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.

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.

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.