How's your SSNLHE?: AKs

[xorbie]

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Raise preflop x2...

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hm?

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I'm saying I would raise both times it got around to me.

[yad]

Thanks, aj, these polls are great and this is one of the more interesting ones so far.

Was curious on the idea of reraising preflop after SB's push. I thought call might be better because you're going to have to hit anyway to win this pot. So raising to shut out MP seems somewhat pointless. If MP is weak/loose, might make sense to let her in alongside and let him pay you off in the side pot when you hit. But I'm not at all sure about this logic. And of course if SB can make this move with AQ or something then this doesn't apply.

[Godfather80]

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I check the flop with the $0 sidepot.

I call the turn and the river. Raising the river seems a bit thin. How much do we raise and do we call a push?

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You and I think very similarly.

[4_2_it]

Nice job. These just keep getting better and better.

I'm in xorbie's camp from the flop on. Since you are drawing to the nut, you want to build a nice little side pot.

[teamdonkey]

great thread

preflop - i answered raise big, but in the heat of the moment if i'm playing a lot of tables i probably make the same mistake you did and just call.

flop - i'm having a hard time trying to figure out how the SB fits into this. i THINK because he limits your fold equity (an important part of semi-bluffs), a call is correct.

turn - i think you're way ahead / way behind here, and a call is correct.

river -

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(8) raise -- MP should call a nice value raise on the end. If she suckered us into a raise here while she has something like TT, she just outdonked us. More times than not this is a weak A trying to see showdown, and will call a small river raise.

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spot on (with a minor FYP).

[ajmargarine]

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preflop - i answered raise big, but in the heat of the moment if i'm playing a lot of tables i probably make the same mistake you did and just call.


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The quiz hands are fictionalized/modified/adjusted. This hand is actually a combination of two hands. In the actual-real hand that this hand is based on, I raised the second time preflop to $45, and MP folded. And my AK held up against SB's AQ. The postflop action in the quiz hand is a variation of another hand that I played in a somewhat similar situation. In that hand I flopped a flush draw with AK with a shorty all-in, with a sidepot of just a couple dollars in it, as a preflop reraise was impossible in that hand due to shorties stack size.

As it says in the answer page, Hero's actions in the OP hand are not always the best move. So, as I've said a few times, I do take quite a bit of creative license in trying to come up with interesting elements to showcase.

[ajmargarine]

Overall general comments:

Q #1 -- Alot of folks say 4xBB+1BB per limper is the guide to use in this situation (myself included). And yet the majority of folks are advocating a 3xBB+1BB per limper raise in the quiz hand. When in doubt, and against unknowns, I use the 4x guide. If I find I need more/less at a particular table to get the proper amount of action, I will adjust.

Q #2- I posted about pushing JJ preflop in a somewhat similar situation a couple weeks ago. And alot of folks were hesitant about doing something like that. Now in this quiz, we see a majority of SSNL'ers are hesitant to throw a reraise in there after MP calls for the second time. These situations don't come up alot, but when they do you should be able to capitalize on them.

Look at how the Hero's hand looks to villian if he were to raise it to $45. Hero PFR'd after 2 limps (strength), then a shortie push, a call, and now Hero re-reraises (mucho strength). MP is very hardpressed to call OOP against that kind of strength. Put this move in your TAG arsenal. It's a very good weapon.

And I wonder sometimes if some people hesitate to speculate so much like this preflop because of bankroll issues. Be very comfortable in your bankroll. Don't get all tight/weak when the pot starts getting large. Play goot poker and you stack more than you get stacked.

Q #3 - There's a division of insight in this question as well. The key to this Q is probably building a pot for the times that you do hit your hand; if you bet here, get a call, you can probably stack MP if you hit a flush. But, as in all things poker, there's more than one way to play a hand, and good players always differ on what is the best line.

Q4 looks like calling is clearly better and most here agree.

Q5's difference in answers is probably related to how Hero played the Hand up to this point. Calling on the end would be more consistent with the line Hero took in the OP hand.

And in Q6, woot, we finally got one of these percentage questions where the vast majority of people got it right.

[Godfather80]

Q #2- I posted about pushing JJ preflop in a somewhat similar situation a couple weeks ago. And alot of folks were hesitant about doing something like that. Now in this quiz, we see a majority of SSNL'ers are hesitant to throw a reraise in there after MP calls for the second time. These situations don't come up alot, but when they do you should be able to capitalize on them.

Look at how the Hero's hand looks to villian if he were to raise it to $45. Hero PFR'd after 2 limps (strength), then a shortie push, a call, and now Hero re-reraises (mucho strength). MP is very hardpressed to call OOP against that kind of strength. Put this move in your TAG arsenal. It's a very good weapon.


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My hesitance to reraise stems only from the fact that I don't want to fold out hands that we dominate (AQ, AJ). However, I definitely see the positives of reraising here in that we will probably fold out many hands that we coinflip with (22-99).

As I looked at it and asked what better hands will fold and what worse hands will call, I simply erred on the side of "pricing in" villain's possible overcards. In hindsight, I see that the reraise is best. Thoughts?

[ajmargarine]

My personal style of poker, and the style I prefer, is to win alot of medium-sized pots. Yeah, I go for stackage when it's appropriate. But, I'm just constantly putting pressure on villians when I believe I have the best hand, or very often, when I am representing the best hand. It just works for me in the 80% of the hands that we play every day that don't involve too much fireworks.

In the quiz hand, I want MP to fold whatever it is she has. I want to play a $40 pot where I have only invested $13 HU with my AK agst shortie. That's 27% of a buy-in right there with little fuss, little muss if she folds. If she calls say a $45 reraise, I'm perfectly willing and able to play the hand out with her with my AKs in position. But, I lean toward the medium-sized pot, little risk vs larger pot, bigger risk/bigger variance. It's just my overall tempermant and style.

[Reef]

very nice post. I had all the same answers except preflop. I think $5 is ok here too.