5/5 AK on A42 board. 2 scenarios.

I bet smaller on the flop in general. I don’t see how you can do anything other than bet the turn

These scenarios look equivalent to me, or close enough that it doesn't matter. Weak players typically have fairly inelastic ranges/responses to certain actions. For instance, MP's preflop calling range should be tighter, and less capped than BTN's. But players like these just kind of call with close to the same stuff whether they're first to call a raise or second, to them it's worth the $20 or it's not. The extra hands you propose BTN might call on flop are basically just hands like 55-TT with a diamond. Those being in range don't really change what we want to do with AK very much.

So MP or BTN being the one to call our flop bet doesn't actually change that much on the whole. Bet ~120 on turn in each scenario, fold to a turn raise. Shove any river that's not a diamond, 3 or 5

You described the players as bad/fishy, so I wouldn't assume their calling range on flop differs based on closing action.

Struggling to see anything other than a turn bet on both of them.

Don't blow up the pot into two opponents who cold-called 4bb PFRs OOP on a board that's going to be very ugly for you by the river.

Range check flop is standard. If you feel good about your read that they're passive, then exploitatively betting a smaller amount with this particular hand is fine (but bare in mind that having the flop check through and getting the green light to bet big on turn and river are perfectly fine scenarios too).

Betting this big is only an extreme explo against complete bozos, which is slightly less common at these stakes.

Regardless of which villain continues, I'm only thrilled when one more street of value goes in. I'm more pleased when we're the one who put the bet in then when they did, and while I'm happier for us to put it in while it's still protecting us against bad rivers, I'm also happier to get it in after the boards already blanked and/or we've underrepped our hand with a turn check.

HU against BU on the turn is probably more bet than check and vice versa HU against MP, but I think everything I said above is more important than this paragraph.

vs 2 players i think the play is to never bet OOP with anything (Which means ive been playing this spot wrong my entire life)

i mean think about it here, you block Ax, if you have a diamond you block diamonds. not much worse calls a bet. and the hands that call might bet anyway if you check.

you could run into trouble if you c/c flop, c/c turn, and villain jams river huge, but maybe cross that bridge when it comes.

honestly it wouldnt surprise me if in position, checking behind on the flop vs 2 people was the play as well. yes you give a free card to gutshots but also someone could make a 2nd best hand with some broadway turn card.

I would be range checking this flop, we don’t have a ton of good hands on ace low low.

Agree with others. If these guys are fishy, it's unlikely they're adjusting their calling ranges very much based on their own position relative to each other. And when we're OOP multi-way, I'm mostly range-checking most flops as the PFR.

Betting $50 into $70 wouldn't seem to accomplish much, other than folding out most hands we're crushing, when we'd rather they call. Bad rec-fish aren't folding their flush draws here. So we're mostly just targeting a few worse AX combos for value.

I'd rather check flop, to pot control and for deception, and make a delayed c-bet on the turn, when we can likely size up to make up for the lost value when the flop checks through.

If we want to bet flop, a normal-sized c-bet would be $20 or $25. But if we think either or both are never folding AX or a flush draw, I could see over-betting.

I understand the logic of range-checking OOP 3way but with this hand, against these player types, on this board texture, I'm just going max-exploit. I like the flop sizing and would bet around 70%+ on turn, considering there's a double flush draw. I would bet closer to 100% pot if I didn't have a diamond or spade.

I'm not sure about scenario 1 v 2, but first instinct is bet turn larger versus BN, although if MP calls our flop bet his range has more decent Ax, which isn't folding to a large bet. BN has more 4x or 2x, or 57/65 as well as front door flush draws and spades. Checking or betting small versus BN when they have Ax with spades in their range, as well as 6s5s, would seem a mistake.

Should have asked - do we have the Kd?

If we have the Kd, we don't really need to be as mindful about possible flush draws, when we block the NFD, and can rep the nuts if need be. We can probably weight our opponents' ranges more towards weaker value that will call down more when the draws miss, but fold more when the draws hit.

So, I think I'd prefer to fast play this if we've got the Kd, c-betting the flop more often, for a smaller size, and if we don't have the Kd, I'd play it as a check or a larger c-bet.