AKs, advice needed. (1/3 NL game)

I was at the local casino friday night and played mostly the 1/3 NL table (40 min buyin, no max). After about 2 or so hours I find myself up about $250 with $450 chips in front of me (I bought in for $200). I was playing pretty much by-the-book poker, using my tight image to make a few bluffs at small pots when I sensed weakness. All the hands I was showing down were high pocket pairs (AA, QQ etc) and broadway connectors.

The table was a mixed bunch. Two seats to my left was the big stack. He had about $1000 in front of him when I sat down, but was down to $700 at this point. The table average for stacks was between $150 - $350.

The hand I would greatly appreciate advice on is a match up between me and the big stack. Unfortunately, he almost always had position on me due to the seating arrangement, which made life a bit harder at the table.

A bit of background on this foe's playing style is: he was seeing over 75% of the flops and bet at even more of them. He was a very loose aggressive player.

Hand in question went like this:

1 Limper, folded around to me.
ME (Middle Position):

I raise to $41 (standard table raises were between $20 and $45 preflop).
Folded around to the VLLIAN (big stack) who was on the button.
VILLIAN calls.

SMALL BLIND calls.
BB folds.

3 Players to the flop, which comes:

FLOP

SMALL BLIND checks.
ME: (continuation bet here coming, was this the right move here?)
ME: Bet $65 into the $103 pot. So about 2/3 of the pot.

VILLIAN smooth calls. (RED FLAG!)
SMALL BLIND folds.

TURN card

Here's where I'm getting a bit worried. I may be dead here with the flush possiblity on the board and only 6 possibly dead outs left in the deck. I almost made another fire at that turn card, but the smooth 65$ call really had me worried. Then again the VILLIAN could be playing any 2 cards.

ME: check
VILLIAN: check

RIVER card:

So I'm out of position and make a very weak novice move here and check, which I really feel was the wrong move. Knowing the VILLIAN he could be in there with anything. But the flop and smooth call had me worried, he could possibly just be bating another fire on the river with the flush already made.

In any case the VILLIAN thinks for about 20 seconds then bets out $150. . What now...

I know I completely botched the hand and misplayed the Turn and the River. Any advice on how you think I should have played this hand in this situation would be greatly appreciated.

THANKS! (hopefully this post wasn't too long, just wanted to make sure I provided enough info for any replies).

Fold, and take his chips when you have it. The only thing you can beat is a broken draw. Sure, he may be trying to buy it, but at that price, I'd let him walk off with it.

If you were trying to represent AJ, I would have made another bet on the turn, or a value bet on the river. However, I don't think checking it down & folding here is that bad of a play.

I'd check the flop, since he's LAG your fold equity vs him is going down and you are also against 2 players, not heads up which makes it worse as well as the fact that you are not even in late position. I'm 100% done with this hand on the turn with the board 3 flushed, out of position and vs a LAG player. You have Ace high and even a pair of threes beats you here. You should only bluff if you think you have at least a 55% chance of winning which here I think you clearly don't and if you chose to bluff here the only way It'd work is if you went all-in but think about it... I don't think you really have enough chips to push him out. He'd be getting about like 2.5-1 or so pot odds to make the call and there are so many hands that beat you here. You're on a pure bluff. Do you really want to put your whole stack in on a pure bluff? You can of course but, that's also how LAG players win. Is by playing loose to make you think they have shit so you get frustrated, make a move... and he turns over a full house. I'd wait to pick a better spot and catch him with his hand in the cookie jar.

I think you played this one well. He sounds crazy if he indeed plays 75% and checking the turn with flush would definitely be a typical "tricky" move for an insane player like he is.

I don't know anything about the SB but a continuation was definitely right on the flop when you're up against a player who plays 75% of the hands. You're so much ahead of his range with AK.

Like I said, you played it well. Sometimes you just have to let these hands go.

TheJace said:

I'd check the flop, since he's LAG your fold equity vs him is going down and you are also against 2 players, not heads up which makes it worse as well as the fact that you are not even in late position. I'm 100% done with this hand on the turn with the board 3 flushed, out of position and vs a LAG player. You have Ace high and even a pair of threes beats you here. You should only bluff if you think you have at least a 55% chance of winning which here I think you clearly don't and if you chose to bluff here the only way It'd work is if you went all-in but think about it... I don't think you really have enough chips to push him out. He'd be getting about like 2.5-1 or so pot odds to make the call and there are so many hands that beat you here. You're on a pure bluff. Do you really want to put your whole stack in on a pure bluff? You can of course but, that's also how LAG players win. Is by playing loose to make you think they have shit so you get frustrated, make a move... and he turns over a full house. I'd wait to pick a better spot and catch him with his hand in the cookie jar.

Click to expand...

^^^^^ this, however it was not quite a pure bluff. You would be beating AQ and any other unpaired holdings.

You did let him in, and he was savvy enough to nail you.

The only thing you might have done was a raise on both the turn and river. Representing a big pair, or a j. Your description however suggests this guy was gonna call just to make you prove your hand.

I really appreciate the responses

TheJace, I agree with you completely on the fold equity. I'm up against a much larger stack and the only way to take the pot down would be on a ace high bluff.

At the same time, the VILLAINS range of hands is huge. However, pair of threes or better has me beat and an all-in still still gives him good odds. Since I can only beat pure cheese or a missed straight I pretty much gave myself limited options here.

I almost made the all-in move after that $150 bet on the river though. For the mere fact that the bet screamed "please don't call me." Previous betting patterns when he had the best of it were almost always value bet. However, I just couldn't risk the rest of my stack on that information alone.

After the hand the VILLAIN did end up turning over a busted straight draw:



In any case, does anyone have some advice on playing AKs in a heads up position on a missed flop? Decent players probably expect the continuation bet, but what other strategies would you recommend when you miss with AK against a loose player?

Thanks!