AK/AQ/AJ latter stages of a multi

jobless

Hey all,

Just lookin for some advice pn how to play AK/AQ/AJ and the like in latter stages of a tournament.
I find when i raise with these and i dont hit, if i throw in a continuation raise and its called a large portion of my chips are gone and i have to fold.
Should i only limp in with these hands or go all in to steal the blinds.
Just wondering how a lot of yee would play these hands around the last 2 tables of a tournament.

Cheers

ditpoker

i was playing the SE $50 double chance the other day and when we were down to 10 the game got very tight waiting on someone to bust before the final table. at that stage of the tourney most raises were winning the hand. but AK AQ and AJ were good enough to raise with and they were the only hands really that people called with, so if you raised with AJ and the flop came K 6 4, you gotta assume your opponent is in the hand with at least a king or a queen, a small raise for information is good here. i find that they are fine hands to riase with but i like playing them becuase they are also easyto get away from.

if you raise preflop with AJ and get two callers and the flop comes KJ4... you raise, your opponents call and one goes all in... your move....? easy fold... they are nice starting hands..... but they dont have to be nice post flop hands...

if you get outplayed on the flop, so be it, congrats to your opponent... if you fold becuase u think its correct, and your opponant shows a bluff, your fold is still correct for you...

breadmonkey

if you get outplayed on the flop, so be it, congrats to your opponent... if you fold becuase u think its correct, and your opponant shows a bluff, your fold is still correct for you..

How is a fold ever correct if you were bluffed?

NickyOD

jobless wrote:

Hey all,

Just lookin for some advice pn how to play AK/AQ/AJ and the like in latter stages of a tournament.
I find when i raise with these and i dont hit, if i throw in a continuation raise and its called a large portion of my chips are gone and i have to fold.
Should i only limp in with these hands or go all in to steal the blinds.
Just wondering how a lot of yee would play these hands around the last 2 tables of a tournament.

Cheers

Usually you should always raise with those hands late in a tournament although AJ is a fold UTG on a full table and AQ might be too. I would sometimes consider folding these hands to a single raise from a tight player. With 10 blinds or less these are all in preflop hands barring any serious action in front of you.

Postflop conmtinuation bets when you miss are fine but usually only in a heads up pot against a player who is not a calling station. You should also be aware of the texture of the flop and be careful when making continuation bets on draw heavy boards. Also the amount you bet is important. Note that if you bet half the pot when you miss you only need to take down the pot 1/3 of the time for it to be the right play, but if you bet the pot you need your oponent to fold 50% of the time. The good thing about betting smaller is you can do the same when you flop a monster and players who read you for a continuation bet might come over the top of you.

DeVore

How is a fold ever correct if you were bluffed?

Because thats using hindsight. At the time (and in the long run) you could easily be correct to fold (I dunno for sure, I havent run the numbers on the hand ranges). It would be nice to be able to see your opponents cards when you are making you're decision!

On the OP's topic, yes those hands can cost you a lot. They are strong starting hands and are certainly something I want to see on the final table but need to be played carefully. I've busted myself out (stupidly) with AQ in two major tournies lately, and I'm not happy about that!

I know people like to continuation bet but its not always right imho. You should consider your position, chip stack and who is in the hand behind you (and in front of you!). At this stage of the tournie, a set or two pair will slow play because they know you have big cards or a big pair and can be pretty sure they are ahead.

I like to play these hands (AK, AQ) strong on the second last table, AJ I loath but will raise in late position. Like Nicky I may well toss AJo UTG on a full table especially if there are aggressive big stacks knocking around.

I don't really believe in set patterns of play, like saying "with AQ I raise triple the blinds" because that is the thinking of an inexperienced player. Position, table image, texture of the flop, chip stacks and aggression of the other players all should be considered rather then using a simple rule of thumb (not that I don't have rules of thumb but be prepared to abandon them in certain cases).

DeV.

Gholimoli

To be honest I think AK should be discussed differently than AQ and AJ.
With AK late in a tourney it’s hardly ever wrong to go all in with it, regardless of your position and the action before you (unless of course there was a raise a reraise ,and a re reraise before you or something like that).

AK is a hand that prefers to be all in before the flop and the reason for it is:
When you go all in preflop with this hand, the hands that are likely to call you are mid to big pairs and against them you’re always 50/50.

Its true that from time to time you get called by AA, KK but those times are cancelled by the times that you get called with AQ or AJ .so with AK you can almost be sure that if you go all in your 50/50 and you get to see the 5 cards.

That’s very important to see the 5 cards. The worse way you can play AK is play it in a way that you will have to hit your hand on the flop or fold.

The only time I would think twice about going all in with AK is on a final table where im a huge chips lead and there is one other big stack yet to act behind me who would cripple me if I loose to him.

As for AQ, AJ its all situation dependent.
It depends a lot on your stack size and the stack sizes of others on your table.
Usually on the last two tables of the tourney most people are in all-in or fold mode unless you’re a big stack.
If you’re a big stack then just try to bully with hands like this. As in raise a minimum amount and see what others will do. if they take you on you can be sure that they have a good hand if not a very good hand because they know you can bust them but they are still willing to take you on.
If your short stack then you should be looking for gambles and those hands are good enough to gamble with. Don’t think you did anything wrong if you have 5BB left and go all in from early position and get called by KK and you go out. Your are looking to gamble here and you should be inclined to do it with even a worse hand than AJ or AQ.
If your average stacked then it all depend on your post flop play and how good you are at it’s good thing to remember is if you don’t think you’re a good post flop player, and they are a few players on your table who seem to be tricky and you don’t have an idea of when they are bluffing or when they have a a hand, then going all in will take that advantage away from them because they know if they call ,there will be no more betting so they can not out play you.
Again all of these is so situation dependent but the above are things to keep in mind when deciding how to play them.

Waylander

I do not agree with Gholimoli's allin strategy with AK at all there. I much rather go all in when I am pretty sure I am miles ahead, then when I think I am probably 50:50. With AK, and usually AQ I raise preflop, and bet somewhere between half the pot and the pot on the flop if it is checked into me. If there is a bet into me I will probably call it, but may lay it down to a suited or paired board etc.

Gholimoli

Waylander wrote:

I do not agree with Gholimoli's allin strategy with AK at all there. I much rather go all in when I am pretty sure I am miles ahead, then when I think I am probably 50:50. With AK, and usually AQ I raise preflop, and bet somewhere between half the pot and the pot on the flop if it is checked into me. If there is a bet into me I will probably call it, but may lay it down to a suited or paired board etc.

1.how are you going to know your miles a head preflop.

2. 50/50 late stages of a tourny when the blinds are getting really big ,is not bad at all.

3.you said you raise with AK pre flop,then bet half the pot after the flop and call if some one bets in to you?

consider this situation:
you have 10BB ,you riase your standard 3BB ,get one caller , flop 5 T 7 ,its checked to you .
now if you bet hlaf the pot you should bet about 4BB leaving your self 3BB.
your opponent may or may not fold(its not likely at all that he will fold) .you have bet again on the turn your you will have to call a bet on the turn no matter what.but thats bad play because your beat by any pair and your just hoping to get lucky.
now if you go all in after the flop with your remaining 7BB then villian will call if he has hit the flop and fold if he has not.either case he has not made a mistake.

but if you go all in preflop you get a lot of hands to fold you have a lot FE and with 10BB ,the blinds are good enough for you considering the ration between your stack and the blinds.if you get called,you will get to see 5 cards,and almost all the time your 50/50.
i would take a 50/50 situation to double up any time near the end unless i had a huge chip lead.

Waylander

Well, I try to avoid going all in preflop in general unless I have the likes of AA or KK, there are obviously exceptions to this but I think all in preflop regularly with AK is asking for trouble. You only need to get beaten once by a bigger stack and you are out!

In answer to your example, I have 10BB's or less and I get AK, I am most likely pushing at that stage, as I need to double up. No point in entering that pot piecemeal and getting outdrawn by the BB.

jobless

thanks for all the replies lads....plenty to chew on there....
I asked this question because i was average stacked yesterday and with the raise and continuation bet half my stack was gone when it was called....i dont think i will play this way again if i find myself in the same situation....

Gholimoli

Waylander wrote:

Well, I try to avoid going all in preflop in general unless I have the likes of AA or KK, there are obviously exceptions to this but I think all in preflop regularly with AK is asking for trouble. You only need to get beaten once by a bigger stack and you are out!

In answer to your example, I have 10BB's or less and I get AK, I am most likely pushing at that stage, as I need to double up. No point in entering that pot piecemeal and getting outdrawn by the BB.

im not an all in person my self and like to play post flop poker.
but the fact remains that in order to play post flop ,you will need to have chips.
if your a aggro player and your reads are good and you can usually get players to fold better hands but thats all done by having some decent stack in front of you so you can make moves.