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Old 10-31-2006, 03:11 PM
ColdSteel ColdSteel is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: NL100-NL200 6m, FTP
Posts: 438
Default Re: Why I don\'t reraise with AK preflop

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I don't like getting that much money in with an unmade hand

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This is wrong-headed thinking. The opponents are no more likely to have a "made" hand when you have AK than when you don't, for one thing. More to the point, not only are they not more likely to have AA or KK, they are actually less likely since you already have one of each.

It's true that you'll only hit about 1/3 of the time, but the same is also true of your opponents. Those times when nobody has hit is when you are able to take the pot with a CB is you re-raise preflop. That's not to say you should CB 100% of the time when you re-raise PF (anyone who says you should is wrong). It depends on a lot of things, most notably how many opponents you have and how they play pre & postflop (eg, what thier hand range is).

I wouldn't say that you must re-raise with AK preflop every time. But there are some situations you must, and there are some situations where you can be forgiven for flatcalling.

One situation you must re-raise is when you are in the blinds and there are limpers before a late raise. It is a major error to not re-raise here. It's very likely you have the best hand & the most equity here, and if you just flatcall it creates a situation where limp-calls cascade behind you and you see a raised multiway flop with a top-pair type hand out of position. Flatcalling here is the worst of the three possible choices. You would be better off folding.

One situation where flatcalling might be OK is when there is an early raise and then everyone folds to you on the button. Here it is less likely that you will have a multiway pot, depending on your read of the blinds, and you have position. Here I'd still frequently re-raise, but flatcalling is OK if used in moderation.
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