NL25 AK

Pretty easy call in my opinion.

Ranges are wide in this spot but what can BTN overshove here?
22 + 44 should fold pre
53s ??? Mostly fold pre as well
He can have some Ax combos although you block them maybe so a boat with A2 A4
But he can shove maybe KK-99 because he discounts Ax from your range
So i guess call is OK here

Why is hero checking the flop here? Further, we all wind up in difficult spots with AK...mostly preflop. Even if we find ourselves in trouble post, the problem typically started pre. It's becoming more common today to call 3bets with AKo/s at times rather than just automatically 4bet those combos. In some of the newest videos on this site and at RunItOnce they discuss this a bit.

On the river it is a pretty easy call. I don't think anything bad with the way this hand was played by Hero.

Originally posted by TakingAShot
Why is hero checking the flop here? Further, we all wind up in difficult spots with AK...mostly preflop. Even if we find ourselves in trouble post, the problem typically started pre. It's becoming more common today to call 3bets with AKo/s at times rather than just automatically 4bet those combos. In some of the newest videos on this site and at RunItOnce they discuss this a bit.

As for the 4bet I dont get you. I made a 3bet preflop, I dont think I could have done this differently. Very often we have only 2 streets value from Ax and pp-s. And the flop is very dry so not a big need to defend my hand here imo.

This looks quite standard.
About 3betting. We are on late positions, BTN opens with a wide range. We should defend aggressively, and defending with a 3bet punishes his loose opens harder than just calling. Vs BTN open we can 3bet as value with a lot wider range also. If we just call we will have an off-suit hand out of position and we all know it sucks to play OOP. What TakingAShot says about flatting AK hands more is true, but I think it applies more vs early position opens. From these positions I still would say this is a mandatory 3bet.

Originally posted by Bebabcsinya
Very often we have only 2 streets value from Ax and pp-s. And the flop is very dry so not a big need to defend my hand here imo.

And this is pretty much the reason why checking the flop is ok. We might get 3 streets of value and in that case we could start cbetting the flop small. Small because our range should be a lot stronger on this board. But if we feel like this might be a 2 street hand and the board is dry --> our hand is not that vulnerable, it is fine to check.
And also because we are in a 3bet pot, it is possible to get the stacks in by just betting 2 streets.

I'd cbet this, we have worse Ax in our range to play x/c with.

If you don't cbet this, that means you'll never have a 3street hand here.

We're targeting weaker Ax mainly here, it's not like we're getting 2 streets eitherway from a hand like 89s. If we check flop, bet turn, bet river all his missed draws fold anyway and if he does hit a backdoor, well you just fucked yourself really.

Hello.
I will share my opinion as an nl2 player.
I would cbet the flop. (if you check this, what flops are u willing to cbet on? two pairs/trips? its an option too ofc, but I would be cbeting this as well, but yeah Im just a beginner ♦) he would call your cbet with some backdoor FD and a bit weaker Ace? Thats what I would do if I was him. I would be reraising set.
The turn brings FD, which you block a bit with your K, but still he can have a weaker Ace with FD, so I would bet here as well and force him to make a decision whether to continue in the hand with that FD/Ace. I dont think he has pocket66 he would fold preflop against 4x sizing I think. He also doesnt have A6s I believe he wouldnt be calling 4x sizing either I think. He could also reraise the Turn with a FD to nuts and in that case I would call.
The river brings another Ace which I think is good for us since I believe he has a FD/weaker ACE (A9s and higher). So after his reraise I would call. Maybe he thinks you would be cbeting with a stronger Ace so he goes all in with his weaker Ace.
Have a nice day and good luck guys.