No hand history, at work right now.

Villain has been solid since sitting down, at $400+

Hollywood Poker No-Limit Hold'em $2.00 BB (10 handed)

Relevant Stack Sizes

Hero (UTG); $245
Villain (UTG+1); $400

Preflop: Hero is dealt A K
Hero raises to $8 (my standard pre flop raise), Villain calls $8... everyone else folds

Flop: ($19) (2 players) 6 2 3
Hero bets $15, Villain calls $15

Turn: ($) (2 players) 3
Hero...?

Will post other streets after I get some feedback. There really isn't much that is interesting about this hand. But AK hands similar to this keep on popping up causing me to lose way more $ then I am winning with it. WOndering how other people play it... especially OOP.

With no draw out there, Villian likely has a mid pair looking to get to showdown w/o an A or K popping. So everything so far is fine. I might throw out a $15-$20 bet for meta game purposes, but do so understand I'm usually going to be called and will c/f the river UI (likely with the river going c/c).

These are hands I think we need more off. I certrainly think this is a leak in my holdem game, as a whole.

Concensus is firing out another 2/3 pot bet and going into check/fold mode from there unless the river is an A or K?

If we check the turn, if it likely/possible Villain will check giving us a free card? Or better to keep the lead and keep betting it?

I think your continuation bet is unneccessarily large. I'd go with half-pot on this flop. This a friendly board for a medium pair. A hand like J T folds to a smaller bet.

If by concensus you mean me, since I'm the only one who said anything, then sorta... but 1/2 pot... save a little bit here. i like betting just because I want to be able to continue to bet AA and KK here in later hands. In this particular hand in a vacuum, it's better to C/F and hope for a check behind. But these types of situations in NL need to be played considering prior and future hands.


I think betting half pot in a cash game on the flop is usually not good. You wouldn't do it w/ Aces here so you probably shouldn't do it w/ AK. (Tournaments I'll bet 1/2 pot, not cash tho)

I'd absolutely bet half-pot with aces here.

Why? anything that's calling is going to call more than 1/2 pot and anything that's folding is going to fold anyway.

If I pot the flop and pot the turn, I'm committing my whole stack out of position with one pair. That's a winning proposition in a really good game, but not so much in others.

I don't know... I don't think I'd have any problem committing myself on this turn w/ AA.

Suppose there are two of Scotts playing the hands in this problem with the stack sizes and positions as stated preflop. One of them has 66 and the other has AA. Does the Scott with the 66 call the 4x raise? Why? In the long run, does the Scott with the 66 or the Scott with the AA make money?

They both make money. 66 makes more in the LR, but AA is gonna find hands besides sets here.

You found a hole in the hypothetical, Captain Kirk. Let me add that everyone else folds and the 66 and AA play heads up. The dead money exactly cancels the rake. Now which Scott wins?

66 wins in the LR. But I'm not sure if I really understand what you're getting at. If we put it as AA vs. any pair under AA (kk-22) then AA is gonna win out right?

We're going to have both hands under this scenario. We'd like to figure out how to win more when we're ahead or lose less when we're behind. I'm just saying that I try to lose the minimum when I have AA unimproved and my opponent has the set. If my opponents stack off with top pair and crap, then it's not important.