Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LegoPoker Hand History Converter
SB: $60.70
BB: $17.30
UTG: $75.65
MP: $57.20
Hero (CO): $49.25
BTN: $52.50
Pre-Flop: A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, <font color="red">MP raises to $1.75</font>, <font color="red">Hero raises to $6</font>, 3 folds, MP calls $4.25
Flop: ($12.75) J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 Players)
MP checks, <font color="red">Hero bets $9</font>, <font color="red">MP raises to $51.20 and is All-In</font>
also, consider a slightly different version of the same hand:
Full Tilt Poker, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LegoPoker Hand History Converter
SB: $60.70
BB: $47.30
UTG: $75.65
MP: $57.20
Hero (CO): $49.25
BTN: $52.50
Pre-Flop: A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, <font color="red">MP raises to $1.75</font>, <font color="red">Hero raises to $6</font>, 2 folds, BB calls $5.50, MP calls $4.25
Flop: ($18.25) J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 Players)
MP checks, <font color="red">Hero bets $12</font>, BB folds, <font color="red">MP raises to $51.20 and is All-In</font>
i'm not a beginner. i'm just frustrated and embarrassed, really, that i don't have a better handle on these situations. i've played way too much poker to not have a solid plan here, but the fact is that i just don't.
i don't know how to find previous posts in SSNL that address this spot specifically. if you know of any good ones, please link.
i basically just have a million questions in this spot that i haven't settled on a comfortable answer for in my own mind. i don't have a structured way of analyzing these spots. i don't have a checklist to go down that can lead me to the correct decision.
basically every time i've ever been in this spot i've bet and called the crai. i have a limit background. i just hate to fold this hand. but now that i have a few hundred thousand hands of experience in NL, what i really hate is not REALLY knowing whether i should even be considering folding, and if so, HOW to identify the times when i should fold. ugh.
i'm capable of identifying the retards that i'm happy to get AI here every time. but that's really a small % of the villains i'm up against. i need to have a plan vs. all the other villains.
so vs. opponents that are not retards:
when it's checked to me here, i don't know if i should even bet. when i decide to bet, i don't know how much to bet. i don't know if i should like getting it in here or not? in this case i have 4 hands on the guy. but what about all the other villains in their different varieties of "decent"?
if i bet small and get c/r, should i now call? if i bet big and get c/r, should i now fold? should i be categorizing the villains as aggressive or passive, and always folding to passives and always calling aggressives? or do i need to be choosing my actions based on more specific categories of opponents?
should i just always check behind and call small bets on the turn & river? should i check behind and call big bets and stack off? should i check behind and call a turn bet but fold to a big river bet? do i have to bet the flop in the 2nd example 3 handed? do i have to bet pretty much every flop when it's 3 handed and i'm last to act and i have TPTK with AK?
what about board texture? can someone please help me to figure out some kind of rational way to look at a board and say yes, this is a good board to get AI on? Js3cAc, is that a good board to stack off on, or not? WHY? i really don't know.
does the fact that i have the nut backdoor FD make enough of a difference to warrant a call when i would otherwise fold? and oh btw, what if i had AQ here? is having AK enough to warrant a call when i would fold AQ?
honestly, i wonder if i should just push preflop every time. at least then i would basically feel comfortable with my play, winning a ton of small pots and having decent equity on average when called.
if i'm always bet/calling here, is that a big leak? is this always a close decision? can you identify a scenario where with no history bet/folding TPTK is clearly correct vs. a particular opponent, and then describe what kind of history would be necessary to make bet/calling correct vs the same opponent?
hopefully you can understand that it's not these particular hands i'm asking about. i just need to be better prepared to play AK postflop in every situation vs every opponent. i need help developing a comprehensive thought process to guide me into the correct decision every time i'm in this spot.