A lot of times I just shove AK instead of doing a standard 3 bet.
I see a lot of pros doing the same thing and this is where I picked this up from
But on this forum people normally say its an over bet and you should just 3 bet and play it out. Let me post a scenario to show what I mean.

$10,000 guaranteed $55+5 buyin
blinds 50/100

UTG 5876
UTG+1 2500
UTG+2 5202
UTG+3 3202
UTG+4 3415
UTG+5 2885
BTN(HERO) 4552 AcKc
SB 10197
BB 4028


OK UTG+5 raises to 370. Hero raises 4552(ALL IN)

Is this an overbet or standard play?

Read on villain is he has a wide range from the CO. Loves to gamble. He's a pro with a lot tourneys earnings under his belt. Played against him plenty of times. Range here is probably 20%

Why is there 6 utgs in your example. Pro isn't making it 3.7x with 28bb and folding fwiw

sorry about 6 utgs. Im sure you understand it though.
I'm not hoping he folds here. I'm really happy to take the coin flip and get his whole stack. But what I want to know is how should I be playing this spot.

do you jam aces, kings or aq here? i think it turns your hand really face up

I would assume you could push AQ or a middle pp here, maybe weaker. Don't think in this situation it is always AK. Definitely defined your hand as the middle of your 3-bet range. Not QQ+, but also not a bluff. The fact that villain knows you don't have a big pair doesn't really help him that much.

At higher stakes were your 3-bet rarely gets flatted, then 3-bet/call is better as you may induce a push from a hand you dominate. Think the main problem is you lose value. However, OP probably didn't want to play AK OOP if villain flats.

The other thing to note is villain raised to 3.7xBB, so he isn't stealing. Any 3-bet looks really strong, but players who open the large often won't fold to a reraise.

I would go like 1050 call... think ur shoving too many blinds and villain will have a tendency to play relatively perfectly against his range if he is semi-competent as you said he is.

But I'm seriously loving the UTG+1+2+3+4+5+6 business

What is it? It's throwing caution to the wind, staring variance in the face and saying, "O Variance, I embrace thee!"

hmm interesting, winning pro and 3.7x a 20% range from CO. live must ne nice.

well he likes to gamble so just shove vs his moronic sizing.

OOP I would prob shove with a 3.7X and 28BB effective
IP shove or 3 bet/call is fine

New leak is not having a 3b range from utg+5. But 3b shoving 45bb here is too much. Don't be afraid to play in position or have a 3b range here at all.

Think you just give up on value. He's willing to call it with crap he's willing to 4b it even lighter.

Can someone help me with the term "loves to gamble"? Does that mean taking the worst alot? How should I interpret "loves to gamble" and "pro" in the same meaning and how is that information to any use? Is that a bad player, running high above the sky buying gadgets for all of his FPPs?

people shove AK pre because they play mtts not cash and post flop is too hard.

not just that...cash game players will not make bad calls of big shoves...we sometimes shove AK for value in an mtt because players can and will make terrible calls

Lemme guess - he called with 66 or something and you bricked out.

Results-oriented IMO.

It's the issue raised earlier by allday: your hand is so face up that you ll often be called by a gambler with a smalll / medium pp who will take the shot and proves himself he caught you and will type in the chat a shiit like "I know you had AK".
These shoves have to be reserved to the very weak fields where you may often be called by AJ AQ etc (cf snnyc'spost). I also use it to balance my squeezing range because I love shoving with 3 4 limpers to increase my stack by 20%+ with a little risk on my euros sites where people enjoy limping many crappy hands.

He loves to gamble meaning he'll call with the pair. He's called my 3-bet all-in in the past with kq just because he's has me covered. Ive seen him call all-ins with a pair and a flush draw when he knew he was behind.

I call him a pro because he has $150k+ in tournament earnings. http://www.bluffmagazine.com/thepoke...er-profile.asp

If thats not pro status then I guess I'm wrong. I only have 10k in earnings.

He called with TT Flop came out A,T,8.

I'm not results-oriented. I just wanna know if other people would play it this way. Maybe he folds to my 3 bet. If he flats its gonna be the same result as if I had shoved pre. If he 4 bets me all in I'm calling and its the same result.

I started this thread because some play AK different than others. I've done both. Can't say which works better than the other. But if I win that pot I still would have posted this thread to find out everyones opinion.

I love playing post flop. Like I said I just started doing this because I've seen big money winners doing this. What if he calls me with AQ? Most likely won't but either way I'm pretty happy to take a coin flip here.


What if he flats me and I miss the flop. Pretty much spewed 1k chips. But I guess its better than losing majority of my stack.

BTW i FT'd this tournament. Went out 9th though.

Justifying a move with 'it would have worked out the same' or something similar used to be a big leak of mine.

So in the long run you think its better for me to just 3 bet?

I'll work on doing it like that. When would you say to move all-in?

30bbs or less? 25bbs? 20bbs?

def 3bet/call. hell I 3 bet/call 20bb with AK to rep AA

I'm surprised no one has mentioned flatting since we are on the button, which is also fine, he already built a pot like its a raise and 3bet so why not butcher him post flop now?

(Although I prefer a 3bet since he's around 30bb).

Oh and I'm not a fan of 3bet shoving like 45bb eff here, we're not getting called by AJ/AQ against competent players here very often.

ya, flatting here wouldn't be ******ed at all.


honestly AK is like the last hand you should be trying to trap someone with.

Tru that does look super strong