[NL2 FR] Fold AK preflop?

Hey guys.

I'm new here and new to poker in general. I started playing some cashgame (NL2 Fullring) on iPoker and after about 2.5k hands I'm down 7$. Actually I was down 4$ after 1k hands and slowly grinded myself back to breakeven in the next 500 hands. Then I played a rather long session today and lost 7$ (I lost 5$ with AK preflop and after that, i tilted pretty hard).

Do you ever fold AK preflop on NL2?

Hand #1

$0.01/$0.02 No Limit Holdem
7 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($1)
Hero ($3.10)
MP ($2.59)
CO ($0.85)
BTN ($2)
SB ($2.11)
BB ($2.98)

Pre-Flop: ($0.05, 7 players) Hero is UTG+1
[UTG posts $0.02]
UTG checks, Hero raises to $0.10, MP raises to $0.34, CO calls $0.34, 3 folds, UTG folds, Hero goes all-in $3.10, MP goes all-in $2.25, CO goes all-in $0.51

Flop: ($6.69, 3 players, 3 all-in)

Turn: ($6.69, 3 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($6.69, 3 players, 3 all-in)

Final Pot: $6.19
CO shows

Hero shows

MP shows


MP wins $5.68 (net +$3.09)

Hero collects $0.51 (net -$2.59)
CO lost $0.85
UTG lost $0.02


Hand #2

$0.01/$0.02 No Limit Holdem
9 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($2.12)
Hero ($1.95)
MP1 ($5.15)
MP2 ($1)
MP3 ($2.31)
CO ($1.21)
BTN ($3.04)
SB ($1.92)
BB ($1.22)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03, 9 players) Hero is UTG+1
UTG raises to $0.12, Hero raises to $0.42, 7 folds, UTG raises to $0.84, Hero goes all-in $1.95, UTG calls $1.11

Flop: ($4.47, 2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($4.47, 2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($4.47, 2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $3.67
Hero shows

UTG shows


UTG wins $3.67 (net +$1.72)

Hero lost $1.95

Hey iLike. I am a scrub who is trying to improve so weight the following with this in mind.

Yes there are situations where i will fold AK preflop, but not many, and i will only fold if i have adequate information on the villain.
<1> If i have opened AK for 4bb OP and face a 3ball shove from a TAG (~15/12ish) i will fold.
<2> If i am IP i will 3ball with AK, raising 3x the villains raise. If the TAG villain then shoves im folding.
In these positions im putting them on QQ+. Assuming we are both 100bb deep we only have 43% equity against QQ, worse against KK or AA and therefore cant call.

Note: If they 3bet alot, we've seen them shove AJ+ or are LAG im calling AI instantly.

Multiway our equity gets even worse.

Unless you have reads that tell you you're ahead, it's usually gonna be best to fold AK to a 3bet. If you've seen villain shove with worse then by all means get it in. Otherwise, understand that shoving is a bluff, because you're gonna flop squadouche 65% of the time.

Depends on a lot of factors. Stack sizes, opponents tendencies/playing style + their range and your image (less so at 2NL) are the main ones that come to mind. Generally though it's usually best not to fold.

Even though you didn't give any reads on your opponents those hands both seem like coolers.