This is such a broad question, but I will attempt to give you some answers.
Poker fundamentals must be the foundation of your play. Position is probably the biggest advantage we have at a poker table. It is so important, it can be very difficult to play even premiums out of position. I am not saying to fold AK up front, but proceed with caution after the flop.
Another thing to consider is the number of villains seeing the flop with you. We should never c-bet bluff more than 2 opponents (heads up is always ideal). That being said, c-bet bluffing is the key to winning in spot where you missed the flop (somewhat).
However, if you just give up every time you miss the flop, you are exploitable. I would suggest reading some poker books. Try and learn about c-bet bluffing, semi bluffing, and when to check.
Dry boards are best to c-bet bluff. There are less combos that will have equity to proceed.
A board like 7-8-9 two spades (when you have hearts) is a terrible board to c-bet bluff.
However, a board of Q-7-2 rainbow (you have AK) is a better board to bluff at. The number of hands opponent could have that connect with this board is minimal. And if he does call, his range is smallish. Some villains peel with any pair, any piece of the flop. Others will only continue with TP or better. Know your villains. Don't try barreling against calling stations. They will just call, that's what they do.
This is just scratching the surface. There is so much stuff involved with how to play premiums, you really need to read some books, watch instructional videos, join a training site, etc. There are many ways for you to learn and improve.
I don't know what your current skill level is. One of the first books I read was NL Texas Holdem for Dummies. It was very very educational. It taught me the fundamentals of the game.
Study theory. Read books more than once. Practice. Repeat.
Not entirely sure what I do as I feel as though I fold them if I don't make a hand, but any general tips on playing premiums?
What sample size?? Because if ur not winning with those hands you cant be winning overall unless some kind of heater
Watch some of pokerbanks concepts on youtube prolly bit too advanced but there should basic concepts.
Learn your odds
Player styles
Power of position
Cbets
Flop textures
Way ahead way behind
Value and bluff
Hand classifications
Hand ranges
That is some random stuff to readup on .. some more advanced. I just woke up so cant think properly yet but that came to mind
Are you 3betting with those hands? You're not limping into the pot, are you? How many times do you go to showdown and how many times do you win the pot at showdown?
This sounds like a bet sizing and aggression problem
It's just a cooler especially with the 2nd king that falls.
Just make sure you don't do the worst thing and that's fold these hands.
Most of the winning players on this site i believe would have got the money in without flinching and wouldn't be bothered seeing a set. It just happens sometimes.
20k hands is like a minimum amount to say whether your winning/losing but these days you can be losing over 50k or 100k and still be a winning player over 1mil hands.
I think you shouldn't be worried about how many hands you play so much but whether you played the hand right. Just always aim to better your play no matter on your winrate.
Most of the winning players on this site i believe would have got the money in without flinching and wouldn't be bothered seeing a set. It just happens sometimes.
I disagree. Look at what he posted:
SB: 104.5 BB (VPIP: 7.14, PFR: 4.29, 3Bet Preflop: 5.56, Hands: 71)
BB: 108 BB (VPIP: 10.47, PFR: 9.69, 3Bet Preflop: 5.21, Hands: 263)
UTG: 42.5 BB (VPIP: 26.83, PFR: 12.20, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 42)
Hero (UTG+1): 160.5 BB
MP: 102 BB (VPIP: 48.48, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 33)
MP+1: 111.5 BB (VPIP: 14.89, PFR: 14.89, 3Bet Preflop: 11.11, Hands: 47)
CO: 96.5 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 3)
BTN: 98.5 BB (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 30)
SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB
Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A♥ K♥
UTG raises to 2 BB, Hero raises to 6 BB, MP calls 6 BB, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, UTG calls 4 BB
Flop: (19.5 BB, 3 players) K♠ 6♠ 4♠
UTG checks, Hero bets 10 BB, MP raises to 20 BB, fold, Hero calls 10 BB
Turn: (59.5 BB, 2 players) K♣
Hero bets 30 BB, MP raises to 76 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 46 BB
River: (211.5 BB, 2 players) 7♣
Hero shows A♥ K♥ (Three of a Kind, Kings)
(Pre 48%, Flop 4%, Turn 16%)
MP shows 6♥ 6♦ (Full House, Sixes full of Kings)
(Pre 53%, Flop 96%, Turn 84%)
MP wins 204 BB
He's playing quite deep here. I like that Hero 3! the UTG's minraise. I'd've taken it higher, like 10BBs, but I don't object to the 6BB repop.
I like Hero's ~ half pot c-bet, and if he takes this one down, he should be very glad, seeing how deep these players are. When the vill min-raises, that should have set off the alarm bells. Whether I'd call here is highly villain dependent, and what I knew of his play. Depending on the vill, this min-raise could be a "find out where I'm at" min-raise, a trapping, induction raise intended to lure in stacks, a blocker, or the gutless attempt to steal of a nut-scared rabbit. Maybe I'd call, and maybe I wouldn't. If I thought there was a chance I could run the vill off, I'd repop/fold if he came over the top again. Yes, you could get bluffed off the best hand here. A player who can't be bluffed is a calling station, and how do such players do?
If I decided my vill wasn't going to fold to a repop on the flop, and I just called, I'd check the turn, even though it made me trip kings. It looks better than it really is, and is just enough to suck the unwary deeper into the quagmire. By the turn, what are you beating? The only thing is an ( As, Xs ) and Hero was already ahead of all those hands, except for ( As, A ) specifically. The turn here should have been x/f.
As played, Hero should have cut his losses and folded to the vill's shove. After having shown this much strength, trip kings can't be good. This hand is an illustration of overplaying TPTK in deep stack NLHE.
Great post, great tips.
Sometimes, beginners like myself tend to overplay hands like that, by not considering the odds and the range of his opponents. It's a common mistake, get so excited with a strong hand that ends up forgetting what may be in the hands of others players.
A flop with three spades is really alarming and it's time to consider a check/fold after the flop, even with the pair of K and top kicker.
For experienced players is a easy decision, but for beginners ones really hurts to fold a hand like that.
Hold on there a second. We have some contrasting opinion from WV. Let's wait, and hopefully some others might weigh in here.
Maybe WV has a point. Meh.
I didn't mention your 3bet size although I would generally go to 8 or 9x there after he min raises mostly because we're in fairly early position and we don't really want someone in LP to tag along and he seems likely to call the bigger bet. Also I think your biggest mistake in the hand was calling the flop raise although with his preflop stats he certainly could just be ****ing around with a FD. Once we've called the flop raise and then bet again on the turn, all I'm really saying is that you can't fold trips with Ace kicker for another 46BB against a guy who can have all sorts of random shit in his range including all kinds of worse Kings.Personally think calling the flop was a bigger mistake than calling the shove. On the flop I'm barely beating anything and looking at the villain's stats - even if it's only over 33 hands - I wouldn't put it past him to have something like 64s... I think I'd have found it easier to get away from without the K but when that hit I struggle to give up to someone playing like the villain is (probably a leak).
I like WV's advice about the preflop 3bet. Should I be 3-betting larger when OOP (such as here when I have so many people to act behind me)?
From looking at my hand histories I definitely see I have a lot of problems playing AK and AQ, I have trouble letting go of TPTK, one instance I even call TPTK when there's a four to the flush board... Should I just write down some tips for playing AK and then put all my focus onto playing the hand correctly when they come up?
But we're not deep here at all. Effective stack size is 102BB. check/folding the turn there is super weak-tight and just bad.