AK Suited BB - limp or raise?

[IDntEatFsh]

So after playing the hand below, UTG suggested I shouldn't raise AK in this situation. Interested in explanations of what makes sense. I know there is no one right answer, but guessing there is at least some converged thought on better and worse ways of playing this.

6Max Turbo No-Limit Hold'em Tournament T25/T50
Buy-in: $6.48+$0.52 USD Hold'em No Limit
4 players remaining

Stacks:
UTG - UTG (T3,627) (VPIP 53, PFR 26)
BTN - BTN (T2,203)
SB - SB (T1,568) (VPIP 52, PFR 6)
BB - Hero (T1,602) (25/18 - way less in this game, probably my 2/3 hand to play)

Preflop: (T99, 4 players) Hero is BB with A♥ K♥UTG raises to T100, 1 fold, SB calls T75, Hero raises to T424, 1 fold, SB calls T324

Flop: Q♠ J♦ 3♣ (T972, 2 players - Hero: T1,172, SB: T1,138)SB bets T1,138 (all-in), 1 fold, Uncalled bet of T1,138 returned to SB

Total Pot: T972

SB wins T972

Now there is another question as to whether folding to the donk bet was right or wrong, thoughts welcome on that too but I am especially interested to know your thoughts on my pre-flop play here.




For what it's worth, my thinking is this: these two have been limping and min betting into a lot of hands, so their range was wide open. I have a pretty solid starting hand and would prefer to be heads-up with only one and I'd like to build the pot to punish bad calls. I can assume a caller probably has some kind of premium hand or pair.

So would you limp, raise or go all in and what would lead you to that decision?

 

[eetenor]

So after playing the hand below, UTG suggested I shouldn't raise AK in this situation. Interested in explanations of what makes sense. I know there is no one right answer, but guessing there is at least some converged thought on better and worse ways of playing this.

6Max Turbo No-Limit Hold'em Tournament T25/T50
Buy-in: $6.48+$0.52 USD Hold'em No Limit
4 players remaining

Stacks:
UTG - UTG (T3,627) (VPIP 53, PFR 26)
BTN - BTN (T2,203)
SB - SB (T1,568) (VPIP 52, PFR 6)
BB - Hero (T1,602) (25/18 - way less in this game, probably my 2/3 hand to play)

Preflop: (T99, 4 players) Hero is BB with A♥K♥UTG raises to T100, 1 fold, SB calls T75, Hero raises to T424, 1 fold, SB calls T324

Flop: Q♠J♦3♣ (T972, 2 players - Hero: T1,172, SB: T1,138)SB bets T1,138 (all-in), 1 fold, Uncalled bet of T1,138 returned to SB

Total Pot: T972

SB wins T972

Now there is another question as to whether folding to the donk bet was right or wrong, thoughts welcome on that too but I am especially interested to know your thoughts on my pre-flop play here.




For what it's worth, my thinking is this: these two have been limping and min betting into a lot of hands, so their range was wide open. I have a pretty solid starting hand and would prefer to be heads-up with only one and I'd like to build the pot to punish bad calls. I can assume a caller probably has some kind of premium hand or pair.

So would you limp, raise or go all in and what would lead you to that decision?

Thank you for posting.

You have AKs you block AA KK you are 4 handed of course you can raise and stack off if shoved on.

The cardschat odds calculator will help you get a feel for if you should call flop.
Input hands like AsJs your equity is 26% etc it is a very good exercise to do.
Equilab is a more advanced equity calculator you may want to us that as well.

Hope this helps

 

[Phoenix Wright]

Every situation is unique. Especially so in live poker with live reads and "feels" (although this appears to be an online 6-max game, right?) Anyway, I will probably vary occasionally, just so I am not playing a pure strategy that is predictable. I voted "raise" here, but maybe limping once in a while under certain circumstances might be justified.

In the BB or not, AKs is a nice hand and we should do well to build the pot early if we can, so I'll typically open-raise here.

 

[Psyanide14]

I think raising was the right move here pre flop. Unfortunately the flop wasn’t kind to you and you certainly need to fold against an all in bet, even if it’s likely he’s bluffing but could easily have something like AQ.

 

[scottmcleish]

I would have played this the same way you did. Raising pre-flop definitely seems like the right play, and I'm not calling the shove for pretty much all my chips.

 

[Vlaad]

I would play it exactly like you did.

 

[finaltable1]

So after playing the hand below, UTG suggested I shouldn't raise AK in this situation. Interested in explanations of what makes sense. I know there is no one right answer, but guessing there is at least some converged thought on better and worse ways of playing this.

6Max Turbo No-Limit Hold'em Tournament T25/T50
Buy-in: $6.48+$0.52 USD Hold'em No Limit
4 players remaining

Stacks:
UTG - UTG (T3,627) (VPIP 53, PFR 26)
BTN - BTN (T2,203)
SB - SB (T1,568) (VPIP 52, PFR 6)
BB - Hero (T1,602) (25/18 - way less in this game, probably my 2/3 hand to play)

Preflop: (T99, 4 players) Hero is BB with A♥K♥UTG raises to T100, 1 fold, SB calls T75, Hero raises to T424, 1 fold, SB calls T324

Flop: Q♠J♦3♣ (T972, 2 players - Hero: T1,172, SB: T1,138)SB bets T1,138 (all-in), 1 fold, Uncalled bet of T1,138 returned to SB

Total Pot: T972

SB wins T972

Now there is another question as to whether folding to the donk bet was right or wrong, thoughts welcome on that too but I am especially interested to know your thoughts on my pre-flop play here.




For what it's worth, my thinking is this: these two have been limping and min betting into a lot of hands, so their range was wide open. I have a pretty solid starting hand and would prefer to be heads-up with only one and I'd like to build the pot to punish bad calls. I can assume a caller probably has some kind of premium hand or pair.

So would you limp, raise or go all in and what would lead you to that decision?

Why would you ever limp with any decent starting hand?

 

[leeroy818]

I'd play it how you did too.

SB looks like a weak player (albeit only based on a few stats, not sure of the sample size)... but his range feels severely condensed when he flats from the SB. He rarely has JJ+, AQ+, so the 3bet from you is for value, and he calls, which is you want.

Once he donk shoves the flop, you can never really call. The flop just isn't good for you, and even if you think he's shoving with hands as weak as T9 or JT, you're flipping at best. I doubt he's super nutted here as he shuts down a lot of action by jamming which doesn't make sense, so it feels more likely he's caught a pair and thinks he can fold out your AK? or maybe he caught a set of 3's and is hoping you have AQ+, KK+?

 

[Phyrrura]

How do u expect to get the maximum value from ur strongest hands if u never raise?
But unless u have a balanced range of raising, containing strong and weak hands, otherwise villain will always know when you're strong.

 

[wavetune]

it is necessary to raise at least if 3 players come in, you lose the strength of your hand and such a strong hand comes once in 200 hands

 

[Ac3 Meister]

I always raise ! never play like a fish and limp

 

[ATL2000]

It probably depends on how many chips I have.

10 BB or so it's all going in.
15-20 BB I may just call and see how the flop looks.
If I have more than that I am going to three bet and go from there.