$2/$5NL with AK suited in CO

First and foremost thanks for letting us know how many hours you've played with him for, they should put it in the stickies or something to please state how long you've played with villain for since reads in live poker are usually what our decisions are based on, so for example if someone says "villain's a nit" but they don't say they've only played with him for an hour as opposed to a year, it can make a big difference.

/r
(sorry for the hijack/derail)

OTTH

I would bet around 110 pre after 7 people are in for 10 already.

I'd bet smaller otf. If you're betting bigger because there's a FD, the chances of him having a club FD isn't that big where you'd have to bet that much to get him off of it (and people will still call anyway). We also wanna entice suited Kx's to call or even Jx or TT.

As played his raise is just over a minraise, and since you bet 165 into 200 (showing strength) I would think at best you're chopping, and at worst he has KJ/88 and since he limped, AK is more unlikely. I don't think the small raise is a semi bluff but that's just me, so rather than call and hope we chop after getting the rest in later I'd just fold. He probably expects you to call with AK anyway which is what your bet sizing is representing. Without knowing how or if he raises draws I would just fold.

call. this could be 88/KJs or it could be a big draw.

if the draw completes OTT then fold to a bet. if the turn is a total brick then see how much he bets.

flop bet is too big. id go 1/2 pot.

I'm not sure why you blasted the flop HU with an 80% psb, since after the c/r you're now in shove or fold territory. You block KJ/K8, and he could easily be raising with a combo draw. I think you need to close your eyes and shove.

Ditto the above. Such a draw-heavy board. As played, I shove.

What is hero’s image to V?

Any more info on V? V is a TAG but calls a button straddle EP and then calls hero’s 3bet oop? Is he now bluff check raising TcTx or 9c9x on the flop? What is he representing to the hero? Doesn’t he always open AK preflop?

My instinct before reading the posts was to jam the flop raise. Now I’m thinking only 88 explains V’s line. In the end, I probably chicken out and just jam and close my eyes.

Preflop iso seems way too small, I start somewhere around 100-120 depending on table dynamics (usually favoring larger sizes). I just hate raising these type of hands vs multiple limpers and getting multiple callers. I prefer either taking down dead money or getting it HU. There's a good chance some of these players are limping small pocket pairs and I'm not going to let them set mine for such a good price.

As played on the flop I would cbet small with my entire range on this board, anywhere from 1/3-1/2pot works. I want to incentivise them to call with their weak/low equity hands, if we start betting larger we force them to fold a lot of stuff that is dominated. Once we bet this size and get raised we're in dicey territory with not a lot of money left behind. It's totally player dependent, against aggro opponents I call and prepare to call a jam on safe turns. Against players who will play draws more passively I just fold right here and move on to the next hand. This is the exact reason why paying attention to what types of hands players are showing down is massively important.

As I stated before though I think the main problem in this hand lies in your flop cbet sizing. If we bet small we get called by all the weak garbage in the limpers calling range. When we bet small we also often get raised by some weak Kx Jx (to see where they are at) and a lot more "bluff" type hands (FD SD etc). Using the bigger cbet size puts us in a lot more precarious positions because a lot of that weak stuff we want to keep in starts folding and the top end portion like 2p+ and big combo draws starts putting us in the blender.

In nitpicky territory here but w/suited Ax and probable position on field (unless btn straddle is loose) I often like inviting action esp with AKs if field plays bad (probably). It’s interesting you want to possibly lose action in such a highly ev spot… oop by all means I’d blast away though

Ok carry on

I like 110 pre, something in that range. And it should considered a massive win if you take down the dead money pre.

I would cbet much smaller on flop, 1/4 or 1/3. Board is very good for your range and he shouldn't have top 2 sets, sure, but he can probably have KJ and 88, maybe K8 or J8 depending on what he limp calls with. This is a really ugly way to get in 200bb.

It's tough now as played. As btcwinner stated, it they play their draws passively, then it's probably just a fold, and if they play aggressively, we can call flop and call off on a blank turn. But without having seen any showdowns, it's tough to know. It's painful but I think I lean towards folding without any really strong reads, just based on the fact that the population of players is not going to be semi-bluffing enough here nor are they going to be raising off KQ here, although there are some special players who will.

If we call flop, I think our plan should be to call a blank turn. So you should really be asking yourself, are you willing to put all the money in?

Thanks all for the feedback. I jammed, V called and had 88.

Grunch:

Raise bigger pre, at least $90.

The flop bet is too big. I'd make it around 1/3 pot, maybe even a little less.

As played, I think we can just fold. He's not bluffing often enough when he x/r's over an 80% pot c-bet. This is going to be 2P+ more often than not. At best he's got some sort of monster combo draw with a ton of equity.

I know I said jam the flop, but given your description of V, isn’t 88 the only hand he has here? A TAG open raises KK, JJ, and AK. He open raises or folds KQ and KJ. He folds QT in EP. He might call the straddle with some Axs. But a player who calls a straddle, then calls a 7.5x raise doesn’t usually check-raise bluff a flush draw.

Over calling a straddle in EP with a medium pocket pair is common. Why he would call a 7.5x raise takes some tortuous narrative because he lacks the implied odds. But 88 seems much more likely than Axcc, KJ, AK, or QT.