I had a couple of AK hands against the same player over about a 1 1/2 hour session. I didn't really have a read on him in the first hand (other than he seemed very weak and bad in general), but had developed a read in the 2nd hand. I'm curious as to how everyone would play each of these hands.
HAND 1
Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (BB): $211.75
UTG: $78.30
CO: $397.50
BTN: $251
SB: $79.65
Pre-Flop: K
UTG raises to $6
CO folds
BTN calls $6
SB calls $5
Hero raises to $30 - Looks like a perfect squeeze - definitely callings any shoves
2 folds
SB calls $24 (leaving himself less than $50 behind)
Flop: ($72) 4
SB bets $49.65 and is All-In, - Insta-shoves; no hesitation
Hero ?????
This is an insta-call right? Can anyone make the case for folding here?
HAND 2
Against the same player as hand 1. He had built his stack up but didn't leave the table. I had only seen him over shove 3 times (other than the hand above) and 2 times he showed up with the nuts or very close to it. I really had the impression that once he built up his stack he was playing very scared. He would limp preflop almost every hand and I would raise with position with atc and follow it up with a c-bet. He folded whenever he missed and just called c-bets with hands like top pair, top kicker.
Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (SB): $318
BB: $226.90
UTG: $209.15
CO: $495
BTN: $208.95
Pre-Flop: A
2 folds
BTN calls $2
Hero raises to $12
BTN calls $10
Flop: ($26) Q
Hero bets $16
BTN raises to $196.95 and is All-In
Hero has requested time
Hero?????
Given my read on the player, what do you do here?
Posts
Hand 1: You were pot committed against SB pre-flop. You may be ahead with your A-high but most likely you'll need to hit. You need to call here. Hopefully SB's pocket pair doesn't include a diamond.
Hand 2: Assuming Villain would raise AA-QQ, your hand does pretty well against a range of holdings such as {JJ-TT,AJs+,AJo+}. But if he was truly playing scared, you might be able to boil his range down to {TT, AJ}.
Unlike the last hand, you're not committed to this pot. And the pot was not big enough pre-flop to warrant stacking off unless you have good reason.
Given your read and the fact that you've been able to steal pots off Villain fairly easily, I'd probably fold here and wait for a better spot.
Klopzi
8:32 AM
Hand 1, I agree with Klopzi. You are pot committed. HOWEVER...
You still have ace high. Even a pair of ducks beats your hand and you are not even on a redraw to the nut flush.
I'd be interested to see what he had in that hand. 66? AdQx?
As for hand two. GO AWAY! TPTK is the bain of cash players and myself. TT, QQ , and KK all beat you as well as AJ.
So will we get to hear what the donkey had?
Thanks
Unknown
9:58 AM
Hand 1, easy call, even though I don't like it too much.
Hand 2, I think this is a level hand. How many levels is this guy capable of? He might know that you know that he's been tight and is trying to steal (which would be stupid on his part to risk that much), and the all-in even puts up my radar that much more. It could be a frustration play too, he's tired of you bullying him.
But I probably fold anyway. I don't know if I want to go broke if he hasn't shown me a move yet and my pot odds are pretty lousy.
Unknown
11:20 AM
Both spots blow.
Personally I'd fold hand 1 - you're just wasting $50 to call.
Ditto for hand 2 - you dont have that much invested and all you cn beat is a bare J.
Fuel55
12:03 PM
No need to call either one here.
WillWonka
3:23 PM
I fold both of them.
steeser
8:18 AM
I fold both (#2 more reluctantly than #1).
Shrike
11:56 AM
These are both folds for me.
No diamond in first hand and not beating much in second hand. I doubt villain is shoving less than TPTK in hand 2.
SimpleStyle
1:35 PM
AK is mostly good pre flop unless you connect hard on the flop. Otherwise it's just an Ace with a King kicker. Not much, really. Unless it's the final hand of the Sunday Million or something. But that's a tournament, this is cash.
Hand 1 is a definate fold for that reason. You have an overcard plus a kicker, that may or may not be a live card.
Doesn't really matter what he has, but I put him on a set of 4's, alternatively AQ no diamonds.
---
Hand 2 is borderline.
Whatever - nothing in his play says "scared", so you should respect his push IMO.
Not that I would do it. I'd probably hit the Timeout button and take a long think. Then I would call, lose the pot and go on tilt. I like the saying: "don't go broke with one pair", but it's not my religion.
I put him on at least TPTK, some kicker, one of them being a diamond. Some kind of drawing hand could also be in his range.
/j.
joxum
4:54 PM
Well,
Hand 1 :
I also would fold hand 1, looks to me like if it's a waste of 50$, some may say you're committed, I agree, but what can you beat here? Not much. If your cards are alive you have the odds, but they won't always be, so in my opinion a fold is mathematically correct.
Hand 2 :
You're not priced in and given your reads, it is an easy fold I think. There might be a small percentage of a chance that he's tired of you bullying him, but I think that is outgessing yourself in this particular case. AJ without a diamond, QK, maybe AT or AQ with the Ad are definitely in his range. So given the reads I think that overall you will be a dog in this hand. I would fold too, but some may say that it is borderline.
Steve
Unknown
2:16 AM
Is this even a real question? I would fold both... instamuck. Why "gamble" or "hope you're a slight favorite" against an inferior player against whom you have position on.
I've folded low pps pre to bunch of short stack jammers if I don't have any money invested because I know I can find better spots or outplay them. Don't get into pots against players who r a lot worse than u where your edge is negated, ie all in.
Alan aka RecessRampage
2:42 PM