$12 NLHE STT Turbo: AK in SB, preflop and multi-way

[OzExorcist]

$12 NLHESTT Turbo: AK in SB, preflop and multi-way

Fairly early in the game, no solid reads on any of the villains and I can't settle on what the best action is. Shoving would be a massive overbet, raising smaller invites multiple villains to call so we're playing a bloated pot OOP and folding seems weak with a hand this strong. But then if we flat the big blind almost certainly comes along too and I'm playing four-way OOP in what's still a pretty big pot.

Thoughts? And what's our plan for the rest of the hand if we decide to play it?

full tilt poker $11 + $1 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t30/t60 Blinds - 7 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG+1: t1690
MP: t1505
CO: t1455
BTN: t2285
Hero (SB): t1390
BB: t2465
UTG: t2710

Pre Flop: (t90) Hero is SB with A

K

UTG raises to t120, 2 folds, CO calls t120, 1 fold, Hero wonders WWKLD?

 

[atlantafalcons0]

Raise to 600

Plan:

It depends on what happens.

 

[OzExorcist]

OK - why 600 though, and what do we want to happen if we bet that?

Do we want everyone to fold, do we want just one caller, do we want them both, do we want a four-bet shove and if so, do we call it?

 

[atlantafalcons0]

(3 x 120) + 240

I want one caller. (but I wouldn't mind all folds either)

Yes.

 

[cardplayer52]

A shove isn't an overbet at all and very likely to take down the pot right there. A rule of thumb I use is if the current pot is 20% of my stack or more then push/fold is often best. If I added up right there 360 chips in the pot shoving here imo should be standard with 88+ AQs+ or even lighter if the villian is loose. The fact it's only a min raise makes me want to shove even more(although he's UTG which sort of cancels that out).

 

[cjatud2012]

Shoving is probably fine here, as cardplayer points out we can increase our stack by a pretty significant amount if we take it down now.

Am I the only person here who doesn't hate flatting? I could probably be talked out of it.

 

[atlantafalcons0]

Flatting is probably the worst thing you can do here. It will entice the BB to call as well and then we would be playing a 4 player pot OOP as Oz pointed out already.

The less people in the pot the better, imo.

 

[dg1267]

If you have no reads here, I push. It feels like an overbet, but all your other options suck. There is enough in the pot to make this an okay shove.

Plus, if you shove and everyone folds, you pick up easy chips. If you shove and get a caller, you are either ahead or in a flip (neither side of that is bad with AK). If you shove and get 2 callers, you still aren't in a bad spot. But I really don't see 2 callers this early in the tourney, but it is possible.

 

[cjatud2012]

Flatting is probably the worst thing you can do here. It will entice the BB to call as well and then we would be playing a 4 player pot OOP as Oz pointed out already.

The less people in the pot the better, imo.

Yeah, I guess at a lower blind level I'd rather call than 3-bet or shove cause a 3-bet would give pretty awkward stack sizes (although I guess a go-and-go is pretty good if we get heads-up) and a shove would be too excessive. Maybe a call would be better too if we had position.

I guess calling would be pretty exploitable, since we're only hitting ~1/3 of the time. But here shoving is +$EV and is the easiest way to play the hand.

 

[cardplayer52]

I don't think flatting is horrible especially if the BB is aggresive and likely to shove light here. Also if your called there's plenty chips in the pot to stack off if you pair up on the flop. It really depends on my read on the UTG player. If he's opening wide in EP then I shove if he's tighter then I flat. IMO playing fit or fold with AK here getting crazy odds is fine. I take back what I said about push/fold as I really didn't notice were in the SB getting a discount.

 

[Rldetheflop]

I don't think flatting is horrible especially if the BB is aggresive and likely to shove light here. Also if your called there's plenty chips in the pot to stack off if you pair up on the flop. It really depends on my read on the UTG player. If he's opening wide in EP then I shove if he's tighter then I flat. IMO playing fit or fold with AK here getting crazy odds is fine. I take back what I said about push/fold as I really didn't notice were in the SB getting a discount.

having barely over 20 blinds I dont like flatting here even though we are getting a discount from the SB. the problem I see here is as mentioned we have the worst position possible and a flat will certainly induce a 4th player into the pot. 2/3 of the time we miss and get nothing. If we do pair up with 3 others in the pot 2 pair/set hands will definitely be possible and could get us in trouble.

I like your original thought: there is enough in the pot to just shove it in.

 

[baudib1]

super standard fistpump instashove. Co is folding hands we're behind quite often.