Hey... if aces are still live, then we have BE direct odds on a call turn. Advise?

Also, preflop? If I'm not playing AK aggressively post, should I just fold it? Rn I just bet if I have top purr or a fd (suited combos). Also, wouldn't it be more profitable to always shove AK if we just fod it flops to JJ QQ TT etc?

Yatahay Network - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (CO): 141.2 BB
BTN: 177.2 BB
SB: 129.8 BB
BB: 109.8 BB
UTG: 101 BB
MP: 101.4 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K♦ A♠

fold, MP raises to 2.8 BB, Hero raises to 8.4 BB, fold, fold, fold, MP raises to 14.8 BB, Hero calls 6.4 BB

Flop: (31 BB, 2 players) T♠ 5♠ 9♠
MP checks, Hero checks

Turn: (31 BB, 2 players) 9♥
MP bets 15.4 BB, fold

MP wins 29.6 BB

Why are we checking back flop here? No stats or reads on V but if he has a set on this flop V should not be giving free cards. If he has an over pair he should be betting as well. We block the only hands that should be checking here. I think V is capped here at KsK but has a lot of QQ and AK. I would be at least bet-calling this flop (if not bet-raising) and evaluating turn in position if it gets that far. We can also 5 bet pre against players with wider 3 bet stats.

In this hand we are a 55/45 favorite against a range of QQ+, AK on this flop. We need to be betting for value and with our added fold equity I think it's a large mistake to check behind. On the turn we are a 60/40 dog against the same range but he shouldn't be checking a lot of those over pairs so I could argue we have more equity as he is less likely to have all 6 combos of KK+ now and he only bet half pot here so I think we have to call as played. Given our line we will probably need to hit the river or fold to a large bet since we have played our hand face up as a draw with no showdown value but for 15 BB with this much equity I don't think we can be folding. If we didn't have the A of spades then I like your line.

Preflop I 5 bet shove AK there.

On the flop, with the nut flush draw and possibly 2 overs I'll bet 1/2 pot when checked to.

Originally Posted by teh_colonel_saigon

Hey... if aces are still live, then we have BE direct odds on a call turn. Advise?

Also, preflop? If I'm not playing AK aggressively post, should I just fold it? Rn I just bet if I have top purr or a fd (suited combos). Also, wouldn't it be more profitable to always shove AK if we just fod it flops to JJ QQ TT etc?

Yatahay Network - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (CO): 141.2 BB
BTN: 177.2 BB
SB: 129.8 BB
BB: 109.8 BB
UTG: 101 BB
MP: 101.4 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K♦ A♠

fold, MP raises to 2.8 BB, Hero raises to 8.4 BB, fold, fold, fold, MP raises to 14.8 BB, Hero calls 6.4 BB

Flop: (31 BB, 2 players) T♠ 5♠ 9♠
MP checks, Hero checks

Turn: (31 BB, 2 players) 9♥
MP bets 15.4 BB, fold

MP wins 29.6 BB

Thanks for the hand:

• Preflop is fine
• I'm not checking the flop - while I get you're hoping to disguise your flush, what is your plan when it does hit? He's 100% folding to any bet you make. You need to bet your draws before they hit, particularly when in position. If you were OOP i'd be ok checking to them and letting them stab at it. In terms of sizing, this is where you can mix it up. On this board I'd be you betting low 1/4-1/2pot to keep them in and give yourself good odds to draw out. If there were more broadway cards I'd maybe go higher and hope to extract value from the hands re-raising you PF.
• I wouldn't be folding the turn - it's a half pot bet so you're getting 3:1 (25% odds) on the call - you have about 20% odds to hit the flush, plus the potential that an A or K gets you there. What do you really think he has here? I'd say an overpair (i.e. JJ-AA) given his open and 4bet pre flop OOP. You still have the equity to call and can walk away if he jams the river and you miss the draw
• I'd be surprised if he's 4betting 99 or TT OOP pre flop, so I just can't see him getting here with those, however even if you give credit for those, it's such a small part of his range you can't be folding here

On the final point about AK - I think you need to think a bit more about post flop play.

1. You should not be only c-betting top pair or flush draws. 70% of the time you miss the flop (and therefore 70% of the time Villain misses the flop) so you should be betting a lot more often than just the best hands / flops (plus when you do you'll be getting called by 2pair and sets which dominate you
2. Here you did have a flush draw - why didn't you bet if this is one of the few times you say you would cbet?
3. I think the way you view aggression is slightly off - aggression doesn't mean you just needlessly bet / raise. Betting the flop for 1/4-1/2 pot would have been plenty of aggression. You also don't need to be aggressive is Villain does it for you - being passive here (i.e. flat calling his turn bet) is fine, you don't have to raise or fold
4. As we've said in a few other threads on here - shoving AK sucks unless you have a good read the villain is a fish with a massive range. With a half decent villain your shove is only getting called by pocket pairs and suited aces (primarily AK/AQ with the odd wider A5 etc). You're behind almost any hand that calls you or are in a coin flip so no AK isn't a shove or fold hand - it's a good starting hand but making money with it comes down to your pre flop raising (which is good) and your post flop ability

On the above - I'm assuming you have a rough handle on hand equities but in case you don't and struggle making call/fold decisions - the below is an easy rule for making decisions at the table:

Count the number of outs you have and multiply them by 4 (if on the flop) or 2 (if on the turn). For example here, there are 9 spades left ignoring the 3 on the board and one in your hand so you have 18% (=9x2) chance of hitting on the river when calling the turn bet - which almost gets you to the pot odds on the bet.

Throw in a few times where they are taking a stab with air or your A/K hits and is good, and call becomes fine to make as your equity is definitely above 20% and could be closer to 30% unless they have the 9s/Ts

Originally Posted by c0rnBr34d

Why are we checking back flop here? No stats or reads on V but if he has a set on this flop V should not be giving free cards. If he has an over pair he should be betting as well. We block the only hands that should be checking here. I think V is capped here at KsK but has a lot of QQ and AK. I would be at least bet-calling this flop (if not bet-raising) and evaluating turn in position if it gets that far. We can also 5 bet pre against players with wider 3 bet stats.

In this hand we are a 55/45 favorite against a range of QQ+, AK on this flop. We need to be betting for value and with our added fold equity I think it's a large mistake to check behind. On the turn we are a 60/40 dog against the same range but he shouldn't be checking a lot of those over pairs so I could argue we have more equity as he is less likely to have all 6 combos of KK+ now and he only bet half pot here so I think we have to call as played. Given our line we will probably need to hit the river or fold to a large bet since we have played our hand face up as a draw with no showdown value but for 15 BB with this much equity I don't think we can be folding. If we didn't have the A of spades then I like your line.

Why do you say he's capped? B/C AA 4 bet shoves? Not in my experience. AK 4bet shoves from fish, maybe QQ, but KK and AA try to induce as far as I've seen.

If we bet 1/3 pot and get xr all in by his AA and KK, we still have odds to call. Should we size down then and call a smaller xr? He'll only fold 6c of AK, since 3 of them have the . If we're going to end up running the cards anyway, we're only sizing down to allow those combos to come along?

Originally Posted by teh_colonel_saigon

Why do you say he's capped? B/C AA 4 bet shoves? Not in my experience. AK 4bet shoves from fish, maybe QQ, but KK and AA try to induce as far as I've seen.

If we bet 1/3 pot and get xr all in by his AA and KK, we still have odds to call. Should we size down then and call a smaller xr? He'll only fold 6c of AK, since 3 of them have the . If we're going to end up running the cards anyway, we're only sizing down to allow those combos to come along?

Because AA or KK with no spade (and really most over pairs) wants to bet that flop for value and protection instead of giving any hand with one spade a free card to beat them. This isn't really a spot for fancy play x/r in a 4 bet pot if V does not have a spade.

No need to size down flop. We are only really in bad shape vs AA here and even that's only like 60/40. So sure, get it in if it comes to that, but that's only one scenario. Tons of times he will fold out his equity with hands as strong as AK and instead of chopping we scoop. It's even better if he stacks off with AxKs since we are freerolling for his stack. As played if the flush comes in we can't get the whole stack because we took a low variance passive line.

Originally Posted by teh_colonel_saigon

Hey... if aces are still live, then we have BE direct odds on a call turn. Advise?

Also, preflop? If I'm not playing AK aggressively post, should I just fold it? Rn I just bet if I have top purr or a fd (suited combos). Also, wouldn't it be more profitable to always shove AK if we just fod it flops to JJ QQ TT etc?

Yatahay Network - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (CO): 141.2 BB
BTN: 177.2 BB
SB: 129.8 BB
BB: 109.8 BB
UTG: 101 BB
MP: 101.4 BB

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has K♦ A♠

fold, MP raises to 2.8 BB, Hero raises to 8.4 BB, fold, fold, fold, MP raises to 14.8 BB, Hero calls 6.4 BB

Flop: (31 BB, 2 players) T♠ 5♠ 9♠
MP checks, Hero checks

Turn: (31 BB, 2 players) 9♥
MP bets 15.4 BB, fold

MP wins 29.6 BB

At the micros most of players are only 4-betting heavy values, so I don't believe it is ever wrong to be folding AK either preflop (when the price of the 4-bet gets too high) or even postflop, when we have any piece of equity to be fighting for.
We do assume that AK is just another hand, another combo and we must play it without any regards or feelings.

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa