Poker Coaching Hand Quiz: A Tough Turn For Big Slick

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Key Concept: A Tough Turn For Big Slick

You are eight-handed, playing in a $5,000 buy-in online tournament. You are the biggest stack at the table holding roughly 100,000 in chips with blinds of 700-1,400, with the next largest stack having 75,000. It folds around to you in the cutoff and you look down at A K. 

Question 1: Should you fold, call, raise to 2,800, or raise to 3,200?

Answer: Obviously you should never fold, and calling invites problems. While you will definitely raise in this spot, 2,800 is the preferred amount because a min-raise has a higher likelihood of attracting out-of-position callers that you have crushed. A raise of 3,200 is also fine as long as you know that the larger bet will still attract callers. 

You make the min-raise to 2,800 and it folds to the big blind who calls. The flop comes down 5 3 2, and the big blind checks to you.

Question 2: Do you check, bet 2,000, bet 4,800, or bet 7,200?

Answer: This flop completely misses your range, and while you may still be ahead, you must recognize how disastrous getting check-raised would be.

When trying to find marginal hands to check, ask yourself, ‘If I bet this hand and get raised, is it terrible?’ In this spot it is because you have a reasonable draw with your gutshot and overcards which has decent equity, but plays poorly if raised.

If you did decide on a bet, it should at least be for a small amount.

You check behind on the flop and the turn is the 7. First to act, your opponent bets 6,237.

Question 3: Do you fold, call, raise to 15,000, or raise to 22,000?

Answer: With your A K, you should call a turn bet on almost any card… other than a heart. The 7 greatly benefits the big blind’s range which will contain a lot of low cards. And while you started with a great hand, when a really bad card hits the board and you face aggression, you simply must fold.

Don’t make a small mistake which can turn into a big one.

You make the disciplined fold and live to fight another day. Nice laydown!

For access to more than 1,200 interactive poker hand quizzes just like this, but in video format, visit PokerCoaching today.

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