Here are the answers and explanations for our “When Should You C-Bet Ace-King?” quiz.
Hand #1
Live $2/$5. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $500.
Hero is in HJ with A♥ K♥
UTG folds. Hero raises to $11. 2 folds. SB 3-bets to $44. bb folds. Hero 4-bets to $96. SB calls.
Flop ($197): Q♠ 5♦ 4♣
SB checks. Hero …
A – Check
B – Bet $55
The correct answer is B, bet.
You have such great range advantage on this type of board. Your range has a bunch of Ace-Queen offsuit (as semi-bluffs preflop) and AA/KK, while your opponent only has a sliver of AA, AQ-suited and some fraction of KQ-suited in his range. To balance this value range out, you need some semi-bluffs, which is where your Ace-King comes in handy.
Hand #2
Live $2/$5. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $500.
Hero is on the BTN with A♣ K♥
UTG folds. HJ raises to $15. CO folds. Hero 3-bets to $45. 2 folds. HJ calls.
Flop ($97): J♦ 8♦ 8♥
HJ checks. Hero …
A – Check
B – Bet $25
The correct answer is B, bet.
You have a range advantage on this board due to having all of the overpairs that your opponent doesn’t have. Because of this, you want to be using an aggressive c-bet strategy to put pressure on his pocket pairs beneath the 8, which are forced into a very tough spot.
Ace-King works great as a semi-bluff here because of this aspect. Also, it will be able to always check back the turn to realize its full equity after only facing a call from the HJ.
Hand #3
Online $0.50/$1. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $100.
Hero is on the BTN with A♣ K♠
3 folds. Hero raises to $2.5. SB 3-bets to $10. BB folds. Hero 4-bets to $23. SB calls.
Flop ($47): T♥ 8♥ 4♠
HJ checks. Hero …
A – Check
B – Bet $12
The correct answer is A, check.
While you do still have a large range advantage on this board, the problem now is that it’s very easy for the Small Blind to utilize an extremely aggressive check-raising strategy, and be correct in doing so should you c-bet too many hands. This is all because of the extremely shallow stack-to-pot ratio, which reduces the risk/reward ratio.
You should still c-bet with some Ace-King hands here, but choosing the ones that block a heart is best. When you have a heart, you block the flush draws with which the opponent might check-shove all-in. Recognizing these small differences is what separate great players from good players.
Hand #4
Online $0.50/$1. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $100.
Hero is on the BTN with A♣ K♥
3 folds. Hero raises to $2.5. SB folds. BB calls.
Flop ($5.5): 8♥ 6♠ 4♠
BB checks. Hero …
A – Check
B – Bet $2.8
The correct answer is B, bet.
The player who is in position still has a little bit of a range advantage, so it’s best to play an aggressive c-betting strategy (over 50% c-betting frequency). Ace-King is part of a good c-betting strategy because it actually functions as a decent value bet, getting called by a bunch of dominated Ax hands and Kx hands, while also benefiting from protection against hands that fold (such as JTo).
We prefer betting the ones without a flush draw blocker because these suffer less from getting check-raised and having to fold (the ones that have a backdoor flush draw have 2-3% more equity which they don’t get to realize).
Hand #5
Online $0.50/$1. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $100.
Hero is in the SB with A♠ K♠
3 folds. BTN raises to $2.5. Hero raises to $10. BB folds. BTN calls.
Flop ($21): A♦ Q♦ 6♠
Hero …
A – Check
B – Bet $6
The correct answer is B, bet.
You have an enormous range advantage on this flop (~62% equity on the flop) because your range is heavily weighted towards Ax-type hands, much more so than the button. For this reason, the correct strategy is to have a super-high frequency c-betting strategy (with a small size because of the low stack-to-pot ratio).
Hand #6
Online $0.50/$1. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $100.
Hero is in the SB with A♠ K♥
3 folds. BTN raises to $2.5. Hero raises to $10. BB folds. BTN calls.
Flop ($21): J♠ T♥ 6♠
Hero …
A – Check
B – Bet $10
The correct answer is B, bet.
Once again, you have a great range advantage at around 60% equity due to the higher concentration of Jx and overpairs that you have in your range. For this reason, a super-high frequency c-bet is the correct strategy. A range bet for anywhere 33% and 50% pot is the best way to go.
Hand #7
Online $0.50/$1. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $100.
Hero is in the SB with A♦ K♥
3 folds. BTN raises to $2.5. Hero raises to $10. BB folds. BTN calls.
Flop ($21): 9♠ 7♥ 6♠
Hero …
A – Check
B – Bet $10
The correct answer is A, check.
Contrary to the previous situations, the preflop 3-bettor doesn’t have a range or nut advantage on this type flops. For this reason, it’s best to play a defensive flop strategy, either by having a very small betting range or simply checking all of it and going for an aggressive check-raising strategy. This prevents the Button from realizing the entirety of his equity. That being said, this combination of Ace-King (without a backdoor flush draw) is simply check-folding.
Hand #8
Online $0.50/$1. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $100.
Hero is in the SB with A♦ K♥
3 folds. BTN raises to $2.5. Hero raises to $10. BB folds. BTN calls.
Flop ($21): 5♣ 4♣ 3♠
Hero …
A – Check
B – Bets$10
The correct answer is A, check.
This wheel board is very good for button because he has all of the flopped sets and flopped straights in his range, while you don’t. On top of that, your range is full of air. Thus, you don’t have a range advantage.
In these cases, it’s best to play a very defensive strategy, by checking your whole range and playing an aggressive check-raising strategy in order to deny some equity realization from the button.
Hand #9
Online $0.50/$1. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $100.
Hero is in HJ with A♠ K♠
UTG folds. Hero raises to $2.5. 3 folds. BB calls.
Flop ($5.5): J♣ J♦ 3♠
Hero …
A – Checks
B – Bets $1.8
The correct answer is B, bet.
On these types of paired flops, the preflop raiser has a large range advantage (60% equity in this case). This is especially true if you raised to a smaller size like 2.2-2.5 big blinds. As you may remember from a previous question, in these cases you should have a very aggressive c-betting strategy of which Ace-King is a part.
Hand #10
Online $0.50/$1. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $100.
Hero is in HJ with A♦ K♥
UTG folds. Hero raises to $2.5. 3 folds. BB calls.
Flop ($5.5): 9♠ 4♠ 2♦
Hero …
A – Check
B- Bet $1.80
The correct answer is B, bet.
Your range from middle position is significantly stronger than the big blind’s defending range, having around 57% equity against it. Furthermore, you also hold the nut advantage because a higher proportion of your range is sets (though you have the same amount of set combinations, his range is much wider).
Because of this, a very high-frequency c-betting strategy is optimal, even a range bet. The best bet size is a small one because the main goal is to trim big blind’s range by forcing folds from a large amount of 1 or 2 overcard type hands which can’t continue even against a small bet.
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