The problem with AK

[Rolls]

Ok,

Quick poll.

1) You are in late position at a full table midway through a tournament. You have a moderate stack, being around the average for the tournament, and you are dealt down AK off suit.

Before you someone has raised by 3x the Big blind, and another person has reraised. You are new to the table, so you have no reads on the players at the table.

Do you fold or call or Re-raise?

2) Same situation, but this time you have AK suited.

[The Professor]

Wow - that is actually a really tough situation because you have just joined the table and have no information to base your decision on.

You have to treat the raises with respect because you have no other information to be able to assume otherwise.

So in that situation I would be assuming that with a raise and then a re-raise that at least one of those players has a pocket pair - worst case scenario Kings or Aces, best case scenario Queens, Jacks, Tens, or Nines.

So I am not going to win with my Ace high and I have to decide if I want to play a drawing hand.

At best I am a slight underdog at about 45% to win against a pocket pair that is not Aces or Kings.

If I'm up against Aces or Kings then I am a big underdog.

So really it would depend on what size the re-raise is. If it is only a small re-raise to say 6x BB then there is a very good chance that the original raiser is going to call so that means if I call I would be getting pot odds of 2 - 1 which does give me the odds to play if I think I am against a pocket pair that is not Aces or Kings.

If it's a bigger raise then we would have to assume that there is a good chance the original raiser may fold in which case we can't assume that we are getting 2 - 1 and it makes it a very borderline decision with there being a chance that the implied odds gives us the correct odds to play.

It's not really possible to answer the question of what I would do without knowing the blind sizes and my and my opponents stack sizes.

If I need to commit a large portion of my stack to see the hand through then I would probably fold rather risking that on a drawing hand that is behind going into the flop.

If it's a smaller portion of my stack I may well decide to take the gamble of the draw.

The suitedness of the 2nd option makes the AK slightly stronger but your still drawing so my answer to both sections would probably be the same

So my answer would be to either fold or call - dependent on the stack sizes and bet sizes in relation. I certainly would not be re-raising here with no information on my opponents.

[Rolls]

That's a well thought out answer mr Prof!!

This actually happened to me twice last night in MTT. The first one AKo, the reraiser had QQ, and the initial raiser had JJ. Thankfully no A and no K came, but it was still the correct fold in my opinion.

The second one, the AK suited, was not my hand, but I had the better hand being AA. The initial raiser actually folded. this time round.

I can't remember the stack sizes or else i would have included them, but i think there would not have been that much between them, maybe a couple of thousand.

I actually posted this for a reason... with the AK being suited, it makes me laugh, as it only improves your hand by 2%... not exactly a lot! I have heard that excuse all the time, 'becuase it was suited'. For a 2% improvment in any hand, it is not really much of a justification in playing it when you know you are behind. With the AK v QQ, you are still the dog to the QQ, although it is nearly a coin flip, it really is not good enough to put the tourney on the line, when you still have time to wait for a better situation. You might not have a better hand... but a better chance of winning!!

[Smyler]

AK is always a problem in pre-flop betting battle. Obviously it is 'only' A high at this point, and the chances are that anyone willing to take you on has at least JJ. If it is a multiway pot then you have to think that someone is holding JJ or higher. The fact that it is a multiway pot makes it more likely that one or other player is holding one of the cards you want, reducing your chances of making a hand. That extra 2% is tempting though

I suppose the only way to resolve it is position. If players are raising/reraising from early positions, then I guess I would fold.