I was at this table for only a few hands I was planning to raise PF but with a raiser and a caller behind me not seeing how thay played I was unsure about re raising from the small blind.

PokerStars 0.10/0.20 Hold'em (10 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
2 folds, UTG+2 calls, 2 folds, MP3 raises, CO calls, 1 fold, Hero calls, 1 fold, UTG+2 calls.

Flop: (9 SB) Ace of diamonds, , (4 players)
Hero bets, UTG+2 calls, MP3 folds, CO raises, Hero 3-bets, UTG+2 calls, CO caps, Hero calls, UTG+2 calls.

Turn: (10.50 BB) (3 players)
Hero bets, UTG+2 calls, CO raises, Hero 3-bets, UTG+2 calls, CO caps, Hero calls, UTG+2 calls.

River: (22.50 BB) (3 players)
Hero bets, UTG+2 raises, CO 3-bets, Hero calls, UTG+2 calls.

Final Pot: 29.50 BB

Results in white below:
Hero has Kd Ah (two pair, aces and kings).
UTG+2 has 5d Jd (flush, ace high).
CO has Qc As (two pair, aces and queens).
Outcome: UTG+2 wins 29.50 BB.

Everything looks good except for PF. I don't like raising AJ-AK from the blinds if it hasn't been raised before because you are not getting anybody to fold, and you are OOP on the flop. But since you only have 1 caller in between you and the bettor, a 3 bet here will have a good chance of knocking out the rest of the field, and with any luck, UTG+2 folds, and then MP3 caps, and the CO folds.

On the flop, I'm really thinking I'm behind after he caps, most likely hes got the 2 pair, but then the turn is a beautiful thing, and I'm jsut going to bet it and see who wakes up with the possible straight. And since nobody did, It seems I'm still ahead, so I'm goign to cap as you did. But then the river, ugg suits. Good value call there, but you know it was a losing one, but you only needed to win that once every ten times to make it profitable, so it was a +EV call.

I figured somebody hit their flush on the river but with top 2 pair I'm thinking I gotta pay them off there right?

Originally Posted by Marm

Everything looks good except for PF. I don't like raising AJ-AK from the blinds if it hasn't been raised before because you are not getting anybody to fold, and you are OOP on the flop. But since you only have 1 caller in between you and the bettor, a 3 bet here will have a good chance of knocking out the rest of the field, and with any luck, UTG+2 folds, and then MP3 caps, and the CO folds.

Curious on your thoughts PF Marm, I generally shy away from raising PF with AK and AQ in the blinds although SSH (my current poker bible) says you should. On average it seems at least at these stakes anybody who tends to put $ in PF is calling even if it caps so would something like AK still be +EV? Especially when alot of players like UTG2 didn't appear to be too concerned about chasing at any cost.

Originally Posted by Marm

Everything looks good except for PF. I don't like raising AJ-AK from the blinds if it hasn't been raised before because you are not getting anybody to fold, and you are OOP on the flop. But since you only have 1 caller in between you and the bettor, a 3 bet here will have a good chance of knocking out the rest of the field, and with any luck, UTG+2 folds, and then MP3 caps, and the CO folds.

Totally agree with Marm on the PF. Unless you have a chance to force a fold with a 3x bet, there is little to be gained with a raise in the blinds with AK. Here you had that chance and I think you should have taken it. As it was, J-5s was already in for one small bet and one more is almost automatic - but 2 more could have forced the fold and secured the win on the river. It's a hard lesson to learn "Save a bet pf and lose the pot at showdown"...

First you have to remember that SSH was written with the absolute worst players in mind, and then a whole table of them. You need to give some of your opponents a little more credit than that. And I have found that Raising PF from the Blinds in a 3 way+ pot just doesn't do any good, because regardless of the flop, you have to lead out with a continuation bet. IN these family pots, there will always be a couple chasers. Now From all other positions, I'm capping if possible with AK. I think we had a long and deep discussion on this a while back, think it was titled "AK from the BB".

It may be one of those situations where you get small EV from raising fromt he Blinds, but I don't like it because its SMALL, and by not raising you can disguise your hand somewhat. In this cased, the guy with AQ really had trouble putting you on AK.

So on average don't raise limpers but 3 bet any raisers?

No, If you think You have a good shot af narrowing down the field, then raise. Usually if you get a raise in LP, You can isolate the raiser with a 3 bet. If there is a raise from UTG, and 5 callers after that, You may or may not want to raise, depending on how squeamish the table is to 3 and 4 bets. If you think the UTG raiser will Cap, then by all means raise, but if you think hes just goign to call, then it may not be worth raising, since you won't scare anybody off. It's really not a rule of thumb, just how you think the table will react. I will make it 2 bets form the blinds if I see people frequently limp/fold if I think enough of them will fold.

Gotcha, thanks...like I said I wasn't many hands into this table this was one of my first few that I got so I had no idea how anybody would react.