Quote:
Originally Posted by momo_uk
1) most situations are 100bb deep so what about those spots?
ya it definitely changes things. it's villain dependent. it really depends what range they 3b with, what they fold to 4b (cuz some villains it's 0% of their 3b range and some villains it's all the way up to QQ), how they play post, position, etc.
but yes the shorter we are the more a 4b is basically an all-in, so consider stacks as well. i think you have the tools you just have to work through it. the reason AK can seem frustrating or tricky in spots like this is because it's a close decision. with AA it's easy because it's not close. the 2nd best way to play AA in most preflop spots 100bb deep is much worse than the 1st best way. with AK that's not the case. none of the choices seem 100% right. not to mention that when we see flops AK is much harder to play than big pairs. it has a lot of equity preflop against almost any range, but realizing that equity post is more difficult than with a big pair due to the fact that AK is not a made hand.
just learn to live with all of that and make the call based on the info you have.
my AK strat is somewhat binary against average villains. i either:
1) play it aggressively pre against v's that can fold JJ and potentially QQ as well as AK, meaning we either realizing AK's equity preflop or get stacks in with good equity and see all five cards, or
2) I play it like a strong IO hand and try to see a flop without paying too much. one nice thing about AK in 3b and 4b pots is that when we make a royal the flop connects well with JJ and QQ and we often get stacks in. i'm also more inclined to play AK suited this way if we're quite deep, because we often flop well enough to continue even when we don't make a pair.
in gameplay i lean towards option (1) because AK is only in really bad shape against a range of specifically KK+, with no AK. even just adding QQ for a range of QQ+ we have 31%. so you have to know your villains. some villains will never include AK in the same lines they take with KK+. many will. that's perhaps one rule of thumb you can refer to if you're on the spot and a little lost with AK. try to decide if villain could be holding AK too. if the answer is yes, it's probably never that bad to just always 4b/GII in those spots. over time you can add more nuance to your strat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by momo_uk
2) if we’re flatting, isn’t V getting to play perfectly anyway? we will c/f low flops to their cbets and when we flop an A or K, they will check behind QQ/JJ and lose minimum or if they continue betting, we could be up against AA/KK and lose our entire stack
I mean, I don’t like any options in these spots and it’s such a dilemma
i'm not always c/f low flops to cbets, sometimes i'll peel. again this is very villain dependent. villains who won't put much more $ in with QQ/JJ when an overcard falls are also in the category i'm more likely to 4b pre and try and get folds or stacks in.