Thing is I probably wouldn't have called an all in river bet had an A or K not hit. But I realize that was stupid thinking as well because he definitely didn't have a 2 pair hand (unless he also had AK) so I shouldn't have really thought the A helped my hand.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I would have played it differently preflop.

I don't raise AK in EP. Ok, maybe after I've won a pot or two, but very rarely. AK, to me, is still a drawing hand and even 22 has it beat, preflop, as we saw here. I like trapping people. AK is a very strong hand if an A or K flops, but you're still OOP. You may make a lot, but you might not lose as much. And raising AK, if you've got a strong table image, will cause most behind you to fold instead of limp, hands you'd have beaten on the flop.

Had you limped, SB probably would have checked his set. You bet, he calls. Uh oh, not good. Turn, he bets small, and you can either call or fold. You control the size of the pot. It would have worked out much better, I think.

Or have I not been listening well enough to the professors here?

CJ

Thanks Tim.

And Cactus, I also don't always raise AK from early position, but it is important to mix up your play from that spot and this was one of those times I decided to make a raise, especially because most of my other raises were getting very little action.