Call or Fold with A high

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drhousethebest

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I was playing this live tournament on Saturday.
Guy early 40s or late 30s that I never played before was opening very often.
One hand, he raised from the button, I re-raised him with AK, he folds

-another hand he open from the SB, I had A9 of hearts, I just call. the flop comes and I hit top pair of 9, nothing else scary. He checks I bet the flop, he just call.
next car not scary either, he checks, I check behind.
he check the river as well and I still have top pair. at this point I know something is not right because he is aggressive, so I just check my top pair. He shows AA, he was waiting for me to bed.

and So on we play several hands, I saw him raising with 9/4 of spades and calling an all in pre-flop. ( the person going all in was very short stack)

So, we play this hand
I got AK off suit. He raised pre-flop, I had about 30k, he has about 15k.
Blinds are 800/400
He raised 2,200k, I re-raised him to 4400k. He just call
the flop comes 8/10/5 rainbow.
he check the flop
I make a continuation bet of 4400k

He goes all in

Call or fold with AK?
 
B

bigpappa325

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drhousethebest said:
I was playing this live tournament on Saturday.
Guy early 40s or late 30s that I never played before was opening very often.
One hand, he raised from the button, I re-raised him with AK, he folds

-another hand he open from the SB, I had A9 of hearts, I just call. the flop comes and I hit top pair of 9, nothing else scary. He checks I bet the flop, he just call.
next car not scary either, he checks, I check behind.
he check the river as well and I still have top pair. at this point I know something is not right because he is aggressive, so I just check my top pair. He shows AA, he was waiting for me to bed.

and So on we play several hands, I saw him raising with 9/4 of spades and calling an all in pre-flop. ( the person going all in was very short stack)

So, we play this hand
I got AK off suit. He raised pre-flop, I had about 30k, he has about 15k.
Blinds are 800/400
He raised 2,200k, I re-raised him to 4400k. He just call
the flop comes 8/10/5 rainbow.
he check the flop
I make a continuation bet of 4400k

He goes all in

Call or fold with AK?
Click to expand...

A,K with two players deserves a three bet. Call or raise to that gives loads of answers. Calling a cbet is normal so no alarm. All in raises flags. Not knowing his range my guess is he has a over pair possibly hit two pair. possible set?


Fold, To call a all in at this point means you have to have a read on him. It better be right. Find better spots.
Cant wait to hear outcome:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
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drhousethebest

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Well, Apparently this post did not have many responses.

But anyways, I ended calling, I fell I had a good edge on my opponent and he did not have it

he showed J9, he was in a straight draw, I ended busting him out of the tournament.

I think it was a great call and I ended up being right.
 
Tmoney999

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You could really go either way here with a call or a fold. Both decisions are not bad ones. Sounds like this guy was pretty agro with iffy hands and you new this so a call with A high on a heavy drawing board is not the most fish thing to do, it is a gamble though as he is almost guaranteed a decent draw here, but AK is ahead of a lot a hands he could be holding. This being said you need to hold if your ahead with this hand and hit if you are possibly not, with the information you have on the fella you are ahead a lot of the time here, still a gamble to call but in this case as you suspected it was a good gamble. You are getting 2 to 1 on the call maybe a bit better to so i think a call here is a fine play, i myself would do the same, but i have more gamble than some others. Gamble Gamble they say.:D:D:D
 
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drhousethebest

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Tmoney999 said:
You could really go either way here with a call or a fold. Both decisions are not bad ones. Sounds like this guy was pretty agro with iffy hands and you new this so a call with A high on a heavy drawing board is not the fishiest thing to do, it is a gamble though as he is almost guaranteed a decent draw here, but AK is ahead of a lot a hands he could be holding. This being said you need to hold if your ahead with this hand and hit if you are possibly not, with the information you have on the fella you are ahead a lot of the time here, still a gamble to call but in this case as you suspected it was a good gamble. You are getting 2 to 1 on the call maybe a bit better to so i think a call here is a fine play, i myself would do the same, but i have more gamble than some others. Gamble Gamble they say.:D:D:D
Click to expand...


I felt I had a good edge on him. It was not gable necessary since I was almost certain he did not have anything. lol, it was a great call that boost my stack all the way to the second place of the tournament.
 
jadaminato

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I think that if he had a third in the flop he would not have put the all-in, and if he had had a stronger hand before the flop, with 15k he could have gone all-in after your re-raise. I would have hesitated perhaps thinking that he had a 10, maybe an 8. But it wasn't like that and you caught him :). Good call
 
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Erickaie

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I would have called often against this player, even if he did hit something on the board, there is still two over cards to come, but at this point he has something for sure, the best hope is, he have some kind of a straight draw,or AQ,AJ,AT, obviously he does not have pocket pairs. i would call just because the way he has been playing, but if you did fold then you are a very discipline player!
 
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Hi! I think the best solution would be to put all in preflop. It is difficult to determine the range of an opponent with a small hand history. Ten and five, these are cards that any regular has, he could catch a coincidences.
 
jadaminato

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Cash2019 said:
Hi! I think the best solution would be to put all in preflop. It is difficult to determine the range of an opponent with a small hand history. Ten and five, these are cards that any regular has, he could catch a coincidences.
Click to expand...


That is not a solution, it is a flip coin. Then the opponent shows you 2-2 and you have to beg for an A or a K to appear on the flop.
 
NCDaddy

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You have about 1/3 of your stack in already, and it doesn't cost you much more to call it off with no more money that can be lost. I think it's a no brainer...call it off.
 
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I would have called. Chances are low he has AA again.
 
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drhousethebest

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Excellent, I would normally fold that hand, but I was playing really good poker. So, I was paying attention to every little thing on the table. My play was the right play.

I see some comments about the play being a flip coin, I agree and disagree because that is the idea of poker, you should know when to do certain plays. I think this time I knew with doubt I was doing the right call.
SOmetimes you just know it!!
 
kowrip

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I wouldn't have called here. Sure, maybe he's opening pretty wide, but if he's pushing all-in on that flop, the best you could hope for is if he is on a draw. Basically, your AK is a bluff catcher. Your AK is way behind everything except a draw and a total bluff. You guessed right, but I would have found a better spot to risk my chips.
 
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drhousethebest

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kowrip said:
I wouldn't have called here. Sure, maybe he's opening pretty wide, but if he's pushing all-in on that flop, the best you could hope for is if he is on a draw. Basically, your AK is a bluff catcher. Your AK is way behind everything except a draw and a total bluff. You guessed right, but I would have found a better spot to risk my chips.
Click to expand...

Like I said in previous message, normally I would folded, but on this case I snap call him! sometimes I can just see through my opponent and I knew I was ahead. I think it was too risky for him to do that play after I re-raised him pre-flop. The fact that he did not have that many chips for his all in help a lot too.
I cannot fully criticize his play since is an amazing semi-bluff!
 
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drhousethebest said:
Well, Apparently this post did not have many responses.

But anyways, I ended calling, I fell I had a good edge on my opponent and he did not have it

he showed J9, he was in a straight draw, I ended busting him out of the tournament.

I think it was a great call and I ended up being right.
Click to expand...

There's really no better feeling than making a call like this based on the other players previous play. Way to go!
 
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drhousethebest

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tmsr said:
There's really no better feeling than making a call like this based on the other players previous play. Way to go!
Click to expand...



Thanks! that hand boosted my tournament!!
 
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Easy shove here for me. He has 19bb left. If there are still opponents in front of me, I 3bet here on 6000 and on the flop then everything goes al in. There you are then comitted.
 
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drhousethebest

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Anglermeister said:
Easy shove here for me. He has 19bb left. If there are still opponents in front of me, I 3bet here on 6000 and on the flop then everything goes al in. There you are then comitted.
Click to expand...


It was heads up! made easier to call, if I had another person to act I would have folded
 
akgross

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Your chances are 48%. And it's just AK. It is possible to hope that A will fall to you as a river, but I see a loss in more hands in this distribution. Therefore, your decision is to fold.
 
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I'm amazed at all the people who want to fold here. Against this V who plays monsters passively just checking and calling (and I'm using monster loosely since he played one pair AA like it was a set or something) and marginal hands aggressively betting and raising we can be ahead in some spots like this. Even if we are behind there is over 24k in the pot (exact amount depends on who was in the blinds and if there's an ante or anyone limped) and we only have to call 6.2k to continue (less if V had to ante). I can understand check / folding this flop but once we bet, folding is a huge mistake here. Getting 4:1 on a call we only need 20% equity to profitably get it in. We have about 23% against most 1 pair hands unless V has an A or K with it. If we are betting this flop at all it should be with the intent to get stacks in.

Also, other posters have noted your pre flop 3 bet sizing is too small. Go 6-7k then just jam flop or just jam pre and take the blinds / antes and his bet. In this case V also played the hand well if he was in late position or it was blind vs blind. Especially if it was suited.
 
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canfoldaces

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drhousethebest said:
I was playing this live tournament on Saturday.
Guy early 40s or late 30s that I never played before was opening very often.
One hand, he raised from the button, I re-raised him with AK, he folds

-another hand he open from the SB, I had A9 of hearts, I just call. the flop comes and I hit top pair of 9, nothing else scary. He checks I bet the flop, he just call.
next car not scary either, he checks, I check behind.
he check the river as well and I still have top pair. at this point I know something is not right because he is aggressive, so I just check my top pair. He shows AA, he was waiting for me to bed.

and So on we play several hands, I saw him raising with 9/4 of spades and calling an all in pre-flop. ( the person going all in was very short stack)

So, we play this hand
I got AK off suit. He raised pre-flop, I had about 30k, he has about 15k.
Blinds are 800/400
He raised 2,200k, I re-raised him to 4400k. He just call
the flop comes 8/10/5 rainbow.
he check the flop
I make a continuation bet of 4400k

He goes all in

Call or fold with AK?
Click to expand...


Easy fold for me, If this is a late stage this will be the easiest fold
 
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canfoldaces

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Possible hands were 9J,79,67,JQ,9Q,55,88,TT,A5,A8,AT so even if he is on a straight draw and you were ahead on the flop. it's an easy fold
 
SightUnseen

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I would of played the AK differently, since you have 2 to 1 chips vs this guy and they are 18.75bb effective @ 4/800 blinds. From the sounds of it this player sounds a bit spazzy and loose. I would increase your preflop 3bet size in this position, a 2x min click 3bet just gives them the pot odds to call with any hand. I'd advise sizing up your 3b from 2200 to more around 6500+, don't have to go to large in postion but size up more out of position, try to get more of their chips in preflop or have them fold and just win the pot pre, AK is just a drawing hand so you don't want to induce a call from two napkins and have them out flop you with any two cards. I feel sizing up your 3bet or just jamming on the player is best, win the pot preflop, make them call with worse or make them pay dearly to see a flop.
 
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Calling a cbet is normal but check raise from your opponent that represent strong hand easy fold
 
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drhousethebest

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c0rnBr34d said:
I'm amazed at all the people who want to fold here. Against this V who plays monsters passively just checking and calling (and I'm using monster loosely since he played one pair AA like it was a set or something) and marginal hands aggressively betting and raising we can be ahead in some spots like this. Even if we are behind there is over 24k in the pot (exact amount depends on who was in the blinds and if there's an ante or anyone limped) and we only have to call 6.2k to continue (less if V had to ante). I can understand check / folding this flop but once we bet, folding is a huge mistake here. Getting 4:1 on a call we only need 20% equity to profitably get it in. We have about 23% against most 1 pair hands unless V has an A or K with it. If we are betting this flop at all it should be with the intent to get stacks in.

Also, other posters have noted your pre flop 3 bet sizing is too small. Go 6-7k then just jam flop or just jam pre and take the blinds / antes and his bet. In this case V also played the hand well if he was in late position or it was blind vs blind. Especially if it was suited.
Click to expand...


with a different player in the same situation I would have folded. I think this is why the game of poker is not just luck and gambling, it requires strategy and knowing your opponent. I felt that I had a good read of him so that is the reason I made the call, it was not a difficult call for me, sometimes you just know!!
I guess a lot of people are saying to fold because they did not understand that aspect of the hand on my description. I cannot blame them since is hard to feel what I felt while I was there, they need to be there.
 
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