OK, I was playing 1-2 nlhe and was 2nd from UTG. I had about 140 in front of me and raised to 4X the bb with AK. I got two callers, (one with about $200 and the other with about $85) and the flop comes down A 10 3 rainbow. I am first to act, bet about 15 and the 200 calls and the 85 folds. I put my caller on a hand like AQ or AJ. The turn is a 4 and I check, hoping to trap him. He bets about 45 and I raise the rest of my stack only to get called by 33. I think I am missing something huge here because something virtually identical to this has happened 4 times in the last week. So I guess my question is, what am I doing wrong here? Should I play my big pairs with top kickers more slowly and fold to big bets?

Don't overvalue TPTK... its mucho -ev ...

Everyone always puts everyone else on AQ. Heh.

No, honestly. Look at it like this. At this level, AT, A3, TT, 33, are all as likely to come along as AJ or AQ. All of those hands have you beat, obviously.

I don't know if I check/push the turn..I think I lead and if I get raised, well, it's time to close up shop.

I personally don't try a trap play with TPTK after he called a pot sized bet. I'd figure villain was putting me on a medium-strong ace and I'd now be wondering what he had to just smooth call me. So I'd lead again. If he comes back strong, well... yeah, decision time.

you're going to get busted on these hands some times. However, don't try to trap with it unless you're late in a tourney. Trapping with TPTK in a cash game will win you very little and usually lose you a lot. Lead the turn and then put the hand together based on the action when he raises you on the turn.

Well, I HOPE AT and A3 aren't that likely to come along at $200 NL But a set is a real possibility as thats pretty standard. At these levels and with the stack sizes, its really important (and pretty hard honestly) to give yourself the ability to fold with how you bet.

You've just been smooth called with no draws on board, which is worrisome.

I think you have two options here:
Lead the turn for about the pot. If you get raised it will be for all or most of your remaining stack. You now have the option to get away from the hand if you think you should. By not leading the turn, you left yourself no options. AQ is betting $45 there at you too. So you can't just fold there. You have to get yourself a bit more information on the strength of this guys hand.

Actually, thats your only option I think. Being out of position here, you are just screwed because if you decide to see the river, then most likely you're going to check/call off the rest of your stack?

Mark

I agree with all the replies so far. In NLHE cash games, I love TPTK -- when my opponent holds it. Probably the most common holding of an opponent I bust in NLHE cash games is TPTK. It tends to get overvalued in NLHE. Generally (against decent or unknown opponents) I will not commit my entire stack to a TPTK situation.

Unlike LHE, where this is a strong hand, you generally don't want to risk your entire stack with TPTK, so you must play the hand defensively. That is, be the initial bettor/raiser, and try to push the other hands out. If someone smooth-calls me on a draw-free board --depending on the opponent-- that usually sets off more warning bells for me than a villian who raises me on the flop. I would make another bet on the turn (somewhere between 3/4 of a pot and a full pot bet) and would be wary of any more action from my opponent... I'm not saying that I would fold to any raise, but I would be very cautious.

As a side note, I love calling initial raises pre-flop with small PP's (only if the initial raiser and I BOTH have deep stacks relative to the blinds). If I flopa set... BOOM!

Cheers,

Merby

Yeah..I've said this before, I'm sure I'll say it again. We've gone on at length about it..but, as soon as I stopped overplaying AK I started making more money.

I've said it before too. For the first six months of my poker career, it was my second most losing hand in absolute $. Agree completely with the last two posts. If I have tptk, I look to take the pot down on the flop. If that doesn't happen, I look to get to the river as cheaply as possible.

I think of it this way: If I've got an A, and there is an A on the board, chances are my opponent doesn't have one. So what the heck is he calling me with?

Mark

Thank you, all of your advice totally helps. It's nice to see better (older and more successful) players helping me out. I am 19. Next question: can I play a WPT event out of the country (france italy i think)?... theoretically.

I believe so. 2 18 year olds fted the wpt ps caribean tourney.