AK versus regulars

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AK against regulars

from Unam1337

We are in the beginning of a 22$ sit and go. Unfortunately we were too lazy to do any table selection, which is why we've ended-up with some decent players at our table, for example UTG, MP1 and CO, while the other players are, as usual for this limit, very bad. Up until now we haven't noticed anything unusual about any of the players, although there is a lot of calling going on preflop.

Initial situation:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t40 (10 handed)

Hero (t2000)
MP3 (t1960)
CO (t2300)
Button (t1980)
SB (t1880)
BB (t1880)
UTG (t2000)
UTG+1 (t2000)
UTG+2 (t2000)
MP1 (t2000)

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Solutions

Assignment 1.1.

a) Limp (0 Points)
b) Raise 160 (2 Points)
c) Raise 240 (3 Points)

To fold is definitely out of the question, but to limp would also be a bad decision because we don't want to have too many players on the flop. A raise is the best option. Since we've already noticed that the players at the table like to see flops, the bigger raise should be chosen to chase out any possible drawing hands.

Assignment 1.2.

a) Check (3 Points)
b) Bet 240 (0 Points)
c) Bet 420 (1 Points)

The board isn't that draw heavy which is why you could consider making a continuation bet. However when you make the continuation bet, it shouldn't be seen as being weak and should therefore be about 420 in size.

The better option would be to give up the pot when in this position against three players. We didn't hit the flop and don't have to invest any more chips. Maybe we'll get a free card to make the best hand on the turn or the river.

Assignment 1.3.

a) Check (1 Points)
b) Bet 240 (0 Points)
c) Bet 420 (3 Points

As all our opponents have shown weakness, we could check and try to bet our hand for value on the river. I don't think this is the best solution however. Instead, I would raise in order to protect our hand from draws which are very likely here.

Assignment 1.4.

a) Check (2 Points)
b) Bet 500 (5 Points)
c) Push all-in (0 Points)

It is very important for us to notice that we are playing against a good player on the river. It is therefore very important that we categorize our hand properly. We have a TPTK on a board where some draws arrived on the river. However we have a TP and can beat quite a few hands.

We have to try to get some value from the hands which we beat, while keeping our losses as low as possible when we are beat.

Pushing won't satisfy either of these conditions. If we push, no hand worse than ours will call us and we'd end up paying off any hand that's better.

Checking to call a bet from the CO is much better, but we have the problem that a good opponent will basically always check behind all the hands that we can still beat. If he bets, we will only be ahead in rare cases where he is trying to bluff us because his draw didn't arrive or because he thinks we're weak since we checked, in order to steal the pot.

Therefore I think the best line would be to bet the river small. This bet will be called by worse hands quite often and will keep the opponent from moving against us.

Assignment 1.5.

a) Call (-3 Points)
b) Fold (2 Points)

As described above: A good opponent will never raise us with a worse hand. Therefore a call is the same as burning money.

Assignment 2.1.

a) Fold (2 Points)
b) Call (0 Points)
c) Push all-in (0 Points)

So far we have invested 160 chips and have gotten a lot of action. We don't know whether UTG is holding AA or KK or whether a guy in a later position is trying to be tricky while holding these kinds of hands as well. We don't want to get in big trouble here, which is why we have an easy fold. It would be a lot different if we had QQ in this position.

Assignment 2.2.

a) Fold (3 Points)
b) Call (1 Points)
c) Push all-in (1 Points)

The raise from UTG strongly suggests that he has a set: We should probably fold here. If we aren't sure that our opponent really has the best hand, it is most likely that he is semi bluffing with a draw.

As we don't know which draw he has and considering that we can only get more money in the pot if he hits the draw, we could push all-in straight away in order to protect our hand.

Otherwise we could call with the intention to fold to the river bet because we are assuming that he will only bet the river if he has the set or has hit his draw.

Assignment 2.3.

a) Check (3 Points)
b) Bet 500 (0 Points)
c) Push all-in (1 Points)

If CO is a fish, checking with the intention to call a bet has the best chance of success. As fish mostly overestimate the strength of their hand and try to aggressively buy pots on the river, we are likely to still have the best hand if he bets.

However, because fish also make very bad calls, a push has little value because some fish might think "he has nothing" and that "he only wants to represent the flush so I'll go ahead and call him with my top or middle pair".

The decision to bet 500 doesn't make much sense against a bad player because it keeps him from bluffing and, at the same time, doesn't extract the most value.

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Evaluation

You didn't put enough effort into the quiz. It is very important to study, study, study!

You didn't do too badly, but you should check your game against good opponents again and also think about situations where the correct action may not be so obvious.

Very good! You are capable of adjusting your game to different opponents and to unusual situations.

Nerd!