Why I don't reraise with AK preflop

[tomonbass]

I think it depends entirely on what kind of opponent your against especially at 6 max....

Against a more LAG type of player whos always open raising light then my 3 bet range is huge Broadway cards, 77+ etc

But against a more conventional ABC kind of player I dont mind calling with QQ/JJ/1010/AK and see what the flop brings dont get me wrong Ill 3 bet to mix it up with these hands....

Its just not necessary to do it all the time IMO...

Play each hand as it comes and then take it from there...

[Big_Jim]

Standard.

Spike a Q next time.

[munkey]

I rarely reraised AK preflop and only started doing it at NL50. After convo with 4_2_it and a post I read and some experience I've started doing it alot more and OOP.
I don't always 3bet with it but am becoming more comfortable in reraised pots now after 3betting TT+, AQS+.

I think it's just a natural progression
unraised, raised, 3bet - I wouldn't be surprised if in MSNL+ they 4bet/AI alot more preflop and suspect it to be true.

[4_2_it]

I may need to draft a 3-betting pre-flop with AK guide. I'll check the archives and see if it's already been done first though......

OP - You played that hand fine. Do not play it any differently in the future.

[dashman]

I just recently started doing this, as I'm new to $25nl. I have found that when I 3-bet with AK it makes it easier for the c-bet on the flop to take the pot down, whereas cold calling the raise and then betting, the donk mind will process this as bs. Start strong end strong has become my new motto.

[ColdSteel]

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

[/ QUOTE ]

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.

[EMc]

[ QUOTE ]
I may need to draft a 3-betting pre-flop with AK guide. I'll check the archives and see if it's already been done first though......

OP - You played that hand fine. Do not play it any differently in the future.

[/ QUOTE ]

There SHOULD be a good guide on 3betting today...hopefully.

[Antinome]

I've always 3bet AK. I've taken lately to occasionally calling with it in position against tight players to allow AQ-AT to make bigger postflop mistakes.

[dedmoney]

[ QUOTE ]

Spike a Q next time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Seriously, wtf? that's what I'd do.

[Brizza]

Stupid question but what's the definition of 3 betting?