playing AK with A on flop...

Hi Folks, a theoretical scenario to consider -

Scenario: 2 players, 100 bb each. AK in middle position Pre-flop, I raised, 1 caller.

Flop: A, 7, 2, dry board, I cbet, villain raises.

What's the next action ?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Asking these sort of questions without any knowledge of your opponent is too simplistic. Poker is as much about the person as the cards. In the absence of any reads try to get to showdown as cheaply as possible for the information if nothing else. If he makes it too pricey fold and wait for a better spot. it's such a dry board often it must be a set or 2 pair

Slow down

I think your hand is too strong to fold here. The best thing to do is when he raises on the flop u have to call and check down till the river and keep calling him because u have no read on the opponent. Folding this hand on this board is a bad play.

Depends what sort of player the opponent is

Need more info. Cash game or tour? If tour, what stages? What is your read on the villain? Has he been in every pot? What range does he play IP? What range does he play OOP? If you call, you have no idea what hand he holds. If you reraise and he shoves, then what? All of this depends upon your player notes

This is very villain & game dependent. You cannot assume you are against a set every time but caution is in order. Stats, notes, the flow of the game, & live tells would be my primary decision making tools. It would also matter if it is 6max or full ring. In any case it would be time to decide whether or not to go with the hand.

I am almost always getting it in in 6max. Full ring I would be more cautious.
Against an donkey who plays any ace or pair vs. a raise I would get it in.
Against a maniac I would generally get it in.
Against a weak tight player I would fold.
Against a calling station I would fold.
Against a solid player I would really have to think about it. If I thought he played straight forward I might call and check/ fold the turn. If he is tricky I would tend to raise/ fold. Being out of position really could make this a tough hand.

BearPlay said:

Need more info. Cash game or tour?

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it seems safe to assume cash game.

As for other questions, there are even more. Like how many players were dealt cards? The situation is not the same at a full ring table vs a HU one.

As always it depends !!

micromachine said:

Depends what sort of player the opponent is

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+1
try to see what kind of hands and moves are the villain doing and then you can make an strategy to beat him !

Tricky hand to play OOP...

Continuation bet is handy if we want to finish the hand at the flop... Prolly easiest way to play and let go if we get called unless we improve dramatically.


Checking the flop is great though because our opponent will start paying us with his lower pp and open up for more bluffing hands. Also his medium pair weaker players will start playing with.

Anyways pot control this hand and raise the river if he's just checking flop/turn and he should call with medium/low pp happens all the time to me

I go for calling here and praying he has a weaker ace like AQ and AJ. If he has a set or two pair, then a bit unlucky. I would lead in the turn to put him off and let him call with worse. If he raises, then that could easily suggest that you are beat. But I play a bit more trickier, so really I would just check to him on the turn and see what happens.

if he is tight then fold
if he is loose then i would call or even re-raise

Whats the amount of his raise? If the "pot odds" is favorable, then I automatically call. If its on the border, still Ill call. I want to see whats his action on the turn.

What if he raises all-in ?

If all-in, Ill call.
Just say you spend 7 big blind on the flop, total pot is 14.
You have to call 93bb against total pot of 107. pot odds = 1:1.
Therefore pot odds = not favorable.
Card odds = very favorable. He has either Ax, or TT-KK or just a bluff.
Ill go for card odds here.

^^ I feel like there is a lot wrong with that post

enesem said:

What if he raises all-in ?

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micromachine said:

Depends what sort of player the opponent is

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Well if this is micros this could well be a fold, its tricky. People play Ax all the time so villain could have flopped A7, A2, if they hold AQ or worse would they really be raising, i'd say they would just call. In this scenario its probably not a set, raising with a set here is dumb, smooth calling and trapping you would be what a decent player would do. As you can see, is the player a donk or is he a solid player?

These are my thoughts on the little information we have here.

Playing three handed, AK is a really strong hand with A 7 2 on the flop. Your only scare hands are A7, A2, 77, 22. Meanwhile, raise on the flop could be AK, AQ, AJ, A10, A9, A8, A6, A4.... could also be K7, Q7 and he's raising to either scare you out or at least figure out where he's at in the hand. Could be pocket 8s, 9s or 10s.

Could be an aggressive player who isn't giving you credit for an Ace, and figure the 7 and 2 are blanks as well, and just feels he might be ahead with a KQ, KJ, or K10.


Moral of the story, you definitely want to narrow these hands down from what you know about the player. But with nothing but the cards to go on, I'd say there's a lot of hands that you're beating, and not so many that you aren't. PLUS, your hand can still improve 20% of the time. Call him down, play pot control.

Weisssound said:

PLUS, your hand can still improve 20% of the time.

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But a fair number of cards that improve your hand aren't clean outs; e.g. you have no clean outs vs a set, just the 3 kings vs A7. So you should be discounting some of your outs, not just applying the rule of 4.

not enough info here.. for instance... how much does he reraise.. is it a min raise. and what was in the pot. What exact position is this guy.. did he just call before you acted.. or is her after you..

then there what your option how how this guy likes to play before this hand.

Call or raise

If you are playing against tight player here he can raise with set or AJ because he is not in position and just call it depens what to do

I would call and check the turn to see what he does.

Also, a raise isn't a bad move here just to see where you stand. He may fold, with his raise he may have been asking "Does he have an Ace or not" and if you didn't, you would have folded. His cards don't matter in that spot, it's all whether you have an ace or not. So, with that theory, raise back and answer his question.

But, also call and check isn't bad. Allow him to hang himself with a weaker ace, and if he does have two pair or a set, you still have outs against two pair, and if you don't hit it, with this route you will likely lose the least amount as possible.

Regardless of what action you choose, if you do get to showdown or see the opponent's hand: make a note of it.The decision will be much easier then next time the opponent does this.