In a 20$ buy-in or more (better players than a 1$) tournaments 200 entrants.

Early in the game (blinds 25-50) still around 1500.

You have AK (suited or not, if it makes a difference, explain me why) and in the BB. One LP limp, SB calls do you raise or call? If you raise to 200, 300, 400, ... ???

If you raise to 300, the LP has position and getting 2:5, he also have position so will likely call, do you want that? 400 he gets 1:2, he will only call with good hands here (IMO), is that better? But you make the pot bigger pre-flop (900 given one caller) and you only have 1100 left, so not pot commited yet, but the pot is attractive.


Same question but you are in LP after the limper?

Some advice will be appreciated.

I think this looks like an easy play but after giving it some thought I'm not so sure...

Raise 200ish, may be 300 sometimes or 150 depending on what has gone before.

They call and I miss I can either bet the right flop or get away if not.

They fold I'm just as happy. I'm not looking to define my tournament on the basis of AK preflop but I'm not letting it pass me by without betting its value either.

Pretty much the same for LP though maybe more inclined to bet a bit more to ensure the blinds define their hands a bit if they call.

AK...standard raise is 3-5X BB. I like to go on high end with AK because it's just a drawing hand and I am very happy to end hand here.

Suited is better than not because of additional flush possibilities so to very my play I may go to low end of range since the hand plays better than off suit and I can handle some action with it.

Being out of position dictates higher range cause you want to end hand now.

The limper was weak and will prob fold............same for SB its an automatic completion, so he is probably weak also.

With blinds at 25/50 raising to 300 would be 6 times the blind.

It would mean the pot to the LP would be 400, and he would have to call 250... or odds of about 1.25-2, not 2-5.

Also, I wouldn't mind him calling there. If he's a solid player, you're raising with an awful lot of hands in LP when it's folded to you, so he's probably got a pretty weak holding... maybe as bad as A-9... or a small suited ace or suited connectors. I wouldn't worry about him calling your raise... if he had a big hand you'd know it.

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-You may not know this, but poker is a game of incomplete information.

I would raise x4-x5 the BB. Don't even think about slow playing A,K. I don't like to slow play A,K. I like to slow play A,A and K,K because I know that I have already have a pair. You might miss the flop completely and some might catch a queen or a jack. They have a huge advantage against you know. People like to limp in with hands like J,10 or Q,10 but they don't like to call a raise so force bad hands out of the pot. Don't worry if you force everyone out of the pot. Wait for the next one. I am sure you will get another good hand like that.

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Theocpoker - remember that.

I am not thinking of slow-playing but rather raise to make odds for them to call or raise to make bad hands to fold.

I think you want only hands like A10 - AQ and KQ to call you so a big raise is better (5 x BB).

If I was an expert for post-flop play then I would like it, or if it was a deep stack touney, but not in a sit-n-go.

The purposes of raising are...
1. Get more money in the pot now while you may have the best hand... your opponent may not put any more in after the flop.
2. To get an idea of what your opponents are holding... so when the flop comes 356 you can be fairly sure he doesn't have 47.
3. To make your opponents think you have a good hand... they're far more likely to fold to a continuation bet if you raised big preflop and they caught only a little piece then if you limped along.
4. To narrow the field... with a good hand that is likely to be the best, it's always better to play against one or two opponents instead of giving your opponents cheap odds to hit a big hand. It's also easier to take down the pot without showing cards.
5. Finally... to force your opponent to make a mistake by calling you with poor odds. This increases your EV, and is always nice

200 is probably enough to accomplish most of those goals... but a bigger raise will be better for the first four goals but not the last one. I'd prefer to make a raise on the small end of the scale you mentioned... I don't mind hands like suited aces or connectors staying around since I'll win the money they put in far more often then they win what's allready in there. Personal preference though... with a lot of money allready in the pot I'd raise a lot more since I'd like to get that cash right now. But that's not the case here.

__________________
-You may not know this, but poker is a game of incomplete information.