AKs UTG with a tight image, which do you prefer
 

Even at a loose low-limit hold em table, my EP preflop raises often get respect. Sometimes I get the following table dynamic. It probably has something to do with me actually folding in the blinds.

If I limp UTG, I usually set off the chain reaction with 5-6 other players routinely seeing the flop for one bet. Someone might raise behind me.

However, with the same lineup, if I raise UTG, I typically have 1-2 opponents and have a decent shot at taking down just the blinds. If I flop top pair and one of my callers does as well, that player will usually just call down and never raise me unless they beat TPTK. A player with QQ is unlikely to three-bet me preflop.

Re: AKs UTG with a tight image, which do you prefer
 

that's the problem with tight image, when u have a good hand u dont get much action when u raise. when u limp in u get killed by 2,4 suited. So u are in a no win situation, try changing ur image to loose player.

Re: AKs UTG with a tight image, which do you prefer
 

i wouldnt have a tight image then. i must have a loose gambooler image (im not crazy loose or anything, but im pretty aggro esp preflop) b/c when I raise UTG i get like 5 callers typically. i would throw in the occasional pf raise with 89s or A3s in LP, which by themselves are only slightly -EV, and see if it helps.

as per your question, I would prefer 2 callers in a raised pot preflop where i have the initiative.

Re: AKs UTG with a tight image, which do you prefer
 

it's time to widen the UTG range. if you don't get 3bet by QQ, what do you think that says of how your opponents view YOUR range?

Re: AKs UTG with a tight image, which do you prefer
 

best thing u can do with AKs UTG and got raise is to 3 bet, I know some of the tight players are aware that they will not get action when they raise so when they get big hands EP they limp with the intention of 3 betting when someobody raise.

Re: AKs UTG with a tight image, which do you prefer
 

FWIW, I know that Clarkmeister has posted that when he plays in games with calling stations who will play any ace but won't coldcall with them, he will occasionally limp in EP w/AK, so as to:

1) Not be overly predictable, and
2) Encourage players to overlimp with their dominated aces.

Re: AKs UTG with a tight image, which do you prefer
 

[ QUOTE ]
i wouldnt have a tight image then. i must have a loose gambooler image (im not crazy loose or anything, but im pretty aggro esp preflop) b/c when I raise UTG i get like 5 callers typically. i would throw in the occasional pf raise with 89s or A3s in LP, which by themselves are only slightly -EV, and see if it helps.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a tight, but tricky and smart image, where I don't pay off as much if I get outflopped. Some of the observant players who spend a lot of time with me know that I am capable of laying down top pair and calling down with ace high against the same player on different hands, and being right often enough to be profitable in both cases.

I can't pull off the loose gambooler image. If I try to play aggressively, I come across as a tight, thoughtful player on mega-tilt, even if I am not playing crap hands, which puts me in a lot of difficult situations. I'm not sure that "on tilt" is a table image that I want to cultivate. If anyone thinks that encouraging loose passive players to start taking shots with occasional but not overdone semibluff raises against me mixed in with their usual predictable play and making more of those value bets that they usually miss is a good thing, then tell me how to exploit it.

I've been working on a few ideas. I've been tossing in a few UTG raises with hands like 87s, which I think is a reasonable think to do every once in a while against a table that plays like a tight table if there is an EP raise. If done with the right frequency against the right lineup, I like it better than the LP raises that you suggest. It generally doesn't go to showdown when that happens. I've been doing it rarely, but I'm generally waiting for conditions where the BB doesn't call a single raise every time, no one at the table is cold calling with any two suited, and the player to my left isn't so loose that s/he sets off a chain reaction of calls as people open up expecting a multiway pot.

I tend to limp suited big aces up front and raise with offsuit aces. (How long would it take you to notice an opponent doing that?) I've been waiting for a couple of players I know who telegraph their preflop raises by the way they handle their cards/chips so I can get in a limp-reraise with AA, but I haven't found an occasion yet.

However, I think that the things that most get me noticed as a tight player 9at least it's the thing that most people comment on) are that I actually fold on the button sometimes when five people limp in ahead of me and I fold for one more bet in the BB when it's a multiway pot and unlikely to get reraised. I'm loose enough on the button to sometimes play T8o, although I fold A2o 99% of the time. My hand selection is probably similar in both spots.

Having a tight image does have its advantages. My free card plays with draws are more likely to succeed. My opponents miss bets and raises against me (I had one player slip into check-call mode with top two pair because he thought my flop raise meant I had a set when I actually had TPTK, but I figured out his hand and checked behind on the river to save a bet). I actually do get to bluff in low limit games and have actually gotten people to fold when there is a straight on the board. People generally don't run bluffs against me. I'm more comfortable and feel more natural with a tight image (but I prefer a smallball LAG style when playing online NL).

Re: AKs UTG with a tight image, which do you prefer
 

Just how bad does your hand have to be to fold the BB in a multiway pot for 1 bet?

Folding junk on the button is nothing but folding a possible huge pot for one bet on the BB seems like really
-EV to me.

As for the AKs, I want as many people in the pot for as many chips a possible.

Just my thoughts, give me hell if I'm wrong.

Re: AKs UTG with a tight image, which do you prefer
 

It doesn't sound like you raise enough preflop. Especially if they're not 3 betting you when they have QQ.

b

Re: AKs UTG with a tight image, which do you prefer
 

[ QUOTE ]
FWIW, I know that Clarkmeister has posted that when he plays in games with calling stations who will play any ace but won't coldcall with them, he will occasionally limp in EP w/AK, so as to:

1) Not be overly predictable, and
2) Encourage players to overlimp with their dominated aces.

[/ QUOTE ]

Except I'm sure they'd be raising behind him(limping) if they had QQ. To which, I could see clarky 3 betting it.

b