Help with continuation bet with AK, AQ etc

D96RNWE

Hi,

Been looking at my play recently trying to stop some leaks and i always seem to struggle when i raise, out of postion, with AK, AQ, AJ and miss the flop. When i miss i usually c-bet and more often than not get called.  If the turn is a blank should i bet again? I feel if i dont they will just bet agaisnt me even though they might not have it and i am facing a tough call.

THis seems to happen quite a lot as i feel that most people will always call the first c-bet but poss not the second however this makes the bets bigger each time

Appreciate your thoughts - sorry if i havent expalined it well

D96

hhyftrftdr

Number of things to consider....

How many people are in the hand....
Texture of the board....
Stack sizes for both yourself and others....
Betting action pre....
Any notes/history with villain/s involved....

Could go off on a complete tangent, but I'll try and keep it short and sweet.

-It's gonna be tricky to bluff/get your cbet through more than one opponent, so I'd try and avoid where possible cbetting AK/AQ into too many opponents.
- See how a flop fits in with certain ranges you think the villain could have. If they have limp called, and it falls something like 8 9 J, perhaps proceed with caution as people like to peel the 910/J10/78 etc type hands. If its more of a 2 6 Q type flop, then its usually gonna be easier to get a bet through as its difficult for a villain to have hit that flop.
- Sometimes you just have to keep firing. A good bluffing card on the turn is what you're looking for if you don't want to give it up....IE you get resistance on a 349 board, a high picture card on the turn falls in your range more than theirs and suddenly 88 doesn't look so good on a 349Q board when someone is betting into you. Equally, if the turn is a 6 or somethings then maybe slow down a bit.
- Which leads me nicely to....there is no shame in just giving up with AK/AQ! Even the best players on the site will occasionally raise with it OOP and just completely brick a flop and give up instantly.

Another thing to consider is tightening your range when playing out of position. We don't have to 3bet AK out of the blinds for example; we can keep the pot modest and peel. Sometimes playing big aces sneakily can work in our favour too, as when you flop well with AK/AQ it can be hard for a villain to put you on as strong a hand as that.

DEANACE

Playing OOP is difficult, but as the above poster said, number of players and board texture are vital considerations. AQ/AK are best played against fewer players in small stack to pot ratio situations. You can achieve both of these things by a slighty larger preflop raise if 3bbs will keep 4 limpers in, raise to 5bb to play heads up against a passive player.  For this reason I also think a 3bet is the best play with AK, but perhaps not with AQ/AJ. 

I prefer to CBet, when I have bricked, into a maximum of two plyers, especially on wet boards.  Furthermore, if the board is dry, but you have bricked and your Cbet is called, try to plan for this in advance by noting which players call on lots of flops, but fold on the river.  Many players almost always call cbets, if it's a decent player he/she may be floating to try to take the pot off you on a later street, if it is a passive player he may just want to 'see where I am'  so look for good 2nd barrel opportunities.

hhyftrftdr

In Response to Re: Help with continuation bet with AK, AQ etc:

Playing OOP is difficult, but as the above poster said, number of players and board texture are vital considerations. AQ/AK are best played against fewer players in small stack to pot ratio situations. You can achieve both of these things by a slighty larger preflop raise if 3bbs will keep 4 limpers in, raise to 5bb to play heads up against a passive player.  For this reason I also think a 3bet is the best play with AK, but perhaps not with AQ/AJ.  I prefer to CBet, when I have bricked, into a maximum of two plyers, especially on wet boards.  Furthermore, if the board is dry, but you have bricked and your Cbet is called, try to plan for this in advance by noting which players call on lots of flops, but fold on the river.  Many players almost always call cbets, if it's a decent player he/she may be floating to try to take the pot off you on a later street, if it is a passive player he may just want to 'see where I am'  so look for good 2nd barrel opportunities.
Posted by DEANACE

I have a name, thanks

mrdavies

agree with what second guy said