25NL: AK flops top pr, but played slow preflop. What now?

[SirFelixCat]

Villain had just sat down w/i an orbit, so a complete unknown. Keep in mind that 90%+ I'm 3-betting pre, so this was one of those 10% times, so ignore the preflop. I also understand that had I 3-bet the hand plays easier/different. I get that. Also, since I did not 3-bet pre, when I hit the flop, I wanted to not inflate the pot oop, as I didn't know where I was, as A9 or AQ are very possible, imo. Yes I understand that this is a 'non-standard hand' due to the preflop smooth call.

So moving past that, what is the best line on the turn, being oop, as well as for the rest of the hand provided villain calls or raises, if we donk into him?


Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Hold'em Cash Game
$0.10/$0.25 Blinds
5 Players
LegoPoker HH Converter (http://www.legopoker.com/hh/)

SB: $22.50
<u>Hero (BB): $31.95</u>
UTG: $28.10
<u>CO: $34.65</u>
BTN: $24.30

<font color="black">Preflop:</font> Hero is dealt K/images/graemlins/club.gif A/images/graemlins/club.gif (5 Players)
UTG folds, <font color="red">CO raises to $0.85</font>, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.60

<font color="black">Flop:</font> ($1.80) A/images/graemlins/spade.gif 9/images/graemlins/club.gif Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif (2 Players)
Hero checks, <font color="red">CO bets $1</font>, Hero calls $1

<font color="black">Turn:</font> ($3.80) 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif (2 Players)
<font color="red">Hero ???</font>,

[SirFelixCat]

Testing...

[orange]

alright i rr here 100% of the time (well maybe 99) but i'll ignore pf.

i am typically leading the turn for value here. too often will [censored] aces just check behind/get a free look at the river. also, narrowing villan's range to like AQ or whatever is meh...i think we are still pretty far ahead.

[cbloom]

Yeah, sometimes I play it like this and then lead the turn.

[SirFelixCat]

Ok, so I agree with the flop lead. What now though?

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Hold'em Cash Game
$0.10/$0.25 Blinds
5 Players
LegoPoker HH Converter (http://www.legopoker.com/hh/)

SB: $22.50
<u>Hero (BB): $31.95</u>
UTG: $28.10
<u>CO: $34.65</u>
BTN: $24.30

<font color="black">Preflop:</font> Hero is dealt K/images/graemlins/club.gif A/images/graemlins/club.gif (5 Players)
UTG folds, <font color="red">CO raises to $0.85</font>, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.60

<font color="black">Flop:</font> ($1.80) A/images/graemlins/spade.gif 9/images/graemlins/club.gif Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif (2 Players)
Hero checks, <font color="red">CO bets $1</font>, Hero calls $1

<font color="black">Turn:</font> ($3.80) 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif (2 Players)
<font color="red">Hero bets $2.75</font>, <font color="red">CO raises to $9.75</font>, Hero ???
[b]<font color="black">

[catfish_01]

Hmm... you barely know the villian, the villian barely knows you.

You haven't announced any hand strength until the turn.

I am wondering what he raises here that we beat and since we haven't announced hand strength until now and we can't really figure out what level the villian is thinking at, I am just going to have faith that we are ahead enough here to be good &gt;50% of the time. Raising the turn with two broadways on board seems fairly strong but it could easily be a response to say, don't try to float me or donk a turn with a random ace vs. me.

That said I am going to go ahead and try to get my stack in and it seems like a good spot to try a turn shove. Since I'm deciding to get the stack in and the villian is showing he likes his hand enough for a raise, I don't see any reason to wait to the river; it's difficult to narrow the opp's range and hard to see any advantages to waiting since you don't know the opponent's bluffing tendencies, etc. A turn 3-b would nearly get you in anyway.

Edit: As an afterthought, when you called preflop, what did you want to happen if you flopped an ace or king? Against an unknown I'm always happy for play for 100 bb's. You have ~130ish and that's a little different, but with the stacks getting deeper, information becomes even more valuable and that's why you might choose to make that spot one where you do 3-b in the future, esp. since you barely know your opponent.

If you 3-b and he called and still showed aggression the flop and river, you might be tempted to slow down and see showdown to see what your opponent has.

The disadvantage to not 3-betting and suddenly showing that you like your hand is that it's hard for your opp to put you on what you do have and with that in mind you should be prepared to stack it off because if you dont' do it, by the river, the opp may make you do it instead (and if that happens you may by the nature of being on the receiving end of aggression be at a disadvantage.) I guess I'm saying, if you aren't prepared to get it in for your stack when you pair your ace or king on a board that isn't insanely draw-heavy, I would be more disposed to defining your hand preflop.