Alabama Gambling Forum - Poker, Pari-mutuel facilities, Casinos

heartbreaker · Joined: 22 Jan 2006 Posts: 11

A little discussion about slick here, suited or not.

You are in LP or button with AK.

You are facing a raise, tops one caller after the raise.

Do you re-raise here?

The typical consensus on this forum is to just call AK and see what happens after the flop.

For me, I like to use this situation to take charge. There are only two hands that are way ahead here, and at the low stakes NL tables I play at, it's not likely my opponents are holding them. As any good poker player says, one should put the money in the pot when he is ahead. However, this is also very player dependent. If the raiser is someone who will raise something like Anna Kournikova (KQ), I'll push back at them. If it's the table rock, I will only call. If it's a solid player, I'll raise back at them to test them. Of course, I also want to isolate the raiser. Although recently at AC I would re-raise the LAG to my right with this hand, and facing $25 cold I'd get 4 more callers. But it was a sweet pot when the flop came K, K, 5.

I will also say that if I'm facing a raise and re-raise before me, this hand goes in the muck.

chris · Joined: 13 Jan 2006 Posts: 39

Strictly from a limit perspective:

GENERALLY
AKs in CO or button with 3-5 players seeing most flops.
I'll cold call two bets. I'll re-raise any single raise in front of me.

AKo same positions & circumstances.
I'll cold call two bets. I call any single raise.

An "All Hell Breaks Loose" table, for me, is all about who's who.

A "Rock Garden" presents a whole different set of circumstances.

BS becomes tricky when it misses the flop.
a. How big's the pot?
b. Suitedness & coordination?
c. How likely is it that flop hit somebody else?
d. Can I bet and take it down now?
f. How many folks are in the hand?
(I think that's the classic red book criteria.)

quickie · Joined: 22 Jan 2006 Posts: 11

In NL, I like to push with slick. I like to be up against as few people as possible. It would depend on the callers. For example, I play reguarily with a guy who ADORES medium suited connectors. 7-8 and 8-9 he'll play against most any PF raise.

So for example, say the EP guy came in for a standard raise (2-3x BB). The guy I just spoke of called the raise. If I'm in LP with slick, I re-raise 4-5x the BB to clear out one of the two.

Now it's entirely possible that the EP guy will show me A-A or K-K or whatever, but again as Scotty Nguyen says- "Dat's pokah baby!"

I absolutely cannot stand to be passive with slick in position. By re-raising in the aforementioned situation, I'm putting pressure on the original raiser to show his true colors (hand-wise) and make him prove to me he's got a hand. I'm also trying to force either him (if he came in off EP junk like K-J, A-x suited, etc.) or the middle caller (if he's really playing his beloved SC's) out so I can go one-on-one against one of the two.

Now, even if EP re-re-raises and moves in it's still not the end of the world. Unless I'm short stacked, I'm probably not going to be pot committed and can fold if necessary. If I am, I'll go with slick and not think twice about it.

That's just one example, there are thousands more where a different set of decisions is appropriate.

razor · Joined: 21 Dec 2005 Posts: 26

Not sure if that truly is the consensus for AK on button with 1-2 raises in front of you. As the raise amounts matter.

Having AK on the button, is a good thing, only two hole cards to really worry about, ppA, and ppK. Your a coin flip to any other pp, and can easily push this agressively. I wouldn't necessarily just call 2 raises, and see the flop. You can easily push hard in this position.

heartbreaker · Joined: 22 Jan 2006 Posts: 11

I was speaking from a NL point of view, not limit.

And I know the situation is highly variable, but if I can, I like to play slick aggressively. If I think I have the best hand I will bet hard, and at low stakes NL tables with people raising stuff like KQ and KJ or AT, I have no qualms about betting hard with slick.

norshvind · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 29

I like to re-raise with slick if there is only one raiser... and I'll re-raise bigger if 2 have called than if 1 has already called... if three or four have already called (a loose table) then I'll just call to see the flop.

I like to just call with A-K if I'm in a blind... it adds a lot of deception to the hand.. and in fact if I'm in the SB or the BB, I'll just call or check with slick into an unraised pot... that way if I miss the flop... I can get away from it.. but if I hit... I have a very disguised strong hand.

petronder · Joined: 06 Jan 2006 Posts: 9

In live $1/$2 NL games from a late position, I tend to play AKs really fast. Today for example, there was a raise to $15 (standard raise) with a caller and a re-raise to $40 (standard 10-10, JJ re-raise). There was now $70 in the pot. I re-raised to $100 straight in order to get heads up with the re-raiser and managed to take down the pot right then and there. The re-raiser showed AKo as he folded. Probably a split pot but by playing it fast, I won it all. Most likely, worst case, you are a coin flip so if you can get a little extra money in the pot to get pot odds in your favor, why not push? At least that's the way I look at it.

quickie · Joined: 22 Jan 2006 Posts: 11