Villain (BB): ~30s male, haven't played with him for too long, haven't seen him 3bet but also doesn't seem too tight.
Hero (UTG+2): $500 effective

Pre-flop
Hero opens AK to 15, one call, V in BB raises to 50, hero raises to 120, only V calls

Flop 866 ($136)
V x, hero bets 80, V calls
Downbetting on a dry board for protection?

Turn Q ($296)
X/x

River 5 ($296)
V shoves, H folds

I guess my two decision points are 1) whether to 4bet pre and 2) what to do on the flop. On the flop I was trying to bet for protection against his overcards, but now that I think about it he probably only has AK and sometimes AQ as overcards. In that case, most of his range is beating me or chopping so if I bet it's as a bluff. Maybe I should be betting bigger or alternatively just checking given how faceup we are on later streets.

If you’re going to play this as a 4!, you should be shoving that turn. He can fold the occasional JJ he 3!, AQ is a difficult call, AK folds, even KK is a tough call but I don’t suspect that folds all that often, QQ you win all the moneys

I would not play AKo as a 4! in live 1/3 unless I know V is 3! wider than QQ+/AK, especially when we have position and can take away a lot of would be chopped pots

Mostly agree with Johnny. Would have preferred to forgo the 4! But now that you’re uncapped OTT, bombs away.

166bb deep vs someone who's probably 3b fairly tight (bb vs ep + a 1/3 player who probably 3b too tight to begin with) I think we can flat. AKs I'd probably 4b more often though.

Your stack sizes are off. Flop should be ~250. 120x2+overcall-rake

Turn should be ~400.

Anyways, in theory I don't hate a small cbet with 100% of our 4b range here, but I'd probably just check b/c V has TT-QQ almost always here, and maybe the same hand sometimes. I'm not sure what you mean about wanting protection from his overpairs... they're already ahead of you and we're unlikely to bluff them out. It's just that SPR is teeny and we can't really barrel here unless we wanna bluff, but I'd rather not because he has a lot of overpairs in his range and put in a lot of money already.

I've folded AK preflop at least 3 times in my last two 1/3 NL sessions. Two of those times they were to a single raise (for realz). So the key is to really know your opponent. But there are a huge number of opponents whose 3betting range OOP to an EP raiser (what's our image BTW?) is extremely tight. I'm not saying exactly what I would do here preflop (especially since I wouldn't be in this spot cuz I wouldn't have raised to begin with but that's my style), but I'm saying every option (including folding when you factor in your IO when you hit and are good versus your RIO when you hit and are no good) has to be considered.

You have the pot size wrong on the flop (it's $236 not $146), but yes, I would have also bet a very smallish amount on this flop basically just targetting overcards (getting AK to fold a chop is awesome) / looking to end the hand now in a huge pot with our A high is never a bad thing / getting myself to the river for as cheap as possible against overpairs (and giving myself far better than the 3:1 I need to chase my overs).

GcluelessNLnoobG

Pot sizes are wrong so I'll assume your betting lines are accurate. Dont bother with downbetting live at these stakes. Players arent considering ranges. In fact most of the time they dont even know whats in the pot. What they react to are pure impulsive emotional responses to bet sizes and their own hand. Big numbers = Big hand, and thats assuming they even care how big your hand is when they have a draw.

4betting AK is kinda situational live. As you no doubt know a 3bet is extremely rare at most tables, so their response to a 4bet should be particularly concerning. Im not saying I hate it, but im not a huge fan and probably lean more towards calling the 3bet and playing IP.

As played assuming the pot is more like $240 I think you really need to go a bit bigger and bet at least half pot with one condition; you're going all the way with this hand. This means you're shipping the turn. I definitely dont advocate for running big bluffs live but you chose to 4bet pre so you're kinda stuck with it. At this point you're praying he can lay down JJ or that he's just spazzing with much worse like TT or whatever, but you know this is incredibly unlikely.

4betting pre is good.

Flop you should downbet. Honestly $35 is enough.

As played, turn is close between jamming as a bluff or giving up. You might be able to fold out TT/JJ sometimes if you jam turn, but some live players won't even 3bet TT in the first place and some will get stationy, so I don't mind giving up like you did.

A 3! pre from an unknown in a 1/3 game almost always means QQ+ with a sprinkle of AK. Combine that with general low stakes villain stickiness, and I have no problem with giving up after missing the flop.

If V has a premium pair, there is no reason for him to ever fold to you unless he thinks you have exactly QQ.

For those who think the 3bet is often heavily weighted to a monster pair preflop, then why aren't we folding? Our IO when we outflop him (ex. Axx vs QQ) sucks compared to our RIO (ex. Kxx vs AA).

Gjustsayin'G

Because we cant be sure.

Folding preflop vs. a guy you haven't seen 3! once is certainly fine. So is a small 4! IP. Don't think it matters too much actually.

i think a 1/3 sizing is fine otf. (Assuming pot is $250~). It's an 8-high paired board in a 4! pot HU. Ranges are extremely condensed and he's not folding a hand like tens here to any reasonable sizing.

Think shoving turn is reasonable as an overcard to 99s-JJs could scare him.

snap folding river of course

Flat pre to keep their bluffs in

Check back flop to get value from weaker Ax and Kx should one come. This is an easier decision if the flop has 2 spades giving you a 3 flush.

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I think an exploitative fold pre against the 3 bet would do pretty decent EV wise. The population at 1/3 just 3 bets way way too tight, and especially from the blinds facing an early pos open. Like, i dont see how were gonna make much money if we continue here against this tight snugged range. Neither with a flat or a 4 bet.

The sad reality is that AK off suddenly becomes a RIO hand again against a nutted 3 bet range from the blinds.

+1 to to the above, but don't forget to take into account the times heaps get pushed in our direction on a Q-J-10 run out.

Assuming their range is 10s+ and not QQs+.