Hi guys, Mauzer77 posted a hand here on Advanced Hand Discussions that I think it's worth spending a bit more time on it. Hope you guys like it and find it useful.
Originally posted by Mauzer77
Poker Stars, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.SB: $62.41 (124.8 bb)
BB: $45.08 (90.2 bb)
UTG: $50 (100 bb)
Hero (MP): $50 (100 bb)
CO: $50 (100 bb)
BTN: $64.37 (128.7 bb)Preflop: Hero is MP with K
A
UTG folds, Hero raises to $1.50, CO folds, BTN raises to $4.58, 2 folds, Hero calls $3.08Flop: ($9.91) K
9
J
Hero checks, BTN bets $4.73Hi!
Villain unknown reg, but after a small sample he seemed to a be agressive
Pre call is fine or should I 4bet/call? No dinamics/special info yet.
Flop? Check/raise or just call and revaluate turn? In case turn is blank c/r is ok?
Thanks
We can break this hand into two categories, the pre flop discussion and the post flop discussion. Let's tackle them by order.
Pre-Flop:
We face a very close decision pre flop, and withour further info we can go either way. Mauzer77 mentions that villain on a small sample looked aggro. For that reason only I'd be more inclined to 4bet our hand, assuming this villain should not be much tighter than a 6% 3bet in this spot. Of course most of our money will be made when villain folds to our 4bet, and we only call after he shoves simply because we have enough equity to call it off, although we are far from happy that villain shoved.
Post-Flop
More and more, with the tools we have today, we understand that in 3bet pots we should be more inclined to play aggressively on the flop. But I don't think this is the case. It's true that with the raise we can prevent villain from realizing equity with some of his hands, but this is not enough to stick our money on this flop, with the positions and ranges involved. We are just way too crushed against villain continuing range which, arguably, contains overpairs, sets, 2pairs and the ocasional straight.
Board: K:spade:9:club:J:spade:
Equity Vencer Empate
MP2 34.41% 15.27% 19.14% { AsKh }
MP3 65.59% 46.45% 19.14% { KK+, AKs, KcJc, Ts9s, 9s8s, AKo, KdJh, KdJc }
We are forced, in my opinion, to call flop and play turn OOP. The fact we have the As actually helps our call a lot, it makes our hand a lot more playable on the turn than a AK without spade.
Turn blank I think the x/r is not as bad as the x/r on the flop, since there is already a lot of money in the pot and everything villain bet/folds is a huge win for us. Still, overall I think villain's range is too strong for us to x/shove turn. And on a river blank we are actually in a tough spot, it's probably best to x/f AK with As, since it blocks some of villain's bluffing range.
What have we learned from this hand:
[*] facing 3bets OOP with AK is a tough spot, but if you find a small read that helps you 4bet, you should do so.
[*] you should be very aware of the relative strength of your hand on different boards, having top pair in 3bp on KJ9s is not the same as K28s
[*] The urge to avoid future tough decisions could lead you to making spewy plays in previous streets. Sometimes we have to face the fact that we have to play these spots, and we should try to be confortable with it.
