Noted, I did not want to raise because while I liked my hand I did not feel I was strong enough to 4 bet if he 3 bets. Also I was UTG, shall I still 3x's and go from there?
If someone 3-bets in position, it's usually best to fold the first time, even though your hand is pretty.
But if you limp, they will isolate you with most of their range in position and you'll be guessing whether they're strong or not.
If you raise UTG and then get 3-bet, his range is usually very strong, since you raised from the position where you're the tightest, and they were still willing to put more money in.
Also, can anyone answer this. Why do we have to risk Ace king? Is it for value or protection? Can someone explain the difference to me? I've always heard both and was wondering if there's a difference.
Not entirely sure what you're asking, but AK is a flip against any pair and you're only way behind against AA and KK, and you have one each, so mathematically it's less likely someone has that hand.
In a normal spot, you just don't fold this hand, because people can raise with worse or hands that are tied in equity a lot.
In a 100BB game it's also pretty annoying to just call 3-bets in position with AK because of you miss you're in a tricky spot, although it is better than calling a 3-bet with AK out of position for sure.
The hand itsself is not that special, but it in a premium drawing hand, but you don't want to draw when there's already a ton of money in the pot.
If you play deep stacked poker, I would defnitely recommend slowing down with AK, because people will be looking to hit unexpected straights and flushes, to crush your made hands, and because people don't just put in 250BB with a naked AK.
I see limping as a neglected part of short-handed games. I don't like limp-opening often simply because of position, but say 10% of the time (or a bit less), I don't think it's a mistake. It means you have to limp stronger hands to balance too, which is distasteful, but poker is a game in which, if everybody says it's wrong to do one thing (open limp short handed), the game becomes exploitable by limping. So I feel it should be part of any good low limit player's game. With people playing so ABC, either TAG or LAG nowadays, the limp gains value imo. For instance 10 years ago, the fashion was never to min-raise pre. It was considered a weak play and a big mistake. But the last time I booted up a few spectator tables, even monster pros are min-raising frequently. Fashions change, and being off beat is usually good for a bet an hour, I think. So long as you are off-beat for a reason and play solidly.
I think seeing a player down 10 BB and drawing any conclusions is a big mistake. Because if that tiny piece of data changes your play in any way, you are losing more than you are gaining.
I always, always raise with Aces and Kings under any circumstance preflop. It's probably incorrect but I don't like to trap people with big hands.
Big difference between open limping and limping when a couple of people have already done the same. There's nothing wrong with that.
I like the point that you want to make plays other people don't, so you can confuse and trap them, but from a game theory standpoint it's just not optimal in nearly every situation (OPEN-limping that is).
Good point about the min-raising, but people still represent strength and they are in position. I personally don't min-raise on any position (but of course I do in shortstacked tournaments) because I want to get in more money in position.
I disagree about the stacks. If someone doesn't have a full stack, they don't have auto-rebuy on. And regular players do.
He can obviously be a new players or not a regular who's still pretty good, but it is a slight indication that this player is probably not a winning regular.
There wouldn't be a big adjustment. I'd only be more cognisant about the player's range probably being slightly wider and he might make a little more questionable decisions.
^^ I've found limping in live games works a hell of a lot better than limping online (especially if you have a real good hand). I've gotten fucked trying to limp/slow play good hands. Someone ALWAYS hits. Too many fish online, and too many hands turn up to build big pots.
Everybody limps in live games, but they all suck.
the 2/5 live players wouldn't beat 25NLHE games.
They have zero fundementals. They don't care about position, control of pots, ranges, representing hands etc., they just play level 1 poker: looking at your hand and putting money in according to its strength.
Like I just said, I hate open limping. If a couple of people have already limped and you've got a decent hand, you don't always have to make a big isolation. Calling is fine then.
