Badly need help on playing AK/AQ in microstakes.

sachin79 · Jul 25, 2012

Hi guys, I am new to this site, and would first like to say what an absolutely fantastic site it is and I have had valuable, valuable advice from you guys free of charge, so for that, thank you so much!

Ok so I am playing microstakes at the moment, just 0.01/0.02 on pokerstars, and following this strategy: https://www.cardschat.com/f49/how-beat-nl-10-isnt-book-90173/ and have been relatively successful. I have been playing for a couple of months.

So say I have AK and I raise to say 8 cents, a passive player raises it up to 24 cents, and then I call. No ace or no king on the flop. Now I check to him, he does a continuation bet, now this is where I really struggle, since I can't really call with nothing, but I have a feeling he has air as well. I would make a continuation bet but the fact that he raised me is making me not. So do I just fold or re - raise (knowing that bluffing at microstakes is probably not worth it and there loads of fish who sometimes raise with anything)

HELP PLEASE!!

Seraphim · Jul 25, 2012

I am still learning also but feel I can comment here do you use tracking software hud ect? I recently bought poker tracker 3 and it is working wonders for my game.
So moving on this all depends on more info ie what posistion are you opening from where is he 3 betting from ect imo this is a pretty easy fold also depending on how much he bets in realtion to the pot. imo just fold here

JDAWG5 · Jul 25, 2012

sachin79 said:
Hi guys, I am new to this site, and would first like to say what an absolutely fantastic site it is and I have had valuable, valuable advice from you guys free of charge, so for that, thank you so much!

Ok so I am playing microstakes at the moment, just 0.01/0.02 on pokerstars, and following this strategy: https://www.cardschat.com/f49/how-beat-nl-10-isnt-book-90173/ and have been relatively successful. I have been playing for a couple of months.

So say I have AK and I raise to say 8 cents, a passive player raises it up to 24 cents, and then I call. No ace or no king on the flop. Now I check to him, he does a continuation bet, now this is where I really struggle, since I can't really call with nothing, but I have a feeling he has air as well. I would make a continuation bet but the fact that he raised me is making me not. So do I just fold or re - raise (knowing that bluffing at microstakes is probably not worth it and there loads of fish who sometimes raise with anything)

HELP PLEASE!!

I would 4-bet pre-flop in this situation.

JDAWG5 · Jul 25, 2012

And then I would C-bet the flop.

sachin79 · Jul 25, 2012

JDAWG5 said:
And then I would C-bet the flop.

ok thanks for the advice! If I get re raised, fold I guess, and assume Im up against QQ+?

JDAWG5 · Jul 25, 2012

sachin79 said:
ok thanks for the advice! If I get re raised, fold I guess, and assume Im up against QQ+?

Well, it all depends on the board texture.

But generally speaking if I have AK and c-bet the flop against a PASSIVE player, as you said. And then he RAISES me, then yea, I'm folding all day.

sachin79 · Jul 25, 2012

JDAWG5 said:
Well, it all depends on the board texture.

But generally speaking if I have AK and c-bet the flop against a PASSIVE player, as you said. And then he RAISES me, then yea, I'm folding all day.

no sorry I meant pre flop! So I have four betted, and then get re raised.

JDAWG5 · Jul 25, 2012

sachin79 said:
no sorry I meant pre flop! So I have four betted, and then get re raised.

Ohhhhh sorry.

Well then it all depends on the player your up against.

For example in my home game my friends overplay hands like AJ and have no problem getting it in with them, so I will try to get as much money in the middle of the pot as possible.

If the player is very tight, and you think he has AA or KK then go ahead and fold.

I mean unless your opponent has AA (10%), or KK(30%), your at worst gonna be a coin flip.

If he has QQ your still going to win 50% of the time.

Hopefully my explanation made sense, I'm sure there will be plenty of others on here who can explain it in greater detail.

sachin79 · Jul 25, 2012

JDAWG5 said:
Ohhhhh sorry.

Well then it all depends on the player your up against.

For example in my home game my friends overplay hands like AJ and have no problem getting it in with them, so I will try to get as much money in the middle of the pot as possible.

If the player is very tight, and you think he has AA or KK then go ahead and fold.

I mean unless your opponent has AA (10%), or KK(30%), your at worst gonna be a coin flip.

If he has QQ your still going to win 50% of the time.

Hopefully my explanation made sense, I'm sure there will be plenty of others on here who can explain it in greater detail.

Ok thanks a lot. Would you recommend 3 times the bet from the villain? So i raise 6 cents, get re raised to 18 cents, then should I pop it up to 54 cents with AK or what?

sachin79 · Jul 25, 2012

JDAWG5 said:
Ohhhhh sorry.

Well then it all depends on the player your up against.

For example in my home game my friends overplay hands like AJ and have no problem getting it in with them, so I will try to get as much money in the middle of the pot as possible.

If the player is very tight, and you think he has AA or KK then go ahead and fold.

I mean unless your opponent has AA (10%), or KK(30%), your at worst gonna be a coin flip.

If he has QQ your still going to win 50% of the time.

Hopefully my explanation made sense, I'm sure there will be plenty of others on here who can explain it in greater detail.

Sorry for the questions, but also how much would you put in the C-bet? Half the pot, 3 quarters?

youregoodmate · Jul 25, 2012

Dont 4 bet if you plan on folding to a shove/5bet, so I'd call a 5 bet. I dont mind flatting AK in position because its so easy to float a street but oop is just throwing money away..
Best tip is dont flat 3 bets oop, just 4bet or fold.

As for a c-bet, I like about 60-65% when I miss and 70-80% when I hit.. obv some circumstances/villains change that.

JDAWG5 · Jul 25, 2012

sachin79 said:
Ok thanks a lot. Would you recommend 3 times the bet from the villain? So i raise 6 cents, get re raised to 18 cents, then should I pop it up to 54 cents with AK or what?

Yes that seems right.

sachin79 said:
Sorry for the questions, but also how much would you put in the C-bet? Half the pot, 3 quarters?

Don't be sorry, this is a forum, questions are welcomed.

I usually C-bet, right in between what you said. I like to bet 2/3 the pot.

c9h13no3 · Jul 25, 2012

Standard 4-bet size is about 2.5x their 3bet. So in your case, I'd pump it to 45c pre.

Cbets in 4-bet pots should be about 40% of the pot.

sam1chips · Jul 26, 2012

JDwag hit it on the nose. They could easily have a pocket pair, so post-flop you could easily fold if you think they have you beat. If you don't think so, you should raise. Calling is just donating money.

Also, 4-betting pre-flop is probably the best strategy as well. Let them know that they have to have a good hand to see the flop

baudib1 · Jul 26, 2012

There's nothing really wrong with folding AK/AQ on whiffed flops when you get 3-bet pre. If someone cbets too much then you can float a flop or two and if you have a FD or SD you can raise. But in general at your stakes you're not going to make a ton of money against people who show aggression and continue betting on low flops.

BelgoSuisse · Jul 26, 2012

sachin79 said:
So say I have AK and I raise to say 8 cents, a passive player raises it up to 24 cents, and then I call.

a passive player who suddenly decides to 3bet you... Out of position it's a snap fold. in position i guess you can call, but you'll have to play fit or fold since a passive player's 3bet range is insanely strong.

Arjonius · Jul 28, 2012

At 2NL, it's not awful to fold AK when a passive player 3bets you. As stated above, the range you're up against is very strong; as narrow as JJ+ or QQ+ plus AK isn't unusual. Against either, you're about a 3:2 dog.

This doesn't look terrible, but consider what the the likely scenarios are where you win. The main one is where he has QQ or KK and you flop a higher pair. Does this look like a situation where a passive is likely to pay you off? Not especially.

In addition, because his range includes quite a few hands with blockers, you won't even flop a pair the usual 1 time in 3. Plus when you do, if you're still behind, you won't get away cheap.

There's also a meta-consideration, which is that at this level, you'll have plenty of situations that are favorable. So how important is it to get involved in situations that aren't?

sachin79 · Jul 28, 2012

Arjonius said:
At 2NL, it's not awful to fold AK when a passive player 3bets you. As stated above, the range you're up against is very strong; as narrow as JJ+ or QQ+ plus AK isn't unusual. Against either, you're about a 3:2 dog.

This doesn't look terrible, but consider what the the likely scenarios are where you win. The main one is where he has QQ or KK and you flop a higher pair. Does this look like a situation where a passive is likely to pay you off? Not especially.

In addition, because his range includes quite a few hands with blockers, you won't even flop a pair the usual 1 time in 3. Plus when you do, if you're still behind, you won't get away cheap.

There's also a meta-consideration, which is that at this level, you'll have plenty of situations that are favorable. So how important is it to get involved in situations that aren't?

Yeah I haven't been 4 betting at all with AK, but I'm not too sure, when the right time is too 4 bet with it, due to the large number of ppl at stars it is hard to have info on all of them. How many times would you 4 bet with AK not knowing anything about the player?

GWU73 · Jul 31, 2012

Im late to the party but Ill add.
Caution is warrented if a passive player 3bets. What can he have? JJ+, AK, AQ? Folding AK is ok here. Calling and check folding when you miss the flop 2/3 of the time is a little questionable. If, on the other hand the player is not passive, a 4 bet shove might be better.

Badly need help on playing AK/AQ in microstakes.

sachin79

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JDAWG5

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