888 Poker - 600/1200 Ante 150 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 31.28 BB (VPIP: 24.53, PFR: 12.38, 3Bet Preflop: 9.43, Hands: 109)
MP+1: 18.6 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
CO: 18.6 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
BTN: 5.94 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
SB: 11.43 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 2)
Hero (BB): 39.4 BB
UTG: 38.87 BB (VPIP: 20.69, PFR: 16.00, 3Bet Preflop: 11.11, Hands: 29)
UTG+1: 6.16 BB (VPIP: 18.06, PFR: 10.14, 3Bet Preflop: 3.57, Hands: 72)

8 players post ante of 0 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.5 BB) Hero has K A

UTG raises to 2.75 BB, fold, fold, fold, CO calls 2.75 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 8.5 BB, UTG calls 5.75 BB, fold

Flop: (21.25 BB, 2 players) 7 9 2
Hero checks, UTG bets 10.62 BB, fold

UTG wins 21.25 BB

I hate these spots. I don't want to play AK multiway so I want to squeeze here, but then I set myself up for a difficult postflop spot if I get called and whiff (like I did here). I don't really want to commit 1/3 of my remaining stack on a CB here.

AK out of position against an UTG raise is not a super strong spot. It doesn't mean you can't 3B it out of the blinds, but when he calls and you don't hit an A or a K, your hand is not strong.

Shipping is bad, but I think you need to 3 bet to get the CO out. You can't donk the flop here and you can't call or raise his flop continuation bet. Just move on to the next hand.

I think we can squeeze shove esp given largish sizing. 8BB in the middle is enough reward imo

Ok, I understand the idea of 3-bet is to be able to comfortably jam with TPTK if you hit the flop? I would rather jam pre.

Really? I'm almost 40bb effective against the raiser. At 30bb I would shove this easily but 40bb is huge.

On the flip side I have little fold equity against UTG with a standard squeeze because he probably doesn't have much of a r/f range, so most of the time I'll get called and have to x/f a missed flop.

Jamming for 40bbs with an UTG raise is not good.

Villain dependant. If they are spewy I might jam. If not then I don't mind just flatting. If you're not comfortable playing post flop OOP multiway then 3 betting is bad. Flatting disguises our range, if we whif we can easily fold. If they are super nitty then 3 betting is ok. There's a ton of ways to play the hand, but for me it's really villain dependant on which route to take.

Don't bloat the pot to just x/f missed flops. I agree 3b jamming is too deep. If I'm not cb/f this flop I'm x/r with some sort of read. Either I think V 4bets TT+ or is calling 3 bets too loose and betting everything when checked to.

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Options:

1) 3b shove 40bb pre

2) 3b standard, x/f missed flops

3) call and play multiway

None of these options seem good to me. I wanted to do a proper ev analysis but there are too many variables with CO in the hand.

Option 1 gives me the most fold equity and the best chance to add about 20% to my stack, with the risk of flipping or being dominated when called for my whole stack.

Option 2 gives me some fold equity and reduces risk, but increases the likelihood of having to play AK oop with a bloated pot and low SPR.

Option 3 minimizes risk but guarantees I have to play AK oop multiway.

Yuck.

your 3 bet preflop needs to be larger ~ 3.5-4x

As played I think check folding is fine

Flatting is not bad when we have these awkward stack sizes, and allows us to often win a nice pot on A or K high flops when villains assume we can't have AK or AQ because we just called.

If villain is at all aggressive, 3b and then x/f all whiffs is bleeding chips pretty badly. Could c-bet 1/4-1/3 pot on this texture also.

Is floating an option? Or even checkraising? c/f feels like a serious leak here.

You have the nut nothing with about 35% equity against a range of 22-JJ and some overcard combos.

V might slow down on a lot of turns.

I'd also make the pf 3bet bigger - probably up to 11bb.

Or even just leading out yourself? Highly doubt you would check an over pair on that board so when you check you basically have your hand face up or are trapping with a monster which is very unlikely for you since you 3 bet pre. As played I guess fold now don't think floating or check raising is a real option here.

Why no c bet that flop is super dry for both us including villain. Our overpairs that make up a lot of our hands will c bet here and can c bet pretty small as we may have little to no overs to worry about.

There are no FD and no SD in villains range

I c bet about 8.5 here

The problem with a CB here is villain has a reasonably strong range opening and calling a 3b utg, and the flop isn't scary for his range, so I'm going to get floated often. That means I have to commit 1/3 of my stack on a CB that will likely get called.

If you think he's peeling flop wide, theres not much he'll be able to do about a turn jam.

I don't think he's peeling wide, I think he's peeling with a tight range.

Sure. c/f seems okay if you are also checking many overpairs, bet-jam is fine too on favourable turns (inc brick turns).

You say the flop is not scary but vill bricked apart from 77, 99. If you run your best AA/KK simulator into a stubborn JJ (which many will ship pre) then its pretty much a cooler.

It isn't scary for TT-QQ and slowplayed AA/KK, and is only a bit scary for 88. The point is villain's range is going to be very strong when he raises utg and then calls my decent-sized squeeze with another player still to act. A good portion of that range won't fold to a CB on this flop.

This seems less than ideal. How do we react to a shove?

I also think it folds out almost nothing more and makes postflop play even more difficult when no A or K falls.

The more I think about this hand, the more it seems like a call with these stack sizes. The 3bet puts us in an awkward position, and I think shoving for 40 bb's is not right.

By calling with the AK we disguise our hand and make our postflop decisions much easier. We also allow ourselves some options after the flop against what appears to be a fairly narrow and predictable pf range from the initial villain.