$4 NLHE Full Ring: $ NLHE : $ NLHE : How do you play AK

$4 NL HE Full Ring: $ NL HE : $ NL HE : How do you play AK

hello,

I am playing 0.01/0.02 NL, Shortstack (1$) and in multitable.
So my preflop choice are pretty straight forward.

I got couple of time in the case where :

Vilain Raise, (3-4BB)
I raise (3time his raise)
Vilain Raise,
I go all in with my AK

Or

I raise (4BB)
Vilain Raise
I raise All in

most of the time, I end up losing, Against KK who makes a full, AA, one time against a K9s that made a double pair (KK 99)
and most of the time it cost me my short stack.

My stats on the tracker shows me i m losing money with AK.

How would you play it, in my case (micro, shortstacked)

Thanks for the help

if ur shortstacked then u raise big or shove over raises. Its a good hand but not a great one, but it's good enough to stick a small stack on a gamble with it.
If a flop bcomes dry and ur facing a aggressive person i'd shove anyway. Against a tight guy i mite have to fold if i dont hit the flop hard.

i think u need to just call the raises instead of pushing with AK preflop... unless i am reading this wrong and you are pushing on the flop and not preflop, but i think its preflop... i just feel that if u hit an a or k on the flop with just the call of his raise u will probably get ur money in anyways and win a good sized pot... but i dont like pushing all in preflop in non tournament scenarios unless u have AA or KK... just a personal thing

undone said:

i think u need to just call the raises instead of pushing with AK preflop...

Click to expand...

If he's playing shortstacked, shove is the best option imo. Depends on how short, but calling is going to get expensive - keep in mind he's unlikely to get a caller to a flop shove w an A on it from anything less than AJ, and the majority of the time there won't be an A or K on the flop.

This is a cut and pasted response from another forum where I answered some dudes questions about playing AK...

I had a very rough time adjusting my game with AK. I actually still overplay AKs in many cases.
So I wanted to know how you guys play with AK especially OOP.
Against what villains do you 4-bet it/call/fold?

FR

I personally 4 bet it when I've open raised from the CO or button, when I've raised from EP/MP there's been a caller and then what looks like a squeeze play from player at CO or button. I'll also 4bet/call a LAG players 3 bet.

I generally only call with AK if I've open raised from EP/MP and one of the blinds has 3 bet however this might be a spew. I'm not fond of calling with AK regardless of PF action but may well do it sometimes to mix it up a bit and for image reasons if it comes to showdown.

Fold if you raise PF and by the time the action returns to you it's going to cost a buy in to call.

Do you ever limp with it in early positions?

No

How many times do you cbet it when you miss against unknowns?
And just throw in any of your thoughts about this situation...

Pretty much 100% of the time. The only time I wont is OOP V's a calling station or a floater.


I think the turn is one of the most important aspects of playing AK. If you've reached the turn and have still missed then your read on the other player is the only thing left. If you think you can get a stubbon C/C'er with small/mid PP's to fold to the 2nd barrel then bet away, if the texture of the flop and the image of the other player says otherwise then let your ace high go.

FYI C-betting your ace high on the flop in position will pretty much guarantee you get to see the river meaning more chances to catch and put in a small value bet. __________________

Thank you,

@undone : I am tlaking about preflop decision
@slycbnew : Shortstacked : 50 BB
Basicaly, do i shove my 1$ when the blind are 0.02


Thing is if there is 3 raise or 4 raise preflop, i am basically all-in at this point

You are not playing shortstacked, but middle stack, you should rebuy to $2.
¨When you play shortstack(20BB) you should raise to 4BB+1BB for each limper and reraise to 3x original raise if someone raised before you, if you should put more that half of your stack in the pot, you go all-in.

feydreva said:

Thank you,

@undone : I am tlaking about preflop decision
@slycbnew : Shortstacked : 50 BB
Basicaly, do i shove my 1$ when the blind are 0.02


Thing is if there is 3 raise or 4 raise preflop, i am basically all-in at this point

Click to expand...

Pokemaster is correct, this isn't considered a short stack. If you were playing truly shortstacked (20BB), shoving AK is your optimal strategy - but you're not, you're playing 50BB.

So, let's look at your examples:

First example

1. Opener opens for 4xBB (to keep the math simple, I'll just take the 4x).
2. You 3bet to 12BB (correct move, incidentally).
3. He 4bets to (say) 30BB (the range will vary a bit - maybe 30x, maybe 36, maybe more).

General rule of thumb - once you've put 1/3 of your stack in the pot, you ought to be committed to getting the rest of your stack in.

Calling opener's 4bet is silly (almost always, whether you're playing 50BB or 100BB), since you'll have almost 2/3 of your stack in the pot (and for strategic reasons as well) - if you're continuing, you absolutely ought to shove instead of call, your only other option should be to fold. A fold would be based on your read of what Villain's 4bet means - i.e., if it's always AA or KK, you ought to fold, if it's a lot broader than that (includes K9 for example - incidentally, you've GOT to be kidding ), you ought to shove.

I've never played this level, but I think the range is very heavily weighted to KK+ and folding to a 4bet holding AK is probably the correct default move without a read that Villain 4bets light (others can answer this better than me).

Second example:

1. You open to 4xBB.
2. Someone behind you 3bets to (say) 12xBB.

You have more of an option here. You can call if you wish and decide what to do after seeing the flop. There are pluses and minuses here ("are you out of position" is a big possible minus), but calling 12BB doesn't quite commit you (25% of your stack - note, though, that it's darn close). Again, getting a feel for what a 3bet at this level means will help you make a better decision.

You need to be prepared, though, if an A or K flops, to bet aggressively and get all in as quickly as possible, or to snap fold to any bet if there's no A or K - you absolutely CANNOT call a bet on the flop to see the turn, because you will be committed to stacking off whether or not there's an A or K on the turn (you're back to having over 1/3 of your stack in the pot).

just call, and wait for a good flop!
i did not go all in pre flop with middle stack! i think the call is the right move!

I like re-rasing with AK to an initial 3 to 4 bet. But if villain re-raises you allin then almost certainly it'll be a pair (99 and above) and you'll be behind or flipping a coin - even it you're flipping 75% of the time and behind 25% of the time, it is -ev. Any strategy though depends on your reads of villain and how wide his range is and his position.

If u play w shortstack, u should move all on preflop.
In most cases you will be ahead of the opp on shDown