AK on a very loose table (1 Viewer)

stafil

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How would you play AK offsuit on a very loose table where 4-5 players would call a 3 bet preflop raise?
 
In position, probably, or I'd consider raising, depending on how loose the table is. Closing the action, definitely. Otherwise I'd have to consider the moment, position, and what my bad poker instincts are telling me. But there are much better poker minds who can comment.
 
Depends on position and betting that's already occurred. But in general, on a loose table I would bet bigger than my normal raise to encourage fewer callers. If there has already been a decent preflop raise then I might just flat.
 
Depends on position and betting that's already occurred. But in general, on a loose table I would bet bigger than my normal raise to encourage fewer callers. If there has already been a decent preflop raise then I might just flat.
What do you do if you have 3-4 callers and completely miss the flop?
 
Stack sizes matter a lot too. Very deep I’m being more cautious. Shallower stacks I’m raising much bigger than normal 3 bet to see how committed they really are and will make a flop shove easy if they do call.
 
I like mixing it up with AK preflop. Facing a call--raise most times, facing a raise--re-raising sometimes, other times, just call a raise, even with multiple people in the pot. I've won a few pots that way when an Ace flops and the other person with a weaker Ace (maybe the original raiser had something like AQ, AJ, AT) never puts you on AK, because you just called preflop. Of course, with multiple people in the pot, there's a greater chance someone else will hit 2 pair with a weaker Ace as well.
 
Stack sizes matter a lot too. Very deep I’m being more cautious. Shallower stacks I’m raising much bigger than normal 3 bet to see how committed they really are and will make a flop shove easy if they do call.

Ding ding ding! This makes a world of difference.

With really loose players who are calling off all kinds of money, if the game is fairly short-stacked, I might try to get it all-in prefop or set up a shove on the flop.

With deeper stacks, I'd still want to go for a bigger preflop raise size, but minus the eagerness to get it all-in.

Generally, if you find that too many people are calling preflop, raise more. If it's still not enough, raise more than that.

I play in a game with a lot of loose callers, where my standard preflop raises are from 8 BB to 20 BB, and even that much is often not enough. Even with short stacks (starting stacks are 40 BB), multiple players will call these oversized raises just to see a flop.

It can be frustrating because I end up multi-way all the time, but it's also the only game I know where I can get it all-in four ways preflop with :jc::tc: and be a money favorite (or better, get it heads-up as a slight dog with 30 BB of dead money in the pot). When your opponents play very loosely, how you play AK is less important than how you exploit their play in general.
 
How would you play AK offsuit on a very loose table where 4-5 players would call a 3 bet preflop raise?

I would put in a small raise preflop to help manage the pot size to be small later - small enough so that my later large bet has a chance of pushing them off so I can win the hand. I might just call if it's already looking to be 5 or 6-handed, but if I'm early, I put in a small raise.

Making a large bet at this table is foolish - AKo does NOT play well against a large field.

What do you do if you have 3-4 callers and completely miss the flop?

It's not whether I missed the flop, it's whether they missed the flop. If the flopped shows no possible draws, I may make a large bet (large relative to the pot - which is hard if you bet heavily pre-flop.)

If the slop shows draws, I check and try to judge the action to decide on a call.

If I didn't bet the flop and the turn shows blank (no draws improve), that's the time I prefer to put in a large bet to take down the pot.

The river is the last story... you really need to get to know your opponents. Sometime, a scare card will induce one of them to bluff, but calling them with naked AKo can be risky, because although they may have missed their straight/flush, they might have scored middle pair. It's much easier to call an induced bluff if you actually scored an ace or king on the board. If not, you do want to call down sometimes - but very rarely. Only when your odds of being right are best - like when they've very likely been chasing a straight, and the river puts a back-door flush on the board, and they make a bet right after someone points out that a flush is possible, and they are the type that likes to make blind stabs on the river...

You'll lose many of these, but you'll win a few. As long as you don't call off your money on the really big-bet ones, it will be a profitable play - and you'll plant a seed in their minds that you're not so easily bluffed, reducing how often they'll try it against you in the future.
 
Almost all scenarios I’d raise at least once pre. To what amount (assuming NL) depends a lot on position, stack and action. Postflop, some of the more interesting play in my opinion, all those variables plus some more. Flop texture. Heads up vs multi way. And your loose read is now more important. Players can be loose passive (overcall), loose aggressive (over raise) and those are very different adjustments. And same player can have different tendencies pre vs post flop, etc.

What a beautiful game
 
I think the way you framed the question points to why you may be having trouble with it. Not nearly enough information to make a reasonable suggestion. If
 
How would you play AK offsuit on a very loose table where 4-5 players would call a 3 bet preflop raise?
If they have a loose 3bet calling range, then bet bigger. You have a top tier hand, treat it like so. If you play with them regularly, make sure to balance this with a bluff once in a while like A5suited
 

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