Check out SplitSuit's complete playbook when it comes to PLAYING ACE KING in your next session: https://www.splitsuit.com/ace-king-poker-book
Part 5 of this 10-part series looks at this quiz when put your range building and line creation skills to the test. If you have not taken the quiz yet, start here: https://www.splitsuit.com/preflop-range-quiz/
This video deals with two questions:
1. What range does a TAG 3bet with in-position?
2. Is it better to flat or 4bet with AK?
Comments
SplitSuit starts by looking at the TAG's 3betting range when Hero opens in MP1. The process of building this range can be a bit tricky (since we need to not only deduce range width, but also HOW the TAG is likely to compose this range), but Split gives you some simple questions to start with. After building this range (which differs quite a bit from the 'average' answer players gave), SplitSuit goes on to explain if we should call or 4bet with Ace King. With 200bb stack depth AND being out of position, you may think 4betting is a slam dunk...but there are some serious reasons for flatting and play the hand out...
**IMPORTANT LINKS**
Thinking about ranges in pie charts
Understanding 3bet ranges (width + composition)
Are you folding too much?
Building poker ranges in live games
Given the positions of both Hero and the TAG, I think, a 9% 3-betting range is very wide. The TAG went to a very large size of 4 x the open raise, so he is not getting a good price on his bluffs, and he have 3 guys left to act after him. So I would argue, we are looking at something a bit more top heavy here most of the time than a 9% range.
As for our reaction, I think, it is really close between 4-betting and calling. And if two lines are very close in EV, selecting the low variance line is not the worst idea in the world. It is good for bankroll management, and it is good for our mental game as well. No matter how good we get at controlling our emotions, losing a massive 200 BB pot is never going to be fun, and it will be more difficult for us to maintain our A-game afterwards.
I suppose it again depends on how we are using these player definitions. I would have thought that the 'aggressive' part of the TAG label means that they would have a tendency to 3-bet things like AJs and 99s rather than flat. Otherwise aren't they just 'NITS'? Also, if they're a good player then they have to have some bluffs in their range to stay balanced. Squeezing in this spot with A2s, especially with a higher size, is going to get through a reasonable amount of times.
Playing AK OOP against a solid TAG sucks. The correct answer here is: grab your chips and run.
...