Online Poker Forum at Full Tilt Poker

MrRockSolid · Three of a Kind Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 100

I think most players would agree AK AQ AJ QQ JJ and pocket 10s are a little hard to play from early position at a full table so i will tell you how i play them but im very interested to hear what other have to say.

So starting with AK early position, sometimes i raise 3 times or 3.5 times sometimes i limp in and flat call but i will call a 3-4xs raise if some one raises which i think disguises my AK really well if the flop hits me.

If some one reraises my raise unless i have AK suited i will sometimes fold depending on the player sometimes call but i would never reraise unless the raiser has a small stack for eg.

I raise with AK with the blinds 25/50 to 150 and have 1700 chips the small stack has 425 chips and reraises to 300 in this case if i decide to play im going to put him all in rather than just calling.

If I have AK suited and i raise from early position and someone reraises i would normaly call a moderate raise for eg if i raise on 25/50 blinds to 150 and get a reraise to 300 i would call, if i dont hit top pair with my AK or a flush draw its easy to get away from the hand.

AQ is a really hard hand to play from early and my normal play is to put in a min raise if its suited or not, if i get reraised and its not suited i can fold pretty easy if the reraise is small AQ suited can still be played with caution but most of the time its an easy fold after the flop if you dont hit anything.

AJ is an easy fold pre flop from early position but if its suited i will play this the same way as AQ

QQ JJ and 10s from early i would raise 3xs the big blind and fold all but the QQ to a reraise if the flop comes all rags with QQ im going to lose all my chips if they have AA or KK but thats a risk i will take on them reraising with worse hands likeAK AQ JJ smaller pocket pairs or even worse KQ KJ QJ type hands.

Please note this is just my guide to playing these hands from early position and poker is all about reads on opponents and situational moments that occur during a game.

Regards,

Darren.

derringer007 · Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:31 pm Post subject: early pos. hole cards

I learn so much from you. I guess i have a lot to learn. I raise AA KK QQ AK JJ And call 10-10 9-9 8-8 AQ 7-7. I also play AX suited a lot. One thing that concerns me is that if you have mid to low pocket pairs, is if you have noticed someone will also have a better pocket. pair way to often. I will often fold low-mid. pocket pairs, been beat way to often. I think i need to re-think my game. Very Happy

adelaidecrows02 · Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:00 pm Post subject:

Rock,

Second post of yours I have come across and I really like it. Just saw your video blog, so emailed the link to my home email to check out after work.

I would be interested if you could continue this, with post flop thoughts.

I am not sure if it is me or not, but I am starting to notice alot of players playing alot of suited or one gapped connectors from mid to late position, especially early in an MTT (this is at the 24+2 level where I use alot of tokens). If I find myself in early position with say AK, AQ, AJs (rarely), I will throw in either a min raise, or possibly 3-3.5 times, depending if I have had a chance to identify the table dynamics.

Post flop - I will generally lead out with 1/2 - 2/3 pot size CBet......if I get 1 smooth caller i find that I start to get either too defensive on the turn, if I dont hit, and too aggressive on the turn if I do hit.

Can you provide me with some idea as to your thought process's/actions after the flop.

crows

cubbies760

MrRockSolid · Three of a Kind Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 100

I really feel AK suited is a harder hand to laydown preflop than both JJ and QQ, a lot of players rate AK suited above JJ and QQ some rate it in 5th place behind QQ JJ.....Im in favour of AA KK AK suited QQ JJ in that order so would push AK suited hard against a raise and call most raises or reraises and play the flop.

In my opinion AK suited is easier to play at the flop because if you dont hit a flush draw or an ace or king it can be an easy hand to lay down but what if you called a reraise on QQ and the flop comes A 4 8 and the raiser bets half the pot.....is it an easy fold or an easy call ? I want to make my post flop play as easy as possible and dont want too many tough decisions.

If some one reraises my raise when i have AK suited and i call and the flop comes K 5 9 im more confident to get my chips in the middle...if they have AA or trip Ks (btw them holding AA or KK is less % because i have both an ace and a king) i can live with that.

Darren.

LostOstrich

Darren, you make a lot of sense in a lot of what you say. However, Cubbies is right to point out that this example is utterly silly:

adelaidecrows02 · Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:15 pm Post subject:

Pardon my ignorance here, but I presume ATC = Any Two Cards?

If so, then I agree with Cubbies and Lost in that if anyone is going to come over the top with that short of stack and doesnt push, then yes he is an idiot, however, I doubt that anyone would be so naive as to not push anyways. Would a smarter move not be to just raise the short stack amount of 425 to try and induce a call - I do this in KO Turbo's?

Totes2Techs · Full House Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 188

Totes2Techs · Full House Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 188

xxsn1perxx · Three of a Kind Joined: 26 Dec 2007 Posts: 83

Instant all-in! Cool

Never loses, Either A they fold or B you get called with a superior hand and you suck out.

But seriously it depends on the table doesn't it? If you know the guy to your left will raise no matter what with any two cards.. limp in, let him raise, then go over the top.. ect ect

MrRockSolid · Three of a Kind Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 100

Yes i agree the examle i gave was wrong and i should of given it more thought..sorry guys if it was miss leading.

The comment about my super tight play...I'm not as tight as you think and I will do a full sng strategy soon so you will see this in a few starting hand requirments when theres 6 players left and the blinds are 50/100.

Darren.

bizarroquinn · Royal Flush Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 859

With all the talk about a player reraising nearly all their stack. I'm surprised no one has mentioned using the stop and go.

The concept is simple, and all it really does it give your shortstacked opponent an additional chance to fold giving you the pot.

It works like this.

You have AK, and a healthy chipstack. You raise whatever you want 2.5xbb - 5xbb whatever you normally raise. And say you get reraised by someone who puts in between 50%-99% of their stack. If you have decided you are going to put that player all in stop for a moment and consider this play.

If the reraiser has position on you, and you are going to put him all in, (assuming you can isolate and play heads up) IF YOU ARE SURE HE WILL CALL YOUR ALLIN RERAISE, then just call instead. .
Then on the flop push all in no matter what. What this does is forces your opponent to see the flop before committing the rest of his chips. This effectively give you another chance to pickup the pot without a showdown. As we all know, you usually miss on around 2/3 of pots, so by letting your opponent see the flop, on that 66% of the time where he hit nothing and you bet out, you might come across a donk who actually folds a hand.

------------------------------------------------------
A prime example of getting the better hand to fold is this:

Blinds are 50 and 100. You have 2000 chips. You pickup J10s in mid position, it's folded to you, and you decided to mix up your play and you raise to 300. On the button is a player with 900 chips. He reraises you to 600. The blinds fold, and it's heads up. Your facing that 300 raise, with the raiser only having 300 more on top of that. Instead of pushing him all in, you just call, then acting first you push him all in no matter what the flop is. You have just given your opponent an additional chance to fold. This works great when your opponent reraised with a low to middle pair like 22-77 and the flop is all broadway cards Like AAQ or even AK2.

A flop of AK2 is pretty scary to someone that reraised with say 55. And when you act and push all in before he has a chance to act, you're representing a big hand (remember you raised preflop first) I believe that many times, weaker players will get scared on the flop and lay their better hand down. And if they dont, you're in the exact same situation you would have been if you pushed them all in preflop. All the money is in and 5 cards come out.

I love this stop and go and use it in cash and tourneys. As long as you have chips to play with and the reraiser is in later position than you, it works well.

This also works, when you limp in and face a raise behind you from someone with a small chipstack, just call and on the flop push it all in, make your opponent make a tough call for his tourney life.

Just my 2 cents!

GL on the felt!

StevieWard · Message Board Junkie Joined: 12 Jul 2007 Posts: 1383

The only thing I really disagree with this here is the emphasis between AK o/s and AKs. In my opinion theres hardly a difference - you shouldnt be folding AK o/s to one raise, but calling exactly the same with AKs - whether the cards are suited or not makes minimal difference, suited increases the hand strength by less than 5%. It might be the nut suited cards, but your going to need 2 or 3 of the same suit to the flop to make it worthwhile. Basically if I was to fold to a certain raise I wont call just because its suited, so to me AKs and AKo/s are the same hand for all intents and purposes.

If someone raised you or re-raised but you thought "well I only have AK so I will fold because I dont think its worth it", you shouldnt surely be thinking "oh well I have AK and its suited so I will call, even though its not worth the money as least its suited."

Totes2Techs · Full House Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 188

Totes2Techs · Full House Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 188

Hello Bizzaroquin. Arent' these players you're talking about generally going to be getting good to great pot odds, while also being pot/stack committed most of the time anyways? While they miss the flop 66% of the time, does this 66% include flopping draws? Depending on the exact pot odds at this point, I would think most draws and overs to the board would be getting the odds they need to call your ATC shove. I'm asking because I haven't noticed this play necessarily and it seems that you are probably going to showdown more than the 33% of the time you mentioned if considering draws and overs. Interesting however, to say the least.

	Full Tilt Poker is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. © Copyright 2004 - 2005 FullTiltPoker.com., All Rights Reserved