05-12-05, LearnTexasHoldem:

AK Play Correct?

Question: This was probably one of the toughest hold 'em decisions I've had to make.

Early in the tournament I was BB and was dealt AKs. Everyone folds to SB who makes a substantial bet. I raise to double SB's bet. SB calls. Flop comes JJ9. SB bets. I raise. SB raises. I call. Turn is a 5. SB checks. I bet . SB calls. Flop is an ACE. SB bets enough which would put me all in if I called. I have AAJJK. Did SB start the hand with AJ? I finally called. SB had A9o. I finished 2nd in the tournament. Do you think I played the hand correctly?

Thanks!

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Answer:

I can't give you an exact answer because I wasn't there to see how the opponent was playing, but I'll give it a shot. I would say, generally no, you didn't play the hand ideally. The facts I can see from the question are that you were way ahead preflop with AK vs A9. The guy got lucky and outflopped you, now giving you only at best 6 outs to win (3 Aces and 3 Kings), if he only had a 9 or a small pocket pair. If he had a Jack, you were pretty much drawing dead. Let's say the guy was pretty loose and aggressive and possibly had nothing here, so you raised him on the flop to find out. At that point he reraised you, which should be a sign that AK isn't good. The only way that I could see you played the hand correctly is if the raises and reraises where insignificant relative to the size of the pot. If the pot is $1000 and you guys are raising back and forth in $100 increments, for example, then maybe you would have the right price to call and also the right signals that his hand wasn't that strong. I didn't see anything in the question about the size of the bets, so I'll have to assume they were decent sized, in which case that wasn't a great play.

I think how you should have played the hand was to reraise preflop like you did. On the flop when the SB bets into you, either raise or fold. If you raise, you need to reevaluate your holding after he has a chance to act. In this case he reraised which was time to let the hand go (unless it wasn't a big rerasie). The last exception I can think of to justify this play might be if you were in the last stages of the tourney and the play was shorthanded or heads up. The fewer the people in preflop, the less likely the opponent had a piece of the flop, so AK might still be the best hand. This was early on though, so you shouldn't have gambled so much.

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