AK(s) UTG Cash Game First Hand of play...what u do?

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BentleyBoy

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Hi Guys. So! You have decided to play a cash game and having decided to buy in at the max amount for that level, and having been seated UTG (you have posted a BB to play cos you forgot to cancel auto post BB) and you get dealt AK suited. This is your first hand in this game and you have no reads on anyone else.

So, on the basis that you are going to raise, you raise 3x the BB. Everyone else folds to the Button (who just has you covered) and who shoves all in.

What are you going to do? FOLD or CALL?

Looking forward to your views on this one.
 
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Two6JJ

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Call without a second thought. I have no problem burning a buy in with a hand like that.
 
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QA77

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It depends on the stakes of the game. If its small stakes I call, bigger game I might fold. You are up against a lot of pairs, mainly JJ and QQ/1010. I think its also likely he has AK. And less likely he has a worse ace like AQ. So you aren't dominating most of the time and are flipping most of the time. So if you are okay with flipping, go right ahead. I don't think this is a big profit play as you win probably close but less than 50% of the time. Smaller stakes, the opponent can have a lot worse so it's easier to call.
 
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ccres

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Hi. Assuming a buy-in is well within your bankroll without a read I'd call without much hesitation. It's very likely you're flipping, but AK is too strong just to let go against a complete unknown imo.

One thing that may make a difference that you didn't mention is the BB stack size.
 
Drowy

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Definately a call
 
scorpi224

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I would ace king is one of the best hands although you haven't analyzed any player yet , but you might get the best hand although i always loose with them but ugh i can't fold ace king >.<
 
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thomasguy3419

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I always raise 4BB's UTG in a cash game.
This is a 50/50 situation and personally I would fold to find a better spot.
I only like to risk 40BB's or less with AK preflop.
I prefer to see a flop first to see if an A or K flops then make my next move.
I would fold AK for 100BB's preflop in a cash game.
It's okay to fold AK. It's not like your folding KK or AA, those I will call with and maybe QQ.
 
Pauliefromgoodfellas

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Hi Guys. So! You have decided to play a cash game and having decided to buy in at the max amount for that level, and having been seated UTG (you have posted a BB to play cos you forgot to cancel auto post BB) and you get dealt AK suited. This is your first hand in this game and you have no reads on anyone else.

So, on the basis that you are going to raise, you raise 3x the BB. Everyone else folds to the Button (who just has you covered) and who shoves all in.

What are you going to do? FOLD or CALL?

Looking forward to your views on this one.

If I'm less than 150bb deep, call immediately.
 
Pauliefromgoodfellas

Pauliefromgoodfellas

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I always raise 4BB's UTG in a cash game.
This is a 50/50 situation and personally I would fold to find a better spot.
I only like to risk 40BB's or less with AK preflop.
I prefer to see a flop first to see if an A or K flops then make my next move.
I would fold AK for 100BB's preflop in a cash game.
It's okay to fold AK. It's not like your folding KK or AA, those I will call with and maybe QQ.
I actually think aks would be a better call to make, assuming your opponentsite shoving range is aa-qq ako and aks, which is an acceptable shoving range. This is because Holding an ace and a king reduces you opponents chance to have one of the 6 combos of aa and kk by 50%. So the have only 6 combos total of hands that have you crushed, while they also have qq and ak, that's 6 combos you are flipping against +8 combos you are flipping or slightly ahead against. If they also have JJ in their shoVing range it starts to favor qq.


Another key point is that qq in ypur hand reduces your opponents chance of having qq by 83%, thsee are hands you would want in their range since you are flipping with dead money in the pot.
 
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Hi Guys. So! You have decided to play a cash game and having decided to buy in at the max amount for that level, and having been seated UTG (you have posted a BB to play cos you forgot to cancel auto post BB) and you get dealt AK suited. This is your first hand in this game and you have no reads on anyone else.

So, on the basis that you are going to raise, you raise 3x the BB. Everyone else folds to the Button (who just has you covered) and who shoves all in.

What are you going to do? FOLD or CALL?

Looking forward to your views on this one.
In a cash game you might as well call. You can buy back in if you lose and work your bankroll back up. I don't like calling all in pre-flop like this but it shouldn't be more than a coin flip. AA or KK wouldn't shove in this spot in most games. It is online poker and if its lower level stakes then you get a lot of crazy play.
 
Alexandr Svinarshyk

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Of course, go for anything. Can he even an aggressive player and his hand is weaker
 
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Tricky123bet

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So to really break this spot down for you:
You didn't say what his and your stacksize was, but I'm going to assume for now that you both have 100bb stacks. So after he has shoved all-in, the pot should be 103.5bb, and you have 97bb left. That means you need 97/(97+103.5)=48.4% equity to call. If both of your stacks were 60bb, you need 57/(57+63.5)=47.3% equity to call with AKs, so I'll round to 48% for convenience.
If we expect him to do this with a range of 88+,AKs,AKo , we have 44.47% against that range. Even if we remove AA and KK from that range (as PKRNRS says, he might not shove these hands), we get 47.75% equity, making it a close call. So in average we have maybe 46% equity when we are calling this shove.
In terms of EV you win 103.5bb every time you call and win and lose 97bb every time you call and lose, which is EV=(103.5bb×0.46)+(-97bb×0.54)= -4.77bb. So if you were playing 5nl, you are on average going to lose -4.77bb×5c= -24c every time you call here.
But there are more factors to consider. Obviously if he's a crazy fish he could do this with a lot of hands we are dominating, so in that case it would be a pretty clear call. Against a normal type of fish that does this, it will be a slightly losing play to do this, as shown with the math I did earlier. If his stack size is smaller than 100bb, for example something like 60bb, I think it's a call, 100bb deep I would not be happy, but you should consider folding.
Another thing is how easy you tilt. Because if you call and lose, and go on megatilt because of that, you should definitely stay away from these high variance spots, since it will lose you more money later on in the session, if you start playing bad because of it.
So to sum up, according to the math you should fold, but it's not too wrong calling either, since it's not going to do that much to your longterm EV. It's an easy spot, since you can't really go wrong. So I would say it's up to you: Do you fancy a gamble or not :)
 
WVHillbilly

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So to really break this spot down for you:
You didn't say what his and your stacksize was, but I'm going to assume for now that you both have 100bb stacks. So after he has shoved all-in, the pot should be 103.5bb, and you have 97bb left. That means you need 97/(97+103.5)=48.4% equity to call. If both of your stacks were 60bb, you need 57/(57+63.5)=47.3% equity to call with AKs, so I'll round to 48% for convenience.
If we expect him to do this with a range of 88+,AKs,AKo , we have 44.47% against that range. Even if we remove AA and KK from that range (as PKRNRS says, he might not shove these hands), we get 47.75% equity, making it a close call. So in average we have maybe 46% equity when we are calling this shove.
In terms of EV you win 103.5bb every time you call and win and lose 97bb every time you call and lose, which is EV=(103.5bb×0.46)+(-97bb×0.54)= -4.77bb. So if you were playing 5nl, you are on average going to lose -4.77bb×5c= -24c every time you call here.
But there are more factors to consider. Obviously if he's a crazy fish he could do this with a lot of hands we are dominating, so in that case it would be a pretty clear call. Against a normal type of fish that does this, it will be a slightly losing play to do this, as shown with the math I did earlier. If his stack size is smaller than 100bb, for example something like 60bb, I think it's a call, 100bb deep I would not be happy, but you should consider folding.
Another thing is how easy you tilt. Because if you call and lose, and go on megatilt because of that, you should definitely stay away from these high variance spots, since it will lose you more money later on in the session, if you start playing bad because of it.
So to sum up, according to the math you should fold, but it's not too wrong calling either, since it's not going to do that much to your longterm EV. It's an easy spot, since you can't really go wrong. So I would say it's up to you: Do you fancy a gamble or not :)
If he's bad enough to just shove over an open for 100bb with the range you assigned, surely he's going to do it with at least a few hands we dominate. Easy, no brainer call.
 
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Tricky123bet

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If he's bad enough to just shove over an open for 100bb with the range you assigned, surely he's going to do it with at least a few hands we dominate. Easy, no brainer call.

Yeah I imagine AQ, AJ and KQ can be in that range too, but in my experience it's often more weighted towards pairs than big broadway cards. It obviously depends on the stakes and what site he is playing at, but we didn't get that info.
 
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thomasguy3419

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22 or any pocket pair will beat you more often than not. Your AK might look big and mighty until you see 22 laughing when he takes your stack.

By the way BentleyBoy, did you fold or call this hand and what happened?
 
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LFC_yllnwa

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It is difficult to make fold in this situation, but I think that it is folding, not looking the strength of the hand will be the right decision. Against any pair on the table 6 max we do not have the best hand ...
 
TheNutz4You

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depends on the player, but with no info id fold AKo and call AKs.
 
Che

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I always raise 4BB's UTG in a cash game.
This is a 50/50 situation and personally I would fold to find a better spot.
I only like to risk 40BB's or less with AK preflop.
I prefer to see a flop first to see if an A or K flops then make my next move.
I would fold AK for 100BB's preflop in a cash game.
It's okay to fold AK. It's not like your folding KK or AA, those I will call with and maybe QQ.
Are you considering AK to be a drawing hand?
Good luck cause you'll need it

LOL... Ha ha ha ha haha:angel:
 
AjsmenX

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I think i would call here..It is just bad fold i quess
 
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thomasguy3419

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Are you considering AK to be a drawing hand?
Good luck cause you'll need it

LOL... Ha ha ha ha haha:angel:
If it's not a drawing hand then what is it? It's not a pair unless you make one after the flop.
 
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mike2285

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You are probably slightly behind, this is a move from someone who doesnt want to see the flop. Might be something like 10s or Js, difficult to play postflop if overcards come. Was this live or online? I would probably snapcall online for low stakes and fold if it were live or for bigger stakes.
 
jimmy andres

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Hello me in that case I would co 2 big blinds since it is true what you say no one else has bet and that position is vulnerable before the resubidas of the rivals, then having sibido our 2 blinds would wait to see the others if another Resub 3 or 4 would equal it just for my position, to get to see the flop and if I hit, start attacking resubiendo. I hope you serve luck and the tables.
 
Sil3ntness

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I'd probably fold. No reads on villain and he/she is shoving 100 BBs over my UTG raise???
 
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I would call but not always. If my opponent goes all in, I would fold without thinking. Computer usually gives AA or KK on AK. I have learned that on the hard way :(
 
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