$225 effective, 10th hand at the table, I'm in late position. Couple limps, I pop it to $10, 5 callers. (I have no 3-bet range, I always bet $10 pre and then typically $20 on flops I like.)

I have Ace of clubs and King of blanks, the board comes King of other blanks, 7 of clubs, 3 of clubs.

Now for the moment I'm actually just gonna leave it here and ask the question....what should my thought process be?



But the hand prior to this one was bizarre IMO, so I gotta add it:
I had made it $10 with AQo. 3-4 callers.
Flop comes 9h 2c Jd. Someone bets $30, I fold. Chair 8 calls.
3d think it was check check
5h $25 bet called.
Chair 8 turns over f------ 53o to scoop the pot.

"f***, why did I only raise 10 preflop" + "ok, lets see, its a 6way flop, I have to be careful and not overplay my toppair"

Don't use a standard raise size of 10 and a standard cbet size of 20. We need to raise depending on the number of limps before us and our position. You can start with 4x (4 times the big blind) and add a bb for every caller. If we're OOP (sb/bb) we should also add another blind too.

Cbets are a little more complex, and can be anywhere from a third pot, half pot, two thirds pot or pot, and it depends on our hand, our equity, and our opponents ranges/reads.

Not having a 3 bet range puzzles me, any reason why you don’t? Also should def be sizing up on that flop. 3x the BB + the limps.

Also if you always bet 20 on flops you like… gonna be real easy to play against

Having no 3-bet range is a mistake.
Always better the same amount on any is a mistake.
Only considering how much you like the flop (not how much your opponent likes it or how your opponent thinks you like it) is yet another mistake.

No one can help you better your game through hand analysis until these mistakes are addressed.

You shouldn’t be opening to the same size of $10 regardless of the number of players who limp.

You shouldn’t be cbetting the same $ amount regardless of the size of the pot, board texture, # of players.

You should have a 3bet range.

I would start on those points.

As for the hand I would either check or bet small (up to half pot).

90% of the time I have $100 or less, I only have $225 because I tripled up a little earlier.

Obviously I'm a beginner, but the thing I find easiest is getting my (small) stacks in when I have a good hand. If there's $50 in the pot and I go all-in for another $50, drunk tourists will call with just about anything.

I try to play very tight, generally throwing away hands like KJo, suited connectors, 7s and below (not deep enough to set mine or chase flushes/straights). (Although I've recently realized that short-stacked I probably need to start playing hands like KJo more.) So with such a limited range to begin with, I feel that if I'm 3-betting QQ+ and AQs, AK I might as well just play with my cards face up.

And I know playbig is right with the pre-flop bet sizing, I guess the reason I don't do that is...if you have $80 or so and make it $16 to go and get 2 callers, say there's $50 in the pot. A cbet of $20 is between 1/3 and 1/2 and leaves me with $45 left. Any raise back at me I'm going to have to call due to the pot odds, even though I'm likely beat. Well in short the reason I do 10-20 is because I feel like it's the maximum I can bet and still get away from the hand if the other player's actions are indicating a big hand.

I maybe also should have worded it "I c-bet $20 on most flops." Although if it's 4-5 ways and I bricked I don't. I feel it's very hard to get a bluff through because people at this level are so willing to call.

I'm obviously wrong because 5 different people all said the same thing, but I guess I'm a little curious...if I'm always doing $10/$20, there's no way to tell if I have AA, AJ, 99, KQ, and if I'm cbetting most flops it's not possible to tell if I connected or not.

For a beginner I've done a reasonable amount of reading, but I need to get some resources on short-stacked play...because I do not know what I'm doing.

About SS strategy: You probably shouldn’t be bet/folding any value hands at 40bb. If you go $10 pre, get 3 callers, and bet $20 on the flop, and get raised. You have to go with it if you have any pair at least.

Wouldn’t that be easier if you bet more preflop? Especially when you have such a tight range.

To the specific hand: first we see what the other 5 players do on the flop. That’s the beauty of having position.

Checks to me

Ak is standard cbet here - half pot is reasonable.

Grunch - $10 over 5 limps @ $225 effective w/ AK is super duper bad. Just as an aside, I think open jamming AKo here preflop is better than $10.

I’m still trying to pile money in OTF.

Bet $20-$30.

Play with a dynamic strategy, first off. If there are 5 limps, I would raise something like 20 and generally be committed to GII if I flop TPTK.

AP I would be something like 25-30 OTF and if raised, shove.

Keep posting hands, and I think you buying in short is good while you build your comfort level.

The advantage of playing no limit over fixed limit is you can bet different amounts in different situations- take the opportunity to retool your game and think about what those amounts/situations would be.
Another advantage is being able to put opponents in difficult situations with big bets. Don't worry, you will still get plenty of calls as a short stack w top pair, but can go far beyond playing that way.