2.33)
UTG+1 ($2.70)
MP1 ($5.19)
MP2 ($0.82)
MP3 ($0.93)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A , K
UTG bets $0.06, 4 folds, CO calls $0.06, Hero raises to $0.20, 2 folds, UTG calls $0.14, 1 fold

Flop: ($0.49) 6 , 9 , 9 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.44, UTG raises to $2.13 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: $1.37 | Rake: $0.05

UTG was 12/9 over 100 hands and the fish to my left had 67/7 over 50 hands.

Normally I flat AK vs UTG raisers for the most part, but I think my best option with the fish to my left coming in was to 3bet. I know my flop bet was pretty big but I felt if it looked like I was trying to get my money in he could have folded TT, JJ and QQ, he could also have AKs which he would shove as well as 99. I think most likely he flatted with KK trying to avoid an A high board and then check shoved to try get value from me having JJ or QQ.

He was aggressive post flop in general and did have a larger than normal went to showdown stat (40) but I really don't know how applicable that stat is in this situation, with that in mind do you think he is folding enough hands here for me to bet with it being +EV?

Nobody has answered you're question yet with 100+views lol? wth..

Hand 1: I was gonna say 3bet pre-flop but when I saw his stats I agree with just calling, post-flop call flop, check turn and bet ALOT smaller on the river.
UTG almost certainly has an over-pair in hand 1 as he c-bets the flop into 5 players, therefore betting the turn isn't going to get him off of anything, he is probably just scared of a higher over-pair when he checks turn. The river over-bet is only going to get full houses to call (which we know he almost certainly doesn't have from checking river again and his hand range that we put him on.) I would of bet $1.6 to get call from over-pair on river.

Hand 2:
pre-flop raise it more to $0.24, (3x raise is standard + 1x for every limper), cbet smaller on that board, you can fold him off any two high cards by betting $0.28 on the flop (roughly half the pot) and make it profitable. Fold when he shoves.
At these stakes I wouldn't dry folding villains off particular hands such as T/T overpairs as most of the time you will be called down. Just cbet half the pot and hope the flop missed him if he has high cards.
I would also always 3 bet A/K pre-flop to a UTG raise as most ppl don't even know about position at micro's.

You need alot more hands on the villain for 'Went to showdown' stat to be applicable I think (or so I heard). Even though I don't use this stat. Also I don't think cbetting full pot on flop is gonna be +ev with two overcards hardly ever, especially against a nit.

Raise get it in on flop.....

Bet smaller on flop....


THE END.

no? fold hand 1 pre..

hand 2, checking back flops is allowed..

OMGITSOVER9K said:

no? fold hand 1 pre..

hand 2, checking back flops is allowed..

Click to expand...

+1

wouldn't calling pre in hand one be profitable, even if only for nut flush/nut straight possibilities? I don't see why we should fold AKs, in position, unless we know that we cannot get away from the hand if we flop TPTK and can't get to showdown cheaply. (realistically, I know I probably don't get away from it but that's another problem)

Curious to the reasoning behind that?

because he's a 7/4 over 600 hands lol (how do you even run that?)

AK is the bottom of his range, we miss flops, he's always trip barreling dry boards, we have to fold Kxx flops/turns sometimes and even though we know his exact range we can't make him fold unless boards come 8765 or some shit and thats deffo not gonna make it anywhere near profitable.

hot and cold equity ftw, set mine here all day everyday.

3bet per flop, raise flop, try to get stacks in with 15 outs.

..we don't have 15 outs.

OMGITSOVER9K said:

because he's a 7/4 over 600 hands lol (how do you even run that?)

AK is the bottom of his range, we miss flops, he's always trip barreling dry boards, we have to fold Kxx flops/turns sometimes and even though we know his exact range we can't make him fold unless boards come 8765 or some shit and thats deffo not gonna make it anywhere near profitable.

hot and cold equity ftw, set mine here all day everyday.

Click to expand...

I just can't imagine I would fold AKs unless maybe we were facing a raise and then a reraise by a nit or something like that. I guess it can put us in some very tough spots like you mentioned with the Kxx board.

Would you play a hand like 78s before AKs? (not that you wouldn't fold both)

I can't say I have ever seen such a tight player before actually.

Sori said:

I just can't imagine I would fold AKs unless maybe we were facing a raise and then a reraise by a nit or something like that. I guess it can put us in some very tough spots like you mentioned with the Kxx board.

Would you play a hand like 78s before AKs? (not that you wouldn't fold both)

I can't say I have ever seen such a tight player before actually.

Click to expand...

yah, 78s before AKs, we can fold TP/2nP on those boards so we don't lose our stack when we station. But yeah again, I'm still folding that too, too many draws that brick imo.

we're strictly set mining against this villain.

Thanks for the replies guys, I probably agree with checking back hand two but I was in Cbet mode.....

As for hand one, not getting it in on the flop, still people to act any of which could have a straight or a set and I'm behind the initial raiser anyway.

I did consider folding pre but AKs against just one raise and a call was too juicy. Is there any other more experienced members who can comment on folding pre in this spot?

1. You should not focus on previous hands (IE. I have been running bad)
2. Don't call with AK unless you absolutely think the guy only raises AA.
3. Betting the turn was bad, you are not getting called by worse. You are only getting called by hands that are beating you.
4. What range do you think he has pf with 7/4?
5. You should play according to that range.