AK and QQ Preflop at the Low Limits (2) - Possible Lines

» COLUMN

In the first part of this column you were introduced to the basic ideas relevant to playing these hands. We also illustrated a few equity calculations, which are vital for every poker player.

You saw that you have other options than to simply "always go broke". However, you have to be cautious when choosing those lines and always be able to justify them logically - at least to yourself.

That's why it is so important to have an overview of the different ways that you could get into difficult spots preflop.

Possible lines

Theoretically, there are many spots in which you have to make such decisions. However, it is particularly important to analyse the most frequently occurring spots.

What can happen?

• You open-raise and get a 3-bet.
• You open-raise, a player calls, another player squeezes.
• After your 3-bet, you get a 4-bet from the initial open-raiser.
• After your 3-bet, you get a 4-bet from another player.

You open-raise and get a 3-bet

PartyPoker $10 NL Hold'em (10-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($10)
UTG+1 ($10)
UTG+2 ($10)
MP ($10)
MP1 ($10)
Hero ($10)
CO ($10)
BU ($10)
SB ($10)
BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q , Q
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, 1 fold, BU raises to $1.20, 2 folds, Hero…

The standard spot. You raise your hand first-in, which is mandatory here. You should not consider plays such as limp/raise, since you will barely be able to balance them. Your opponents would be able to read you and therefore make fewer mistakes against you.

You open-raise in 100% of cases, but then you get a 3-bet. Once again we have to distinguish different scenarios:

You have to distinguish two different scenarios here: Either you are in position postflop, or you are out of position.

Many players recommend: Never call a 3-bet out of position (given regular stack sizes).

As always, you should be cautious with such general recommendations. However, it would probably be a good decision to stick to it for now.

It is very difficult to play 3-bet pots when you are out of position and don't have the initiative. Hands such as QQ and AK might be easier to play here than other hands, but now the question of balancing becomes an issue again: What else could you call against 3-bets when you are out of position? That's why you simply shouldn't call in the first place.

Therefore, when you are out of position, keep in mind: Either a direct fold or a 4-bet. If you are confronted with a 4-bet, you should always go broke with such hands (given regular stack sizes).

In position: You could consider making a call here. After the flop, you have many more possibilities: informational advantage, free cards, bluffs (e.g. float) etc.

In one of the upcoming parts you will learn more about some very useful stats, however these parts are not available yet. As a first point of reference, we will therefore look at the positions involved.

In the above example you raise from middle position and the button 3-bets. He might be doing this with a slightly extended range. It will probably be the widest when you steal from the button and one of the blinds 3-bets.

What would happen, though, if you raise from UTG and UTG+1 3-bets you? It can't get much stronger than that - in such a spot you should definitely critically examine the strength of your hand. If you noticed that this player reacts by playing very tight, you could very well go ahead and directly fold AK for instance.

You open-raise, one player calls, one player squeezes

PartyPoker $10 NL Hold'em (10-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($10)
UTG+1 ($10)
UTG+2 ($10)
MP ($10)
MP1 ($10)
Hero ($10)
CO ($10)
BU ($10)
SB ($10)
BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A , K
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, CO calls $0.40, BU raises to $1.60, 2 folds, Hero…

A squeeze is a good way to directly take the pot preflop. Therefore, the button can squeeze loosely, since you would be barely be able to call out of position and the cut-off's first action, a cold-call, didn't show any particular strength either. The fold equity is quite high.

Therefore you should not think that a squeeze signals more strength than a regular 3-bet. Villain will be much more likely to assume that he will either get a fold or a 4-bet (push), so he will usually face easy decisions.

It is also important to consider that there is more dead money in the pot. Besides the open-raise and the cold-caller, a 3-bet squeeze has to be bigger as well. Therefore, there are already $2.40 plus the blinds in the pot, i.e. a total of 25.5BBs in dead money.

This is important when it comes to playing AK:

You can win a lot of money with your raises, 3-bets, 4-bets and pushes. If you go all-in here and both of your opponents fold, you would win a quarter of your stack just like that.

Other than that, the considerations you have to make in these spots are similar to those for a regular 3-bet - this also includes the various positions. If you open-raise from early position, you get a call and the player in middle position squeezes, it is much more likely that he is doing this for value rather than to bluff.

You saw however that you can also go broke with AK here, since you don't need much fold equity in order to collect the dead money. Always remember that AK has acceptable equity if you go all-in.

Keep in mind: If you squeeze for value, you should also be willing to go broke when confronted with a 4-bet (push).

After your 3-bet, you get a 4-bet from the initial open-raiser

PartyPoker $10 NL Hold'em (10-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($10)
UTG+1 ($10)
UTG+2 ($10)
MP ($10)
MP1 ($10)
MP2 ($10)
CO ($10)
BU ($10)
SB ($10)
Hero ($10)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q , Q
5 folds, MP2 raises to $0.40, 3 folds, Hero raises to $1.30, MP2 raises to $2.80, Hero...

We are slowly approaching some spots, in which you have to make rather tough decisions. In contrast to example 1, we have skipped one step here, namely: your 3-bet.

You decided on a 3-bet here, but calling would have been an option as well. After your 3-bet, you are confronted with a 4-bet from your opponent.

As already mentioned in the first part, 3-bet/fold is not considered good play. Why would you 3-bet in the first place if it is not your intention to go all-in with this hand?

What would have to happen for 3-bet/fold to be ideal here?

• Villain always 4-bets better hands.
• Villain never 4-bets weaker hands.
• Villain calls many weaker hands.

What does this mean in practice? He calls with AK-/JJ, but only 4-bets KK+.

He will never bluff, which implicitly means that he will never 4-bet AK. Did you ever have reads this accurate?

Just as confusing is the phrase "you are turning your hand into a bluff". In practice, you could 3-bet/fold any two in this spot. In theory, a bluff would be impossible since a bluff would imply that you can get better hands to fold. However, preflop there are only two hands that are better than QQ, and we hope you agree that KK and AA would never fold here.

Naturally, position is just as important. In the above example you are out of position, which means that your opponent in position might be more likely to make a light call.

However, as explained above, you should internalise that you should never call a 3-bet when you are out of position. If your opponent has similar views on that, and you 3-bet a player from the button, knowing that he will either fold or 4-bet, your entire 3-bet/fold game becomes a farce and you have to admit that you surely don't need queens for that.

You should therefore remember: If you 3-bet queens against an opponent, you should also be willing to broke against him, given regular stack sizes.

With a hand such as AKo, the situation becomes tougher. It is no longer mandatory here and there are two reasons for this:

On the one hand, AK is always a kind of semi-bluff hand. It has an acceptable amount of equity, but is rarely a big favourite. 3-bet/fold with AKo is not a perfect play either, however it is a smaller mistake with this hand than it would be with queens, since you can't always make a value raise (as illustrated in part 1 of this column, you would even be behind against 22 equitywise preflop).

The second reason is the equity against a strong broke range.

What you should do with AKo is therefore also dependent on a number of other parameters, which will be discussed in the next parts. Important aspects to consider are your direct opponents and their stats (or, to be more precise, the way you interpret their stats) as well as different postflop constellations. We will take a closer look at this later.

After your 3-bet, you get a 4-bet from another player

PartyPoker $10 NL Hold'em (10-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($10)
UTG+1 ($10)
UTG+2 ($10)
MP ($10)
MP1 ($10)
MP2 ($10)
Hero ($10)
BU ($10)
SB ($10)
BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A , K
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to $0.40, 3 folds, Hero raises to $1.20, BU raises to $2.90, ...

The last possible scenario is the so-called cold 4-bet. This means a player 4-bets although two other players have raised or 3-bet, respectively.

You have to pay respect to this move of the button. He invests more than a quarter of his stack in order to get two players to fold who have signalled great strength. A player raises from early position and another player 3-bets.

Of course it is very obvious that this could a good bluffing spot for the button, and there are certainly players who would take advantage of this situation. However, you need clear reads or stats to decide if the button is such a player. Without these, you should not just assume that he is bluffing.

However, if you come to the conclusion that the button can 4-bet very loosely, a push would be an option in the following scenario:

PartyPoker $10 NL Hold'em (10-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($10)
UTG+1 ($10)
UTG+2 ($10)
MP ($10)
MP1 ($10)
MP2 ($10)
Hero ($10)
BU ($10)
SB ($10)
BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A , K
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to $0.40, 3 folds, Hero raises to $1.20, BU raises to $2.90, 3 folds, Hero...

You are playing a very aggressive player and think you might be ahead. Go all-in.

However, what if the following happens...

PartyPoker $10 NL Hold'em (10-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($10)
UTG+1 ($10)
UTG+2 ($10)
MP ($10)
MP1 ($10)
MP2 ($10)
Hero ($10)
BU ($10)
SB ($10)
BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A , K
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to $0.40, 3 folds, Hero raises to $1.20, BU raises to $2.90, 2 folds, UTG+2 raises All-in, Hero...

...folding in this spot is mandatory with AK.

You will hardly ever run into two bluffs or loose 4-bets and pushes here and AK loses a considerable amount of equity in a 3-handed pot, even when against looser ranges.

This is one of the few spots where you might consider playing 3-bet/fold and it couldn't be interpreted as a wrong move. But as you can see, you will have to consider many different things here.

Of course it is important who you are actually playing against and what the ranges of your opponents look like. This will be the topic of the next article.

LINKS
Related articles: AK and QQ Preflop in the Low Limits (1) - Basic Ideas Discussion forum: Discuss this column in the forum