$1/2NL: AKs in MP

[jbutler16]

Hand occurred tonight at Mohegan Sun where I know none of the regs so not much on villain. He raises to $12 UTG+1, I flat in MP, CO calls.

Flop ($39):

UTG+1 leads for $25. He started the hand with about $175 and I cover. CO has about $350 and I cover. My action on flop?

[badpokerplayer]

Your action? For sure with AK there Id put in a nice size raise, say to 60-75. If you get reraised well then you need to think but i dont like the flat call, see what happens on the turn, if you're going to do that might as well fold. At least if maybe they're on a draw you're going to make them pay

[jldecarlo]

$80-100 straight. Your hand is solid and should be unsuspected by villains. The key here is what the CO does. If he folds, then you're playing for stacks against UTG+1. If he calls/raises then you have to reconsider.

L

[lanyi]

Raisy Daisy - HU I could see a call. With CO behind I want to get HU.

If UTG was known to be tight this would be a slightly different situation since there are very few hands in a tight opening range which c-bet mw and we are ahead of (AQ and KQ with a FD but were pretty much flipping vs. that one). But until proven otherwise I assume LLSNL ranges which means they ain't folding that fast with A-something, not to mention feeling you may be on a draw and calling with stuff like KK and QQ. He may be on a draw himself and call behind.

[jbutler16]

Agree with the responses thus far. I raised to $85 and he called.

Turn ($209):

He checks. My play?

[JohnnyCnote]

Open with $150, he fold his A-weaker kicker, and you order another bourbon after stacking your chips

[Couga]

He only has $100 left. I think if he were excited about the board now, he would have put it in. I would move in and let him call it off or fold a draw.

[jbutler16]

Yeah I think for some reason I perceived his range to be much tighter than I now realize I should have. I put him in and he folded, but for some reason I was thinking he wouldnt call with anything less than aces up. I wonder if I should have checked the turn in order to get him to call the river with a worse ace.

[Couga]

Originally Posted by jbutler16

Yeah I think for some reason I perceived his range to be much tighter than I now realize I should have. I put him in and he folded, but for some reason I was thinking he wouldnt call with anything less than aces up. I wonder if I should have checked the turn in order to get him to call the river with a worse ace.

No way. That board is WAY too draw heavy imo. You did good.

[DrStrange]

When Hero decides to flat with AKs rather than three bet, he makes it difficult to avoid playing for stacks. (Same would be true for flatting with AA, KK etc.) Hero's hand is now deceptive and the first itteration of bets merely clears up the deception. It is hard to avoid playing for stacks by then.

Hero should not slow play again. There is little value in further tricks and there are a lot of scary cards that could show up on the turn. (Scary to villain as well as scary to Hero) Once Hero catches up to the $25 bet, there would be $89 in the pot. I think a $55 - $70 raise would be fine but not $75 because 25 + 75 = 100 which becomes "big" to some folks.

Hero has nothing to fear from UTG+1 - not that he can't lose, but that the slow play preflop leads Hero to pot commitment post flop so there is no longer reason to worry. CO is a different matter, let's hope he folds. The hand could becomes a big problem if CO sticks around.

The hand becomes mechanical at the turn. Villain has less than a 1/2 pot bet left. Hero should call a push or bet all-in after a check. I expect a call from a villian playing a draw or perhaps a weak ace, a hand like KJ or 88 could fold.

DrStrange