Playing AK in Shallow, Live Games

[stinkpaw]

Typical live game: 1/2 NL $100 Buy-in.

If you want to play your hand heads-up, you have to make a larger pre-flop raise. Most of the time you will get many callers for $8-$10 and have to go to $15 to narrow the field. 7.5BB preflop raise when you only have 50bb behind builds a pot pretty quickly with a hand you need to hit on the flop.

Hero is EP with AKo. Effective stacks $100

PF: Hero opens for $15. Button calls.

Button is fairly new to the table but already you know he is a typical, live bad player. He doesn’t know when he’s supposed to act, doesn’t understand positional requirements, thinks of bets in terms of $$s not % of pot, makes weird bets (actually made a bet size so he could get rid of all his white chips.)

Flop ($25 post-rake): A-T-3. Rainbow.
Stacks are now $85.
Hero bets $20, Villain calls.

Villain’s range is any A, 2-pair (AT), and less likely a gutshot (eg KQ) or an under-pair (JJ-KK), or a set (which usually raises here, although some of these live guys like to slow play like they see on tv.)

Turn ($65): 7 completes the rainbow.
Stacks are now $65.
We are either WA/WB, but do we have any options? Do we try checking for pot control? If we do, are we ever not calling/pushing any reasonable sized bet if we do check?

Or do we bet small knowing the only way we get raised here is if we are beat? But can we really lay this down if our $10 bet gets raised?

Or is putting 50BBs in when we have TPTK pretty standard?

[Mike MacIntosh]

Shove turn for value.

Also, why the hell are you sitting with only $100?

[stinkpaw]

That is the max-buy in at the 1-2 tables here, which is why I'm trying to figure out how I have to adjust to 50BB play.

[FishSticks]

He's sitting with $100 because that's the buyin.

Yes, getting it all in with TPTK against any player for 50BB is standard in this spot - especially against a bad player.

If you think he'll bet if checked to, you can check - not for pot control, but to try to get all the chips in. If he's kind of passive and calls a lot, just push the turn normally.

In my experience, in games like this, this guy is probably a lot more likely to call $30 on the turn then the last $35 on the river, but might wuss out and not call all in on the turn. If the board was drawy this would be bad, but against this guy we just want to do whatever gets all the money in the middle.

[FishSticks]

btw - you adjust in this game by not playing SCs and small pockets for set value in raised pots as much (since your implied odds are cut way down with the small stacks), but instead just play ABC with big cards and look to make a better pair than your opponent and get it all in. My local casino (Seneca Niagara) has this same structure and it's annoying.

[stinkpaw]

Small world, this was at Seneca. You play there much? I'm starting to play live more now.

[FishSticks]

Once in a while. I live in Rochester so it's a bit of a hike for me - but I guess I get there about once a month or so. Usually I just play online. There are some *really* bad players there, and you just have to play super super tight. To a point that it feels silly. No one ever folds anything there, so playing just premium hands and only putting in chips after the flop if you have a hand will work against these guys.

Also, they switched it so that they rake pots now instead of having you pay time (which they once did), so the need to play tons of pots to make up for the time payments is gone. It can be boring, but nitty play there gets the money.

The 2/5 game is more reasonable, btw.

[johnnyrocket]

easy shove here, no reason to think we are behind yet, need to bet for value and not give up a free card, lose and just rebuy

[kongo_totte]

Why would you want pot control? You practically have the nuts vs. this kind of player? Whether to bet yourself or to crai depends on his aggressiveness? Is he often floating flops to take it away on turn? If not, I'd jsut go ahead and bet $40 (since he is prolly bad enough not to realize this is equal to an all-in) and get the rest in on any river.

[johnnyrocket]

yea especially with the stacks the way they are in this buy in if u check and let him catch for free u might as well not even sit in this style of game.