Folding AK on AKx flop to check-raise

[Runge-Kutta]

it's completely reasonable to c-r here if you're SB with any hand or bluff as most button raise ranges are pretty wide.

You're absolutely right about that. This doesn't hit my open Button raising range as hard as I initially assumed it did and with that in mind a c-r bluff from his end is actually pretty understandable. His SB calling range might even be ahead of me on this flop. I'll run some ranges on stove tonight (it's morning here atm). If this is the case though, would he often take this line of action with a AJ-Q? I believe he would nearly always donk or x/c those.

I cant speak for 10NL, as I've only played 25NL+

To be fair, I only picked 10NL for readability. As stated, this is a fictional hand. I'm probably going to start off on 5NL or even 2NL depending on how much tougher the games have become in the last few years.

such a pissy min-raise

This right here shows how much out of the game I have been: when coming up with this hand I thought this was a pretty standard r size. I guess I really have some reading up to do. What would have been a better min-raise size for Villain here?

[renegaderob1]

You're absolutely right about that. This doesn't hit my open Button raising range as hard as I initially assumed it did and with that in mind a c-r bluff from his end is actually pretty understandable. His SB calling range might even be ahead of me on this flop. I'll run some ranges on stove tonight (it's morning here atm). If this is the case though, would he often take this line of action with a AJ-Q? I believe he would nearly always donk or x/c those.


To be fair, I only picked 10NL for readability. As stated, this is a fictional hand. I'm probably going to start off on 5NL or even 2NL depending on how much tougher the games have become in the last few years.


This right here shows how much out of the game I have been: when coming up with this hand I thought this was a pretty standard r size. I guess I really have some reading up to do. What would have been a better min-raise size for Villain here?

I personally have a very limited cold call range when playing as SB vs BTN. In fact, I'm almost always (95%+) 3b here if I get into a hand because the BB is such a pest if I cold call when he chooses to squeeze/attack dead money. So it's hard for me to accurately give you a "standard" SB cold call range without more information.
(Generally speaking, the things to look for in your HUD when making range decisions include; VPIP, PRF, VPIP/PRF ratio, raise 1st in by position, cold call by position, 3b by position. There are other stats, but they're the main ones I tend to use.)

For x-r sizing, I think you'd typically see at least 3x.

@Griffey; what's your experience with preflop bet sizing? I did an experiment before I moved up to 50nl from 25nl where I basically raised 4x pre with all my hands for 5k hands, and I honestly didn't think I saw much of a difference in what people were cold calling me with apart from when I was 4x raising from EP.

[griffey24]

I personally have a very limited cold call range when playing as SB vs BTN. In fact, I'm almost always (95%+) 3b here if I get into a hand because the BB is such a pest if I cold call when he chooses to squeeze/attack dead money. So it's hard for me to accurately give you a "standard" SB cold call range without more information.
(Generally speaking, the things to look for in your HUD when making range decisions include; VPIP, PRF, VPIP/PRF ratio, raise 1st in by position, cold call by position, 3b by position. There are other stats, but they're the main ones I tend to use.)

For x-r sizing, I think you'd typically see at least 3x.

@Griffey; what's your experience with preflop bet sizing? I did an experiment before I moved up to 50nl from 25nl where I basically raised 4x pre with all my hands for 5k hands, and I honestly didn't think I saw much of a difference in what people were cold calling me with apart from when I was 4x raising from EP.

I think the biggest thing with pre-flop sizing is to think about how often your steal attempt has to work related to the sizing you choose.

2x steal - Risking 2 for 1.5, has to work 57% (2/(2+1.5)) of the time
2.5x steal - Has to work 62.5% of the time
3x steal - Has to work 67% of the time
3.5x steal - Has to work 70% of the time
4x steal - Has to work 73% of the time

So just looking at the profitability of the steal in itself (not including any post-flop play etc). The range of possible steal sizes has you going from needing folds 57% of the time (from both blinds) all the way to 73% of the time. This makes a big difference.

Generally I open larger when OOP, so I'd probably 3x from EP, 2 or 2.5x from BTN and 3x from SB in BvB.

Other ramifications of choosing a smaller size:
1. Blinds might be more likely to call you overall. This is bad from the point of view of immediate fold equity of your steal, but could also be good because they will be OOP with a wider/weaker range that they may not play well postflop.
2. Blinds might be more likely to call you with a particular range of hands - instead of 3b with that range. ie: Someone may 3b a hand like 55 in the SB to a 3x or 4x btn steal, but may very well call to a 2x steal. This means that you get to see more flops with hands that would have otherwise folded to 3b.
3. Smaller steal size, means you'll be facing smaller 3b sizes, which means stack to pot ratio will be deeper if you call, and you will have position. Given effective stacks remaining, you will also be able to profitably call a wider range of hands to 3b.