This hand came up today. Just curious as to what u guys would have done on the turn. Also if u guys would have played the flop any differently, let me know.




I had no reads on villian, he had just joined the table a few hands ago. But he did not do anything out of the ordinary that I had noticed. So I assumed he was a TAA player.


Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (10 handed) converter

UTG+1 ($29.20)
UTG+2 ($49.95)
MP1 ($9.60)
MP2 ($22)
MP3 ($45.85)
CO ($50)
Button ($49.60)
SB ($49)
Hero ($48.75)
UTG ($48.40)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
UTG raises to $1.75, 8 folds, Hero calls $1.25.

Flop: ($3.75) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $2, Hero raises to $6, UTG calls $4.


At this point, after he called my check-raise. I put villian on AK, AA, or a set of KK or TT. His 2 dollar bet followed by his flop call kind of boggled my mind, because if he was holding a hand like AK or AA, he probably would have bet the potsize because there was a possible flush draw and many possible straight draws on the board. So why would he only bet half the pot? it couldnt of been because he had a weak hand, because he called my check-raise. So maybe he has KK?


Turn: ($15.75) (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $15.75, Hero folds.


OH SHIT. The death card!. This may turn out to be a hand were i get stacked, because we both have big hands, but i have the worst of it. At this point, I figure villians possible holdings given his pf UTG raise and flop play are AK, AA, KK. Lets check and see what he does. Oh shit.. now he bets the potsize? wtf? So at this point I figure that im at best a split pot if i call this, either that or im drawing dead, or drawing to 2 outs.


What do u guys do?

Final Pot: $31.50

I think that's a good fold. If he is a good player I can't see 1 credible hand that you are beating other than a bluff.

Would he play AQ that way? Raise UTG, cont bet, call with a gutshot and overcard then bet like that on top pair? - maybe but unlikely I would think.

Good chance of splitting the pot but do you want to be calling for that many chips hoping for a split?

Do you always flat call AK PF when out of position? I prefer reraising myself or even folding. Just don't like calling raises with AK, as you can't be sure where you are and haven't shown real strength.

reRaise this PF

I'd probably bet out this flop but that's irrelevant.

Nice fold here on turn.

Originally Posted by WotaWaster

Do you always flat call AK PF when out of position? I prefer reraising myself or even folding. Just don't like calling raises with AK, as you can't be sure where you are and haven't shown real strength.

yeah i do.. the only reason i do that is cuz i dont really kno how to play AK if my re-raise is called and i dont hit the flop at all OOP. If i con bet, it could get really costly, cuz id be looking at a potsize of about $12 with less then $50 in my stack. If i check then im just inviting myself to get the pot stolen from me.
Ill try re-raising however and see how it works out for me.

Also, a few questions, when do u usually fold the AK when ur in the blind? When the raise came from UTG or UTG+1?
Also how do u play AQ and AQs when in the blind, and facing a raise? is it an automatic fold? What about JJ?

well with a set of KK or TT im going to guess he will raise you once you check raise.

his play makes sense with AA. he just calls because hes worried you have him, interprets the check raise as KK or TT, maybe some weird 2 pair. he just calls, hoping to see your cards as cheap as possible.

until he hits the ace that is, then he says no funny business, its set over set and hes all in.
or, maybe hes alot weaker than we think. *maybe* (i use this word heavily)
he has something like AT of diamonds. maybe just an ace high flush draw.
you check raise on the flop, then check again on the turn, maybe he thought check number 2 meant you were bluffing, and top pair w/ the nut draw in case hes wrong is good enough to push.

i think those are the 2 most likley scenarios. if he had less chips to push with i think you have to call, at this point you can lay down and not worry.

"Also, a few questions, when do u usually fold the AK when ur in the blind? When the raise came from UTG or UTG+1?
Also how do u play AQ and AQs when in the blind, and facing a raise? is it an automatic fold? What about JJ?"

This only applies to me, I think I am tight preflop and maybe players who are better than me post-flop can play differently but I am quite happy to fold AKo when in the blinds if:

- I think there is a high chance opponent has AA/KK - maybe they are tight or I have notes relative to size of their raises etc. or if raise comes from UTG - yes.
- I don't give myself much fold equity if I reraise PF and my opponent has a pocket pair (some will push all in with TT/JJ/QQ - great if you have AA but I'm not looking to call and gamble on a 50/50 in a cash game)
- I know I am not going to be willing to put any money in the pot on the flop without hitting an A or K (which is 2-1 against)

I just think if opponent has any pocket pair like tens/jacks/queens it's easy for them to fold if an A or K hits. Your best hope is to call a raise by AQ/AJ and then flop an A, but that's not so common, and having just called the raise you will probably fold to a continuation bet by AQ when you miss.

AQo I will fold to any raise, unless I have reason not to.
If I think a player has low raising requirements or is making a positional raise l will reraise.
AQs I sometimes call just because they're suited and I'm a fish!

When I do play AQ I want to believe that if I hit an A or Q I am winning until proven otherwise.
If you are folding AQ when a Q hits because you think your losing to trips its OK, but if you are fearing AA/KK aswell then I think you shouldn't be in the hand.

JJ I would never fold to 1 raise PF, I may reraise HU and see what happens.
I may decide to call and play for trips if its multiway raised pot, or reraise big to try and take it there depending how I feel the table is playing.

oh ok, thanks alot for the insight.. it is much appreciated..

Reason why i asked these questions is because lately, ive been folding AQos and AQs to any standard 3-4xBB raise especially when im OOP in the blinds.. Because if i dont hit a A or Q then i have to check, and most of the time the initial raiser will con bet it, and im only 1/3rd of the time gonna hit a A or Q.. Also in that 1/3rd of the time i do hit a A or Q and get action with it. I wont be sure whether i have the best of it or the worst, cuz my A could be outkickered whenever i hit a A, or my Q could be overpaired whenever i hit a Q - so when I do hit TP on a flop im either taking down a small pot or losing a big one.

I was just wondering if this was a good move to fold AQ and AQs in the blinds to a standard pf raise, as it may be more profitable to just re-raise to try to take the pot down pf like re-raising with the AK in the blinds. Also lately I have just been cold calling raises with JJ in the blinds OOP and just playing it for a set (if any overcards hit the flop, then i check fold), and was just wondering if it may indeed be more profitable to re-raise.

Thats good insight for me to see you play a similar way actually

I would rather call a raise with 67s or 33 than AQo. If someone's raising you are asusming they've got a big hand and you want to make something big and slightly hidden to bust them.

In fact I one of the best way to increase your profit in NL is to observe these players who have super tight PF requirements and are unable to get away from their Aces even on a board 6789 all of 1 suit. You can just call their raises with anything and know if you hit you are going to take all their money.