AKs 4B pot BB

[JonBonJovi]

Hey guys, just wanted to get some sort of feedback on this hand. Personally I think I played it ok, but I could be horribly horribly wrong, because i do suck.
I have come to really dislike getting it in preflop w/ AKs at these stakes (with the exceptions of vs players with stats like 60/30 and 85/40 etc.) because most other regs and even recreational players rarely seem to get it all in with worse than QQ. This means the range I am facing most of the time is QQ+ and AKo/AKs which kind of sucks because I'm flipping at best and far behind the rest of the time.
At this point villain is 26/18 over 65 hands, seemed like a fairly standard TAG from what I had seen. When he makes the tiny 4B I feel he does so because he wants to tempt us to shove which makes me think he most certainly has AA or KK here. Because the bet is so small I call because of pot odds, hoping to flop something like hearts, 2 pair etc. When the flop comes out I'm flipping vs AA and KK and the only hands that I'm actually losing to are QQ and TT which seem less likely in this spot.

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players

SB: $7.00
Hero (BB): $5.78
UTG: $7.74
MP: $5.00
CO: $12.57
BTN: $11.12

SB posts SB $0.02, Hero posts BB $0.05

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.07) Hero has A K

fold, fold, CO raises to $0.20, BTN calls $0.20, SB calls $0.18, Hero raises to $1.00, CO raises to $1.80, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.80

Flop: ($4.00, 2 players) 6 Q T
Hero bets $3.98 and is all-in, CO calls $3.98

Turn: ($11.96, 2 players) T

River: ($11.96, 2 players) 8

Hero shows A K (One Pair, Tens) (Pre 46%, Flop 34%, Turn 2%)
CO shows Q Q (Full House, Queens full of Tens) (Pre 54%, Flop 66%, Turn 98%)
CO wins $11.46


Anyway, sorry for the long explanation, just wanted to go through my thought process in the hand as I want it to be critiqued as I'm sure there are things I'm approaching in the wrong way/overlooking.

Any advice is welcome, thanks guys.

[OngBonga]

Gotta love min 4bets. This is a tough spot pre flop, I feel like we should fold but it's 5nl and we have AKs. I'd probably shove this pre, but I'm probably making a mistake due to stakes. At higher stakes, I'd be more likely to find a fold.

Never, ever folding this flop. Donk shoving seems fine here as played.

[d0zer]

When he makes the tiny 4B I feel he does so because he wants to tempt us to shove which makes me think he most certainly has AA or KK here. Because the bet is so small I call because of pot odds, hoping to flop something like hearts, 2 pair etc.

Calling pre to mine 2pr+ is really bad dude. Just jam over the 4b or fold.

[Petulie]

Probably nit-picking but I think your squeeze sizing is a bit small pre, I'd make it $1.10-1.20 being oop.

Totally agree that at these stakes people tend to have an uber tight 4b value range and AK doesn't fair to well vs that. If you were ip I'd agree with the flat pre given the awesome price, but being oop sucks, you'd have to c/f so many flops. I'm jamming pre - you still have fold equity etc.

Also, I like your donk jam.

[Fnord]

Don't 3-bet AK here.
3-betting AKs is even worse.

[BorisTheSpider]

This is a good spot to call pre. Either way, all the money was going in anyway, and the flop is fine, but it's a great spot to just call preflop.

[JonBonJovi]

Hey thanks guys, appreciate all the comments. This might be a stupid question but can I ask why i shouldn't 3B w/ AK/AKs here? I'm not disagreeing with you in any way but would like to understand the reasoning rather than just blindly following your instructions every time a situation like this arises. Thanks again.

[MadMojoMonkey]

It comes down to the villain and what he/she will continue with in a 3-bet pot pre-flop. You don't want to turn a strong hand like AK into a bluff.

It was already going to be heads up to the flop, so there's no one to iso.

If the villain is not going to continue with AQ or worse, then you just iso'd yourself into getting coolered every time you hold AK against them.

[OngBonga]

How many people at 5nl are folding AQ to 3bet?

[BorisTheSpider]

Hey thanks guys, appreciate all the comments. This might be a stupid question but can I ask why i shouldn't 3B w/ AK/AKs here? I'm not disagreeing with you in any way but would like to understand the reasoning rather than just blindly following your instructions every time a situation like this arises. Thanks again.

3betting here just bloats the pot when you hold ace-high at the moment. There's tons of flops that oop in a multi-way pot, you're just going to want to check-fold.

IP against like one opponent, you can 3bet for value even though you won't make a hand on the flop like 2/3 of the time, since neither will they, so you're just putting dead money in the pot to collect with a cbet a lot of the time, but OOP this is a much worse spot, especially when you might end up with more than one caller going to the flop.

On the plus side positionally, if you do just call here you're in great relative position - on the flop, when it most likely checks to the CO you'll get to see what the button and SB do before you act, so although you're OOP in absolute terms, in relative terms your position is good to play a multi way pot.

The other thing is that squeezing into like 3 players here looks so strong, it actually kind of overreps your hand even though it is really good, and I doubt you'll get called by much worse very often.

Although I think I'd nearly always call and nearly never 3bet here, it actually took me a while to put this into words, so I'm interested to hear other peoples input on the why.

[d0zer]

I don't understand what's wrong with 3betting AKs here, expecially when one of those callers just has to be a fish.

[OngBonga]

I need a good reason to not 3bet this spot as standard.

[MadMojoMonkey]

It was already going to be heads up to the flop, so there's no one to iso.

Damn cold meds. This is obv. not true here.

Pre-flop, I'd 3-bet to iso fish. I don't want to face a 4 way pot w/ AKs. Maybe a call w/ AKo is good for a deceptive line against a reg w/ history, but that's not what's going on in this hand.

When the reg, not the fish, min 4-bets, that's scary as sin. His range is super strong there. Call or fold is meh for reasons OP mentioned. It's hard to fold AKs pre.

On the flop, well, I can't get away from 4 to royal flush. I'm a fan of getting it in when I have 12 outs on an unpaired board. However, an equity calculation against QQ+ puts Hero @ 45% (the 6h pairs the board, it's 11 outs), and against QQ, 33%. Since you're getting slightly more than 2:1 on a call, this is a fine spot to jam.

[WeldPhaser]

Why is flatting ok here guys?

Cause we're oop, This seems like a tough spot to be in 4-way oop, All we can hope for is a flop like we got kinda right?

[daven]

3b pre is good here, once he 4-bets you should stick all your chips in (or fold i guess). Calling isn't a great option.

[rpm]

i am baffled as to why we wouldnt 3bet AKs for value preflop against 5nl CO/BU/SB. they will all continue with a heap of worse hands right?

[Vinland]

Def not calling the 4bet. shoving or folding is only option imo.

I would 3bet this but I wouldnt expect loads of worse to call. if BTN or SB call with 99 thats still a better hand equity wise, you are just more likely to get them to fold the flop. I doubt there are a lot of KJ, AJ type hands calling. I dont see a lot of 3bet pots at 5nl with misc broadways unless the guy is a known whale.

I'm expecting to flip with CO, expecting BTN and SB to fold to squeeze and using their dead money as justification for shoving pre.

[BorisTheSpider]

i am baffled as to why we wouldnt 3bet AKs for value preflop against 5nl CO/BU/SB. they will all continue with a heap of worse hands right?

OK 5NL, point taken.

But still - how many worse hands will they really continue with when you squeeze 3 players oop? I mean, let's bear in mind here that if someone continues with 22 they are ahead. AQ, AJ and some sort of retarded KQ are basically it for worse hands, and even that is kind of optimistic I think.

What are you trying to achieve my squeezing AKs here - take it down preflop? Build a pot for the 1/3 of the time you flop a pair? Isolate to protect ace-high?

I'm not saying I'd never squeeze here, but when I do I'm just clicking buttons and going "zomg I have AKs I raise". If you can't get called by worse you can't be raising for value, and if you can't make better fold you can't be bluffing - I'm sure plenty better can actually fold, like small pocket pairs, but all you're doing then is turning a hand that in this spot has excellent implied odds against other aces and kings into a bluff.

[OngBonga]

22 might technically be ahead of AKs but which is more likely to take it down on the flop in a 3bet pot?

At these stakes, people call too much to pf 3bets and fold to too many cbets. If you're not going to exploit this tendency with AKs, then you're going to be folding it a lot more than needs be. AQ rarely folds to the 3bet, even AJ and worse is calling a decent amount of the time.

3bet for value and 100% cbet.