$22 MTT early stage, AK facing action

[Ferra]

hey guys

no reads on any involved player, UTG played 1 hand yet after half an hour, so i decide to flat AK pre

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $40(BB) Poker Stars
SB ($2,820)
BB ($3,795)
UTG ($2,665)
UTG+1 ($3,435)
UTG+2 ($1,490)
Hero ($3,155)
MP2 ($3,000)
CO ($3,255)
BTN ($7,280)

Dealt to Hero K A

UTG raises to $120, fold, fold, Hero calls $120, fold, CO calls $120, fold, SB calls $100, BB calls $80

FLOP ($600) K 7 8

SB bets $420, BB folds, UTG folds, Hero calls $420, CO raises to $1,200, SB raises to $2,700 (AI), Hero folds?

i think its a standard situation, and i think its a fold. I m trying to improve my early game in MTTs a bit in situations i am not 100% sure, so im asking you guys. There isnt really a flushdraw out there, its possible that one of them have T9 and the other guy is otherprotecting any K or something....

Just wanna know what your default line is for this hand versus unknowns

[tedjam]

raise pre and get it in

if u flat pre then 3bet/get it on on flop

as played probably fold

[Ferra]

any reason to raise the flop? super dry flop, its multiway, only draws are T9/T6/56......if i had raised flop to 1100 and CO still shoved im losing 700 more in chips and leaving me still drawing almost dead against set or 2pair. IF the smallblind still calls COs shove, im in same situation with less chips....

[tedjam]

yeah point taken
thats why mtts hate playing multiway hands and turns we just wanna play pre and flop
I think just raise pre is the default and biggest lesson here
he has less thsn starting stack & can shove worse
although its a flip a lot. also if it hu and he flats u have position and the initiative

as played I still dont wanna flat on flop and let them draw at straights or hit 2 pair
and theres plenty in the flop so i just want to take it down also kq is never folding or kj
as played you can get away from it but i think you should be raising Ak pre in this situation with these stack sizes almost always. even in a cash game with these stacks(under 100bb) I think u should raise git with AK in this situation

[891327]

I like your line with AK here and probably play as played

[Ferra]

@tedjam: against a tougher player UTG, would u play it the same as you described?

@8916327: play(fold or call) as played

[tedjam]

a better(tougher?) player would have a wider range
so yes I would still be inclined to three bet pre becasue i wanna play hu with postiion with AK ( a lot of good things)

flatting here just invited others into the pot
and I dont want to play ako multi way
in the long run its more profitable three betting this hand pre at these blind levels whereas players will over call if we just flat the initial raiser a lot making our hand hard to play ( just like in this example)
by three betting pre we fold out other players behind and we can play the flop so much more profitably.utg might call with small pairs and then fold on q 8 9 etc etc there are so few flops his flatting range will like and even if he calls one street we can barrel good turn and river cards. we will win a lot with the worse hand without showdown. flatting pre here is just burning money at these stakes. WE HAVE AK in a $22 donkament with less than 100bb effec and only one hand has us dead and another in bad shape and we have blockers to both those two hands. he may be a tigth player but hes still rasieing AQ 77-AA KQs
and prob not folding any to a three bet pre
so yes my default in this situation is to raise and git pre and I cant see it being a hugfe mistake at these stakes enough to warrent me entertaining something different

[RikaKazak]

I play this hand "different" then standard, because I feel very comfortable post flop. With that said, I also flat pre just like you did. I just feel like if the original pfr flops a 2nd best hand (like AQ vs. my AK on Axx) I'm going to get stacks in with VERY strong equity. And even if we both miss (like AQ vs. my AK on 974s) I'll still win cause I have position and feel like a stronger player.

To comment on your specific spot, I cry fold. Too many 78s 77/88 combos. I just really feel like 1 of them has us crushed

[891327]

Originally Posted by Ferra

@tedjam: against a tougher player UTG, would u play it the same as you described?

@8916327: play(fold or call) as played

Sigh fold

[tedjam]

@Rika, I think your wrong here for the first time I can remember

its a 22 dollar donkament, villan has only 60odd big blinds
the standard here in a 22dollar online tourny is 3 bet fist pump get it in
when we flat at these blind levels we are almost certain to get over callers possibly taking away our
positional advantage. also I think by you saying that by flatting we get AQstack on a A high board while true is also true if we three bet pre and he flats AQ( i think he might even get AQ all in here too pre). I think the basis of your advice here is that your a stronger player. I still cant imagine that flatting here with these stacks in a 22 donkament makes more money long term than three betting pre, but maybe Im wrong as im the only proponent of this in the thread