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The flop came J-6-3 rainbow, I decided to check, it checked around to the 4th (of 5 players). Player 4 bet, Player 5 folded. Since I had seen Player 4 bluff pretty consistently (and slow-play his real hands), I called, as did the two players between us. Hmmm... I'm not sure what is going on with those two - small pocket pairs? Turn comes a Q - still rainbow - no flushes.

Now I have an inside straight draw, and assuming both my AK are good (which I realise might be a bad assumption) I have 10 outs. I feel that I probably have a better hand than Player 4, but I'm not sure what Players 2 and 3 are up to, so I check. Players 2 and 3 both check as well, bluffing Player 4 bets, I call, Players 2 and 3 fold. I forget what the river is, nothing that helped me, I think about it and decide he will call so I check, he checks. He wins with Kd6d (pair of 6's - and my K was no good, btw).

Okay, whatever. Not too worried about it. Didn't feel like I was particularly stupid or clever - maybe could have been more aggressive post-flop. Pretty standard, I think.

Then the BB (aka player 2) says "You raised AK?" I didn't answer right away, and he adds "From the SB?"

Generally I don't worry about "advice" but this is probably the one player at the table I respect.

I say "Yes?"

He says "Not very smart"

I think yeah, whatever, and answer "Apparently not"

Then I start to think - maybe he's right. What do you think?

Generally I will raise AK for two reasons: the lesser being to pad the pot, the greater being that I like to play AK to a small number of players. Obviously, that didn't happen - which perhaps is the problem. I would fold K6s to a raise (although probably wouldn't play it in the first place) but I should have known other people were not going to fold (although I feel like I had table respect at the time - I am surprised no one folded. If you know that people are not going to go away, is it wise to limp and hope that Ax stays in and you make $$$ when the A hits? On a related note, I would call a raise from the SB with AKo, but not re-raise (rare "special" circumstances excepted). What do you think of this?

Thanks,

Michelle

Answer: I like your raise preflop. There is debate over whether it is right to raise big pairs and AKoff from the blinds in loose low limit holdem games (limit holdem) because it then gives the people correct odds to chase on the flop since the pot is so large, but I don't agree. I think that anytime you think you have the best hand, it is a good idea to get as much money in the pot as possible. One reason I think this is preferable is that say a person limped in with 56off.

If you raise preflop it ties them into 2 bets already and most likely they will completely miss the flop and have to fold -- no pair or even a draw. If you just called preflop then they would only have to pay one bet before they muck on the flop. Next, if you are playing a tight game for limit holdem (which you should be), then it is really important to make as much money you can on your good hands since you don't play very many. So I like the raise preflop. What I don't like so much is the calling post flop. In limit holdem, if you are going to call a bet, it is almost always better to bet instead.

Let's say a person has bottom pair on the flop and you are planning to call anyway. If you bet, the guy actually may fold the bottom pair in which case you have a much better chance of winning. The pot is pretty big and with 10 outs on the turn (if they are all live), you do have the odds to still stick around. I think the only way you could have played better would be to have bet the flop, the turn and checked the river. You might even have won the pot that way. I don't want to turn you into a player that bets every hand to the river regardless of the texture of the flop or the hand strength, but you do want to be more aggressive in the pots if you choose to play them.

Often times you need to take the attitude that "Even though I don't have much, there is a good chance I still have the best hand so I'll bet." Also, in these low limit games players often will just see the turn and then give up. If you put in one more bet (especially when you are going to call anyway), then you can take the entire pot down and make them fold those weak hands often enough to make it worthwhile. Plus, by betting AK on the turn sometimes as well, it disguises your big pairs when you actually do have one.

People tend to give a lot of advice at the table. Much of the time, the advice they give isn't well thought out, they just have heard it somewhere else. There are no set rules for how to play poker well. Their are general concepts, but each is flexible. Don't fall into a set pattern of always doing one move or another. For example, you don't always just call with AK preflop if someone else raised. Or you don't always reraise with AK preflop is someone raised. You need to be situational.

Now as for whether or not you should play AK out of the small blind with a raise and reraise before you in limit holdem, I would. AK against KK or AA is pretty rare -- so rare that you shouldn't worry about it. Some of the biggest pots you make are ones in which there are three good hands. It is possible that the first person just had a hand like TT or JJ, the second person had AQ or QQ, etc. You call with the AK and then if you catch a King or Ace on the flop, often times the opposition won't fold.

Another point is that people reraise with all kinds of hands preflop. Giving too much credit to people can cut into your profits. Don't assume people play as tightly as you do. Watch what they do in other hands and then you can gauge if you want to get involved. So again, a call for me would be almost automatic with AK from the big blind -- it would be a toss up between just capping the bet or calling, I'm not folding.

Lastly, day after day I see people basing the merit of a strategy on short term results. Their philosophy is that, "hey it worked that time, so it must be sound!" Well obviously that isn't the case. The opposite is also true: Just because your AK didn't win that time, doesn't mean you should alter the way you play it next time. Next time it may well hit and if you played it weakly, you might not have won as much with it. Don't let short term results pacify you.

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