$11 SnG: A-K UTG

[JasonRball]

I would pf raise a little more...I go broke with this hand alot.

Becareful.....you have tptk...I would be weary he flopped his set. Hands that beat u....AA, KK, 88, 77, 78, K8. K7

Very possible this guy could have K8s at this early in the tourney.

But also now that I am seeing his only has about 380 chips left.......you made the right play....if he had more chips than you or the same stack and was not in the sb/bb then this hand is different.

Still would raise PF more.....120

[scorpion_nz]

Well just as an aside, I asked a guy I know for advice on the hand and he goes "Your preflop raise was terrible! You should raise 300-400 (15-20 BB) to get rid of all of the rags who would call you otherwise." I disputed this and I'm glad I posted here because you have confirmed that my play was okay (perhaps not optimal).

In the actual hand, the Villian showed 7-3 of hearts, and spiked his 3 to take down the hand. It crippled me for the rest of the sit and go, but I can take heart that I got my money in as a good favorite.

[aces_full]

I would simply limp pre-flop. At an $11 SNG the mentaility of your opponents is that it's "only" 60/80/100,etc to call and I have 1500 chips-not dollars behind so I might as well call and pray for a good flop.

I'm not saying to always limp, but usually in the first two seats during the first to levels I will not put in a raise, even if I hold AA. I figure (and I play the $11's too) that I'm better than my opponnets and I don't want to go broke in the first orbit. To put it in a simpler sense, the blinds are not worth stealing-you are risking 60 to win 30, this represents only a 2% growth in your stack if everyone folds. But usually you won't pick up the blinds. Remember, to these donkeys, it's "only" 60 to call, so you are likely to get multiple callers and playing the flop on OOP against several callers on whom you probably have no read in a pot that is T200 or bigger is just no fun. Now from MP or LP I'm going to raise with just about any hand I would raise in a cash game.

My justification for limping is that it's going to be easier to release your hand when you are behind in an unraised pot than it is in a raised pot, plus you are not spewing chips with a hand like AK or AQ when you miss the flop and your CB gets called.

[Brad22]

I usually limp AK in seats 1-5 in lvls 1-2, cause you will always get called, and the c-bet doesn't usually work oop at this lvl. If in late position - more of a possibility to act last with a c-bet (better) or take it down Pf.

[scorpion_nz]

Well, I guess limping is an alternative, but I feel even against 3 callers who call the raise, you still have a pot equity advantage (i.e. People will call with hands you dominate, like AQ, AJ, KQ etc). I think you still need to raise to punish these hands. Of course, if you get reraised, you have a decision to make (this is a different case to if you limp and then get raised).

Although, I do agree that people don't seem to mind calling raises cold preflop. It's a really tough spot but one I think I need to master to improve my results, as hands like this come up so often. I hope we can keep discussing this topic.

[FF_Woodycooks]

Wow there has been a lot of great advice in this thread.

[AMT]

i would open preflop for 80. assuming the same two callers id bet at least t120 (half pot), and move all in to the reraise....so basically beyond your tad-small preflop raise, your play is perfectly fine for A K in this spot and the play i make most of the time. nh

[scorpion_nz]

Hi AMT,

Thanks for your feedback - much appreciated.

I guess I will try to adjust my preflop raises to be a little higher (about 4BB) in the early stages. Maybe it is a different situation if the table is really tight, but that doesn't seem to happen until after the 2-3 maniacs are eliminated (which, in my experience, is in the first two levels).

I appreciate all the comments made here, both critical and encouraging :-)

[FeNeF]

The hand was played fine. I openraise to 80 in level 1 because getting called by 4 people sorta blows, and I bet a touch more on the flop, but neither point is all that important.

The 3-bet all-in is mandatory. Don't sweat it if you lost to a set or some stupid 2 pair, it happens. NH.

[AnthonyV]

i bet closer to t120 on the flop and have no problem getting my money in the middle in a $16.