Villain has been playing fairly aggressive at 1-3. He opens MP to $13. I look down at A/K. Are you always three betting A/K or is it a feel type thing. I flatted and one other flatted. This game usually had 3-4 people calling any standard open to $13-$15. Often times playing any two cards.
As it turns out opponent opened with A-8 suited and hit flush on turn. Other player also called with A/K.

Trying to work on being more aggressive. This is one area of my game where I still am not sure as to when to flat or when to three or even four bet. When it works you can stack people, but I am losing some like this one where maybe a strong three bet chases him out.

I am mostly asking about when I hold premium hands QQ-AA and AK or possibly AQ.

You need to first understand the goal of your 3bet or 4bet. You are trying to either play a big pot with a range advantage or trying to make him to fold. People like calling more in position by default, so when 3betting someone who has position on you, you should only be 3betting for value usually. Against someone who folds or 4bets vs 3 bets, you should be 3betting light. If you 3bet a hand like say AJs, they 4bet you when they have a better hand than yours and fold every hand you beat, so it's a waste of a hand. Absolute position matters a lot too, so 99 for example can be a 3bet SB vs button, but is usually bad vs an aware UTG open. Hope this clarifies some things.

no real help from me except that i make my decision based solely on the player and if i want to try to get it heads up.

For the most basic answer to your question, you are flatting when you want to play a hand because of it's strength but don't feel that raising will get you more value either through the intrinsic value of your hand or the high chance your opponent will fold. Naturally, you 3/4 bet in order to get more value from your hand either because of strength and fold equity.

There is more incentive for you to 3/4 bet OOP than IP because you want to avoid playing pots OOP, as well as for the naturally higher chance to be squeezing callers in between (which can backfire against some observant opponents).

Opponent tendencies matter a lot as well. The looser the opponent, the more it benefits you if they call your 3 bets if you have a tight 3-bet range. That assumes they play somewhat predictably though.

QQ-AA, AK, and AQ are all plenty good to be 3 betting from any position in a normal low stakes live game against an opponent who raises somewhat light. If you have a ton of trouble playing these post flop when someone calls, that's an important part of your game to work on.

It all depends what his 3bet calling range is. Does he call with worse or does he fold all worse? How does he see you? Does he see your 3bet range capped as like QQ+? Does he still call you even with a capped range? If he does fold worse, or does not call you because of your image you can now start 3betting hands that aren't AK. When he catches on go back to nitting it up. Now if he calls with worse hands a ton then stick with your tight 3bet range.

As others have said it depends heavily on your opponent and position. However, I would probably be 3-betting that hand if it is suited. AKo I don't have a problem with your flat here, especially with one other behind.

If you brick the flop and see the flush draw it is then an easy hand to get away from OOP. No extra money wasted.

For me flatting with a hand like AK often comes down to how much dead money is in the pot (the more there is, the more I'm 3betting), how likely the flop is going to go multiway if we flat (I'd prefer not go go multiway), the stacks (the smaller the stacks, the more I'm 3betting), the chances an aggro guy behind 3betting for me (where I can then shove preflop depending on stacks), and the range of the opener (especially, for example, if he's a tight opener in EP).

Gjustsomethingstothinkabout,imoG

as by the above posts you can see, playing your hand, gets more important than the strength of it when you start to play with better playing opponents.

to progress in poker you have to see that and look for the spots rather than the hand.

Great tips! I have learned a lot and feel like I will be better next time I play.

Thanks you all very much!

if you think about things you will certainly get better all the time. you are doing it right.
good luck to you.

You didn't include stack sizes so there is not enough relevant info to offer advice. If he had 50BB's or less I would just shove pre. If he was deep stacked, then a 3bet to 40-50 would likely print money for you in the long run. If my read was that he is a mega fish that would not fold a hand like 88 or 99 and similarly would stack off with a hand like AQ or AJ after the flop then I would probably just flat call pre.

In a vacuum, if you are not aggressive enough to c-bet on flops that you whiff, then you are just better off calling with AK and seeing how the hand develops after the flop.

Never limp with AK because that hand suppose to flop TPTK 33% and the rest you should win by aggression. That hand doesn't play well against 3-4 limpers because TPTK probably is no good vs. so many dudes. Make a solid raise from EP and put a 3bet or even a 4bet in position depending on your reads and what personality the 2bet villain is. I consider both hands the same (AKo or AKs), still the suited AK can be played a little stronger but it makes very little difference unless the pot is volume and big stacks are already involved. AKs works wonders in volume pots against big heavy stacks.

That doesn't make sense. When we 3b AJ and V folds we win an uncontested pot. How is that a waste of a hand?

Grunch

Not trying to be rude or anything but not 3-betting a fairly aggressive opponent with AK is really nitty. You're missing out on too many profitable opportunities if you're waiting for a huge pair before you 3-bet.

Edit: Read the responses and agree with another response that you should include stack sizes.

Also in favour of 3betting AK more often than not (though I entirely agree with playing the spot/player rather than the hand.) AK has good equity vs every hand worse than KK. You only have 6 combos of KK+ to worry about. You can win 3bet pots unimproved quite easily since players generally become more fit or fold and more timid in 3bet pots. You can win big pots when you hit heads up aginst dominated AX/KX. 3 betting AK is rarely a mistake aginst low stakes players.

Just make sure you decide before you 3bet whether you are folding to or shoving over a 4bet from the raiser. (Cold 4bet from someone else is invariably KK+ unless there is some crazy dynamic occurring like raiser is FOS, you are FOS and 4 bettor is really smart.) This means you need to know V's call 3bet range and his 4bet range. Readless I'm assuming my 1/2 opponents have 4bet range of exactly [AA] so I'm not shipping AK preflop readless.

Reason I'm 3betting AK is partly to expand my value 3betting range so that I can give greater cover to a wider bluff 3bet ting range. Granted we don't need to be GTO at low stakes vs weak opponents. Opponents don't need to be very observant to spot that a 3bet range like [AA AX KXs QXs JXs SC S1G S2G] is mostly FOS. There is a happy compromise like [QQ+ AK ATs-A2s KTs-K2s] with occasional detours to include ATC when the situation is such that your cards don't matter.

That situation should look something like this:

1) you are IP vs opener where you have a tight, solid ABC image, opener is opening a wide range and there is no sign of strength behind you.
2) opener folds too frequently either preflop or on the flop in 3bet pots.
3)any callers between you and opener are not calling stations and will fold preflop ideally or on flop the rare time they call preflop and fail to flop a hand that beats AA.
4) though ATC is fine given a super read some junk hands are better than others: preferable would be a hand with some speculative value (suited and/or connected) or some blocker value (A, K or Q).

At low stakes just don't 4bet except for value with KK+ or even AA only. I routinely fold to all unknown's 3bets unless I have pot odds to set mine. If a player is 3betting wide I open tighter in front of them and deploy a mixed 4betting/flatting defence with a very strong range. If a good player is sat close to my left and 3betting me frequently and competently I ask for a seat/table change or go home.

Also if opener is a loose station in 3bet pots you can open up your value range considerably. E.g fish with wide open range flats 3bets with any AX, KQ/KJ/KT QJ and QQ-22 and then calls off his stack with any 2nd pair or better. This player is a cash dispenser and will quickly go bust so you want to and can 3bet wider for value and to isolate him so you get exclusive access to his stack.

TT AJ+ KQ would be fine to 3bet such a whale when you have position. 99-77, AT and KJ would be pretty marginal even against a really loose station but will work if you hand read well and can avoid gii when dominated. The isolation aspect vs such a whale may tip you towards 3betting marginal value hands but you have to realise when you can go for stacks and when you have to be satisfied with only one street of postflop value or even when you need to fold.

Obviously 3betting speculative hands is exactly the worst thing to do against such a player!

3 betting with ak is also bad when against a player who puts you on ak when you raise. which a lot of tight smaller players do.

I think it really depends on exactly where you are and how the table is playing.

If it's a loose table and I'm in the HJ I'm probably 3betting.

If it's a tight table and I'm in the HJ I'm probably flatting and expecting to the CO/BTN to fold most of the time so I still have prime position with a slightly disguised hand.

If I'm on the BTN I'm almost always flatting unless more than 1 hand called after the raise and/or I think the SB or BB are playing loose OOP and will turn it into 4 players.

I don't want to play my hand face-up, but I also don't want to play it 4-way.

Because vs an opponent that only continues with better, flatting is a higher EV play. I'm talking about an opponent that is only 4betting or folding vs your raise, rarely flatting oop. If the villain folds his A2s-AT, sure you win an uncontested pot, but I rather play in position post flop when I dominate their opening range rather than have them fold the hands I dominate vs having hands that have us crushed. What happens when we get 4bet? Or what happens in the rare occasion he flats with JJ+/AQs+? We play a bloated pot with lower SPR when our range is crushed. It's the same reason why we flat TT/JJ pre vs a tight aggressive UTG open.

Was just thinking about this today. I think I probably need to add three betting a little lighter sometimes to mix it up a bit. You all have really helped me to look at my game differently.

If a player always put you on AA when you 3bet would you still do it - of course. Obviously, aces are a bit different in the sense that they are not drawing to a pair, but equity is equity at the end of the day. Against an aggressive opponent opening a wide range from MP, 3betting AK for value should be the default option. If opponents always put you on AK when you 3bet, it should make you quite happy and allow you to 3bet a ton more hands along with AK. Isolating the pot preserves your realizable equity, and gives your opponents who have no money invested poor odds to call.

not quite true sf. anytime someone correctly puts you on your hand early in the pot then you should have played it differently.


later when the pot is huge you have no choice sometimes to make it face up.

Ray Zee is absolutely correct. Think about it, if a V is genuinely putting you on AK every time you 3bet then you need never have an A or K in your hand because you can win every A/K high flop that V misses regardless of your actual hand. You're more likely to flop an A/K high flop when you don't hold AK too.

A further adjustment might be to 3bet some pairs you would normally flat with. Our AK fixated opponent will simultaneously fold when actually ahead on A/K high flops and pay our marginal over pairs and 2nd pairs more than he should on flops without an A or K.

very good ragequit99.
all the above is very correct. thinking this way is what enables you to extract that extra money that is almost free money from the table.