How do I play AKo against 3xBB raise HU if he has a pair?

[pokernewb]

Hypothetically, if its heads-up, villain raises 3xBB and I KNOW he has a pair should I call, raise, or push with AKo? Blinds are 150/300, my stack is 5000 and his 3000, and what should I do if the stacks were reversed? By the way the HU has been going for a while and neither of us has gone all-in, just 2-3xBB raises.

[Da GOAT]

Hypothetically, if its heads-up, villain raises 3xBB and I KNOW he has a pair should I call, raise, or push with AKo? Blinds are 150/300, my stack is 5000 and his 3000, and what should I do if the stacks were reversed? By the way the HU has been going for a while and neither of us has gone all-in, just 2-3xBB raises.

AKvsPP=45:55 chance of winning therefore if you know he has a PP you fold as its -EV in long run unless you push and have FE.

WHats the point of this, seriously. just push coz you dont know what he has unless you sneaked a peek at a live game.

[FlyingSaucy]

I would push it because the fold equity makes it +EV over the race.

[flotu]

This is a pretty standard push when the effective stacks are ~10 bb's. Even if you know he's got a pair (it can be any pair at all, right?) you should push because he should fold some of the smaller pairs and that probably makes it EV+.

[johnny_fish]

Folding a low pair with an M of 6 HU is criminal. Fold in this hypothetical hand

Realistically: push obv.

[pokernewb]

Thanks for the replies. I was just curious since in the actual hand I tripled his raise and he went all-in, and I was pretty sure he had a pair. I obviously followed since I commited myself with the reraise and I ended up winning when the board paired twice. So yeah I probably should have just pushed in the first place.

Say the blinds were only 100/200 though and he raised a lower amount though like 500, should I still push or just reraise 3-4x or something?

[givememyleg]

If I had AK HU I don't think I'd ever not try to get ai pf.

[JeffreyGB]

If I absolutely knew he had a pair, and I was BB = first to act post flop, then I'm pulling a stop-and-go, unless I hit (in which case I'm check-raising all-in). Most flops are going to look bad to a single pair, so he probably can't call the way that he can pre-flop.

Example:
AK v 77. He raises, you push. He's almost definitely calling. But if you call, then a flop of J 8 3 comes and you put him in, can he call? You win just as much this way as pushing, but you get him to fold a few more hands when you're behind. Similarly, if you call and then check to him on a flop of K 9 5, he's betting pretty much every time if he's remotely aggressive. Possibly giving up when you push, but also possibly considering himself pot-committed.

[pokernewb]

Thanks Jeffrey, that was really helpfull . I've never tried something like that, but I think I may next time if I get a chance.

[ripjohngotti]

AK will only win against a pair about 46% of the time.

[Keilah]

Yeah you're a little bit behind but as mentioned there's fold equity (you don't KNOW he has a pair), better odds for other hands (again, you don't KNOW he has a pair, he may have AJ for example), plus there's already a good chunk of money in the pot, meaning that even if you somehow do know he has a pair, you're pretty much getting the odds needed to get all your chips in.

[JeffreyGB]

In a realistic situation, it's true that you don't know that he has a pair, and he doesn't know that you don't have a bigger pair, so the FE makes a reraise the best play.

In the hypothetical situation where you know for sure he has a pair, I play as described above.

[pokernewb]

So does this mean I should push against any raise heads-up if I feel it will be a coin flip? Or does this depend on blind and stack sizes?

[pokernewb]

Anyone?

[AHiltz]

So does this mean I should push against any raise heads-up if I feel it will be a coin flip? Or does this depend on blind and stack sizes?

If you feel that you are not good enough to outplay him, then yes.

[pokernewb]

Thanks AHiltz but just to clarify, is there anytime I should consider folding heads-up if I feel it will be a coinflip? In other words are 50/50 gambles recommended play or do good players sometimes fold if they feel a 50/50 is most likely?

[Anon.E.Moose]

Pretty much the only time i really consider folding there is if during the particular juncture of the tournament there is no need for me to get tangled up in a coinflip that can take my whole stack. For example, if this is taking place on the bubble, we're both big stacks, and there are small stacks close to busting out, I might fold it to assure an ITM finish.

Thanks AHiltz but just to clarify, is there anytime I should consider folding heads-up if I feel it will be a coinflip? In other words are 50/50 gambles recommended play or do good players sometimes fold if they feel a 50/50 is most likely?

[pokernewb]

Thanks anon, so once you're in the money coin flips are on no matter what the stack sizes? I just want to be clear on this because I often find myself in this situation.

[Scuba Chuck]

Hypothetically, if its heads-up, villain raises 3xBB and I KNOW he has a pair should I call, raise, or push with AKo? Blinds are 150/300, my stack is 5000 and his 3000, and what should I do if the stacks were reversed? By the way the HU has been going for a while and neither of us has gone all-in, just 2-3xBB raises.

How do you KNOW he has a pair? Is it a situation where he flashed you by accident (meaning he doesn't know that you know), or you know that he only raises with pairs?

The answer yes you should always play this hand, every time. The issue of if you should shove or not is different. Also, another important answer we need is will he pay you off if you improve. While yes, AK only has ~45% equity against non-A or K pairs (this assumes you see all 5 cards), you're getting 1200:600 or 2:1 to call his raise.

It's hard to put anyone on a HU hand range where calling preflop is a mistake. Due to the fact that preflop raising hand ranges should be very wide is the reason why shoving AK here is very correct. If you know he's only raising pairs, and he does not put pressure on you in any other situations, then calling is best. If you know he only raisese AA or KK, then you could reasonably fold, because he is that easy to read, and you should be able to crush him.

[pokernewb]

Thanks scuba, if I remember correctly he had been raising 2xBB and then this time he raised 3xBB so I had pretty strong feeling he had a pair.

[konahead]

It's important that you realize that you're only a small underdog IF YOU SEE ALL 5 CARDS. That, plus fold equity, makes pushing the right move assuming your M is 10 or less and you don't think he has AA or KK (ie - he always limps those hands so you know he doesn't have them here.)

Just calling preflop puts you in a position to make a VERY difficult decision after the flop if an A or K doesn't hit. Only if your plan is an all-in stop-n-go on the flop is calling semi-correct, since you're still guaranteed to see all 5 cards. (you have to act first post-flop for this to work.)

AK is a very difficult hand when no A or K comes on the flop and you aren't all-in, and your goal should be to minimize difficult decisions and put them on your opponent instead. gl

[WildBobAA]

AKvsPP=45:55 chance of winning therefore if you know he has a PP you fold as its -EV in long run unless you push and have FE.

This is incorrect because of the blinds.

[Da GOAT]

AKvsPP=45:55 chance of winning therefore if you know he has a PP you fold as its -EV in long run unless you push and have FE.

This is incorrect because of the blinds.

jeez you dug for this gem. sadly yes i am technically incorrect in THIS situation given pot after raise is 1200 leaving opp with 1800 so i raise/push of 3000 with FE or without gives us better payout than a 45/55 shot.

if thats not clear its like taking a 50/50 flip but someone will give you 60% if you win but have to pay 40% if you lose.

[WildBobAA]

Hehe, just wanted to point out that I didn't bump this thread, kona did