So I sit down at the 2/5NL game at the local Indian casino and about the 5th hand after I sit down, I pick up AK

Seat 1 BB
Seat 2 UTG - $1,000
Seat 5 (HERO) - $400
Seat 6 - $300
Seat 7 - $600
Seat 8 Button - $150

UTG limps for $5, 2 folds, I look down at AK and make it $25. CO and Button call. SB and BB fold. UTG calls.

Flop comes


UTG bets $25.... Hero??

I'll let you know what I did on the turn after we get some feedback.

Do you have the A or K of hearts?

Oh, and you should raise here like 100% of the time.

Yes, actually I did have

I raise to about $85. I think we want to isolate this hand to just go against UTG (so that we have position and to drive out any riff-raff behind us).

I think that a lot of players like to throw out a little bet oop with a flush draw so that they don't have to call a larger bet. They are hoping that everyone just calls and that they get a cheap turn card.

How much do you think?

OK, so there was about $125 in the pot at this point. I make it $125 to price out the flush draw and big stack Villain calls.

Turn brings

Villain checks. Hero??.....

I'll assume that you're talking about the UTG player who led into you, being the player who called. You have 1 PSB left so anything other than a shovel is criminal.

Yes it was just me and UTG to the turn.

Since I know nothing about the villain except that he has a lot of chips, I probably throw up a little.

Checking the turn is basically shutdown mode, isn't it? Do we have a betting option beside shove? Does the villain play a set or top two this way with the FD out there or did he decide that our flop raise meant A and he's not afraid of the FD?

Is checking then calling/shoving any non heart river card an option?

Alright so what if we change the hand a little...

Say on the flop, UTG bets out $25. HERO raises to $125. UTG calls.

Turn is 2d. UTG bets out $100. Hero?....

I just don't think I had to go broke here and I'm trying to think of other ways I could have played it and if I really could have slowed down. UTG didn't have flush draw btw and I shoveled turn.... I mean, I guess we are never flatting the flop, right? And we have to make the flop raise enough to make anyone chasing the flush get improper odds, right?

Sooo, let's think about whether or not Villain could have had anything but a flush draw. He limps in then calls $20 more pf...

Couldn't be TT or AA or else he would have had just opened for a raise PF. So that leaves AT, A4 or 44.... A2 and 22 are def out because they wouldn't be calling $100 more on the flop.

Now does anyone with AT, A4 or 44 bet $25 on the flop into a $100 pot then call $100 more and check the turn?

Thanks for the input guys, I guess there's really no way I was getting away from this one....

90% OF THE TIME YOU SHOULD ALWAYS RAISE DONKBETS

This was my 4th or 5th hand at the table so no real reads....

So 90% of the time it works all the time?

Stop trying to find way to get away from top top on relatively non-scary boards for 80bbs.

Yeah, I know..

Yes.

Donkbets have two possibilities:

1) They are strong. They donkbet, and shove after you raise.
This is pretty rare though because people just love slowplaying. Checkraising is far more common.

2) They are fairly weak, or they have a weakish draw. They may have a weak top pair, or middle pair or something. They donkbet because they know if they check and you bet, they are out of position and it's too expensive to raise, so they would have to call or fold. But they could have the best hand so they can't fold. But then they will have to call again on the turn because you could still be weak so OMG I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO. So they donkbet. They bet out because if you raise, you have their weak top pair beat. That, or it's a blocking bet with a draw to stop you from pricing them out.

Because 1 is rare (idk, maybe 5% of the time they are strong), all you have to do to deal with 2 is raise enough to tell them they are conclusively beaten. Because they will call a small raise with middle pair or a draw.

This would be a very hard hand for me to play, especially with no information on the villain. The minibet on the flop OOP into a PFR and two callers is one of those kinds of bets that requires information to read correctly. If I'm in his position, I have to assume I am betting into at least one A and am going to get multiple callers or reraised.

A4 or 44 certainly can play this way if he has decided you are not on a FD. If he's putting you on an A, and it's reasonable he should given your PFR and flop raise, he knows you have only two options, shove or check to the river.

Does that percentage apply for a multiway raised pot?

Thanks simo. That was actually a joke btw. Anchorman.. 90% of the time, it works every time.

Yeah I was thinking Villain had to be on a heart draw or had a weaker Ace. O well...

Brian Fantana: They say 60% of the time, it works, EVERY time.
Ron Burgundy: That doesn't make any sense.

Meh, multiway it'll be higher, but I'd still expect to see a draw or weak top pair far, far more often than TPTK+.


(EDIT: and yes, my post was a vague reference to Anchorman.)

Why can't this be some weaker Ace like A8,A9,AJ,AQ.

I see alot of players who will not raise preflop with AJ or AQ, I guess cause they think they miss all the time.