AKo Is this flop check ever okay?

jdAA88

Without being results oriented, is it ever okay to check this flop if I think the opponent may bluff at the pot when checked to, or should I just be betting this flop nearly 100% of the time and getting value from worse aces, and also protecting my hand?

Poker Stars $3.00+$0.30 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t625/t1250 Blinds + t150 - 9 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

BTN: t60516 M = 18.76
SB: t24816 M = 7.69
BB: t17930 M = 5.56
UTG: t52538 M = 16.29
UTG+1: t50119 M = 15.54
UTG+2: t29447 M = 9.13
Hero (MP1): t40954 M = 12.70
MP2: t95019 M = 29.46
CO: t36161 M = 11.21

Pre Flop: (t3225) Hero is MP1 with K:s: A:d:
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to t3750, 1 fold, Hero raises to t10000, MP2 calls t10000, 5 folds

Flop: (t26975) 3:c: 3:d: A:c: (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 checks

Turn: (t26975) Q:s: (2 players)
Hero bets t11250, MP2 raises to t84869 all in, Hero calls t19554 all in

River: (t88583) 2:d: (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: t88583
Hero shows K:s:: A:d: (two pair, Aces and Threes)
MP2 shows Q:h: Q:d: (a full house, Queens full of Threes)
MP2 wins t88583

LanterneRouge

When facing only one opponent, I don't think I'd worry about the straight and flush draws quite as much as some other players do.

I think checking the flop is not only acceptable but often optimal in this scenario - particularly at the $3.30 buy-in level - if you can peg the villian as the type to:

1. almost always bet something significant (1/2 pot or more) when checked to on the flop, and;
2. see your subsequent pause and then flat call of his bet as a sign of weakness instead of a warning sign (ie. he thinks you are holding something like 99 to KK and are not confident about where you stand), and;
3. frequently shove lots more on the turn in an attempt to push your perceived "uncertain" hand out against his 77, KJ, A5

Either way, I wouldn't always bet or always check that flop and, on it's own, I personally don't see any problem with your play here. Just unlucky.

trigs

i personally like to c-bet most of the time, especially versus one opponent. the only times i would consider not c-betting are:

1) i know i have the best hand and a check will induce a bluff from my opponent on the flop
2) my preflop raise got a lot of callers, some of which have position on me
3) i missed the flop completely and i know my opponent hit it

in your specific case, your M is pretty low and you've already put in 1/4 of your stack preflop. now that you hit your A push it all in. no reason to "slow play" here imo.

Henjon

Very difficult spot. I would have checked too on the flop in the hope of getting in at least some more chips.

The turn is more difficult. Your bet seems reasonable, question is if it's right to call when he puts you all in.

How likely is it that he's just bluffing? Unless he's a donk I would say almost zero:

- He called a reraise of 8bb from MP with 4 players still left to act in the hand and with an initial raiser from UTG+1 that very well could have reraised again.
- He should knew that as it is you'll probably feel pretty much pot commited, so not much chance that his reraise on the turn will make you fold. And if you haven't play very loose he probably gives you credit for an ace high hand or a high pair (say TT+)

So I say villain has a hand in this situation. What kind of hand? I would guess something in the same range as yours, probably better. Let's say he has JJ+ or AQ+ In this range there are only two hands (JJ and KK) that we beat. One (AK) splits the pot with us and the rest (AA, AQ, QQ) has us beaten.

Would he reraise us allin with JJ? Most likely not - he knows that if we raised with an ace or a queen or two kings he's even more likely to be beaten than on the flop. KK is a possibility though; he might think that we had a queen and now thinks we're ahead. But then we would have raised PF with KQ or QJ from MP against an initial raiser from EP. Not very likely.

Now, I have to admit that an error I have in my game is that I tend to give people credit for more intelligent reasoning and better hands than they sometimes actually hold on this lower levels. But in this particular spot I would say that if this is a reasonably good player we are beaten or at best split the pot. I probably fold here and take my chances in the coming hands instead, because I still have an M of around 20 and therefore some time still left to act. I don't doubt that this is a somewhat weak play that would be easy to exploit on higher level CG:s. But we're playing $3 here, so that is not something we'll have to worry about pretty much.

Henjon

trigs;192005 wrotei personally like to c-bet most of the time, especially versus one opponent. the only times i would consider not c-betting are:

1) i know i have the best hand and a check will induce a bluff from my opponent on the flop
2) my preflop raise got a lot of callers, some of which have position on me
3) i missed the flop completely and i know my opponent hit it

in your specific case, your M is pretty low and you've already put in 1/4 of your stack preflop. now that you hit your A push it all in. no reason to "slow play" here imo.

Very good points. 27000 to add to your stack of 30 K is good enough to end the hand alreayd on the flop. Since our stack almost equals the pot size it doesn't look like a "donk bet" either (and if it does and induces a call; well that shouldn't be something we feel sad for). So either way you see it (fold or call from villain) this is a good play. Especially if we want to avoid difficult decisions - and that is one of the goals of my own play because I believe it gains my long time profit (Not a good enough poker player to have ev+ on this type of situations)