NL 100 AK - Best line for scary board?
 

Both villains are unknown. I have been playing pretty tight so far with no real hands yet. Only main hand I played, I raised AKo out of the blinds multiway and took it down on a c-bet on the flop HU.

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1
9 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $99
UTG+1: $132.65
MP1: $99
MP2: $48.70
Hero: $113.65
CO: $122.40
Button: $42.95
SB: $240.40
BB: $202.75

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is MP3 with K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
UTG calls, 2 folds, MP2 calls, <font color="#cc0000">Hero raises to $6</font>, CO calls, 3 folds, UTG calls, MP2 folds.

Flop: Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] ($20.5, 3 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks, CO checks.

Turn: 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] ($20.5, 3 players)
UTG checks, <font color="#cc0000">Hero bets $20</font>, 2 folds.
Uncalled bets: $20 returned to Hero.

Results:
Final pot: $20.5

Haupt_234

Re: NL 100 AK - Best line for scary board?
 

it looks to me like the flop would be a good place to get some value

Re: NL 100 AK - Best line for scary board?
 

i would bet flop for value, but ur line is okish

Re: NL 100 AK - Best line for scary board?
 

I like it. nh

Re: NL 100 AK - Best line for scary board?
 

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i would bet flop for value

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~$15ish? And how big of a raise are we folding to vs. unknowns?

Haupt_234

Re: NL 100 AK - Best line for scary board?
 

i'd bet 15 and fold to anything more than a minraise against an unknown.

Re: NL 100 AK - Best line for scary board?
 

I would also bet the flop here. I don't like the idea of giving possible hands like QJ, QJ, KT a free shot at hitting their gutshots.

Re: NL 100 AK - Best line for scary board?
 

Not to piggyback on everyone who has already responded, but, yeah, I think this flop is must-bet. It's a good flop for you but also one that very likely hit your opponents. Betting out here allows you to define where you stand in the hand and to begin to make real judgments about what cards your opponents are holding. If you check and the CO bets the pot into you on the flop, what do you here?

Re: NL 100 AK - Best line for scary board?
 

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i'd bet 15 and fold to anything more than a minraise against an unknown.

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Then you definitely should not bet.

Re: NL 100 AK - Best line for scary board?
 

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i'd bet 15 and fold to anything more than a minraise against an unknown.

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Then you definitely should not bet.

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What is an unknown CR'ing on this flop that we are ahead of?

Re: NL 100 AK - Best line for scary board?
 

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i'd bet 15 and fold to anything more than a minraise against an unknown.

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Then you definitely should not bet.

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What is an unknown CR'ing on this flop that we are ahead of?

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An Ace? A gutshot + pair? A stone-cold bluff? Given that you are willing to fold TPTK, Villains should check-raise here a lot.

And ask yourself what worse hands he is calling three streets with? (The implication that you need to check the turn anyway, if you bet the flop and are called. So if you are checking at least one street no matter what, why not the flop?).

Also, if he c/rs, say, QT, you actually have a lot of equity on the flop. The bottom line is that you are going to be making FToP mistakes significantly often if you bet-fold here.

If you are ahead, Villain is drawing pretty thin. There is little need to protect your hand; there isn't a lot of danger in giving free cards. By bet-folding here you are making yourself very exploitable.

On the turn, Villain is a lot less likely to check-raise with any hand we are behind (like pair+gutshot), or indeed check at all with any hand that we are behind!

So if we check the flop, we gain

1) pot control
2) the possibility of getting calls and/or picking off bluffs from hands that we crush
3) more information if Villain checks the turn
4) a far lesser probability of being check-raised off the best hand.

I'll bet this flop often, but usually against Villains that I know are loose-passive and/or are loose-aggressive/bluffy. In the first case I'm happy to fold to a c/r, and in the second I am happy to call or push.

Against an unknown, it's more like 50/50. But if you are c/red by an unknown it is a very sticky spot.