A,K Gets Cracked - What's The Best Way To Play This Hand...?
Scenario:
After a tournamment, a small $1-$2 cash game starts up - with a $100 buy in. Hero buys in and has early success - getting his stack up to about $140. Cards go ice cold on him, and considering he is playing somewhat tight poker - he doesn't play more than 3 hands in two hours.
The table has been loose and aggressive all night - lots of pre-flop raises and boneheads pushing all-in on K6 (and winning) and such. Not much strategic poker being played - a lot of bingo, really.
It's past midnight and, in the words of the dealer, Hero "looks tired" - and is not thinking very well at the time of this play.
Hero is dealt A
, K :spade: in the pocket - he thinks "finally some action". At this point his stack is down to $95, and he's itching to get into a decent hand. He is in 5th position, Villain is in 4th position with a stack of about $200.
Hero raises to $20 pre-flop and only Villain calls.
Flop: K :club: , 10 :spade:, J - although the K, 10, J rings mild warning bells in Hero's mind - the thought of a straight possibility is still not given proper thought.
Villain bets $20, and Hero Raises to $40 - Villain calls.
Turn: 8 :diamond: - at this point the possibility of a straight is abundantly clear, however;
Villain pushes All-In, Hero (with a spectacular bonehead move) calls.
River: 3 :spade:
Showdown:
Villain: Q :club: , 9 :diamond: giving him the Straight
Hero: A pair of Kings
In my opinion, Hero should have:
1. Pushed all-in on the flop, to push Villain off his straight draw
2. At the very least, folded on the turn knowing Villain had drawn his straight
Opinions? What is the best way to handle pushing Villain off of the straight draw, or preventing him from getting into the hand in the first place? All comments and criticisms appreciated...
After a tournamment, a small $1-$2 cash game starts up - with a $100 buy in. Hero buys in and has early success - getting his stack up to about $140. Cards go ice cold on him, and considering he is playing somewhat tight poker - he doesn't play more than 3 hands in two hours.
The table has been loose and aggressive all night - lots of pre-flop raises and boneheads pushing all-in on K6 (and winning) and such. Not much strategic poker being played - a lot of bingo, really.
It's past midnight and, in the words of the dealer, Hero "looks tired" - and is not thinking very well at the time of this play.
Hero is dealt A
, K :spade: in the pocket - he thinks "finally some action". At this point his stack is down to $95, and he's itching to get into a decent hand. He is in 5th position, Villain is in 4th position with a stack of about $200.Hero raises to $20 pre-flop and only Villain calls.
Flop: K :club: , 10 :spade:, J
- although the K, 10, J rings mild warning bells in Hero's mind - the thought of a straight possibility is still not given proper thought.Villain bets $20, and Hero Raises to $40 - Villain calls.
Turn: 8 :diamond: - at this point the possibility of a straight is abundantly clear, however;
Villain pushes All-In, Hero (with a spectacular bonehead move) calls.
River: 3 :spade:
Showdown:
Villain: Q :club: , 9 :diamond: giving him the Straight
Hero: A pair of Kings
In my opinion, Hero should have:
1. Pushed all-in on the flop, to push Villain off his straight draw
2. At the very least, folded on the turn knowing Villain had drawn his straight
Opinions? What is the best way to handle pushing Villain off of the straight draw, or preventing him from getting into the hand in the first place? All comments and criticisms appreciated...
Comments
Q :club:
J
10 :spade:
9 :diamond:
What is the pre-flop action exactly? Making it $20 to go with AK in a game with $1-$2 blinds seems like a big very bet. It's ceratinly not wrong to raise with AK, but making it something more like $6-$10 to go seems to be more in the right ballpark.
IMO, this is not a good flop for AK. Fold to the $20 flop bet.
Since your opponent can stand a pretty big raise pre-flop, there are a lot of hands he could have that fit this flop. The few hands you may be beating proabably have significant draws against you. The frightening nature of the board means that you will not get paid off by most hands that you are actually in good shape against.
On the other hand, the actual hand your opponent stood a pretty big pre-flop raise with was Q9o. This is the sort of pre-flop call that comes from either a total fish, or a total expert, neither one of which I feel very happy playing against holding TPTK on a co-ordinated flop.
ScottyZ
That board is really co-ordinated and to be honest you face a tough decision when he pushs all-in because there are a wide range of hands, he could legitimately call you with (not counting any two cards), and many of them could result in straights, two pair, a set or possibly a pair with a Q for an open ended straight draw. In the end this flop was one that on first glance looks good for AK. but which also can't take much heat.
It's an obvious straight hand, for either player though.
My play would be to crap my underwear on the flop. Keep checking and if he raises on the river, get the fuck outta dodge. Head to Walmart for some new underwear.
Pre-Flop, the Pot was $43 - [2 blinds + $20 bet + $20 call]
Villains Actions [Post-Flop, 4th Position]:
Villains $20 raise was a big-ass NEON warning sign that Villain hit his straight and hero should fold. Why? because Villain:
- Knew that Hero only had 3 Outs (the four queens less the one he held!)
- Due to this, he bet approx. 50% of the pot - Indicating he was comfortable with 2 to 1 pot odds.
Hero's Action [Post Flop, 5th Position]
Hero's Outs [post flop]
Gut Straight [3 Queens] - 3 Outs - 7 to 1 hand-odds.
After Villains bet, the Pot was $63 - [2 blinds + $20 bet + $20 call + $20 bet]
Hero's pot-odds after Villains bet are 3.15 to 1- clearly superior to hero's hand-odds. A fold is the right play by the numbers.