5nl: Did I just light money on fire by shoving AKs 178bb deep?

Question

Hand history below. MP is 17/16 over 142 hands and I haven't seen him do anything very questionable yet at the table. SB has stats 37/11 over 20 hands. When the action comes back to me after MPs 4-bet and SBs call, I'm lost on what to do. Folding seems out of question with such a strong hand. Calling is an option but how am I going to play this postflop then? Even if I flop a pair I don't see how I'll be able to get value from worse hands. We're so deep that shoving preflop feels bad. If we were 100bb deep I would have shoved in an instant. Would a 5-bet-fold make sense? I ended up shoving anyway. My hope was that MP would fold everything except AA and KK, and I block both of those so it's hard to have those hands, and I would be in great shape against SB who seems pretty bad according to their stats. But after seeing the results, I get a feeling that we were too deep for this manoeuvre. Was this a terrible mistake?

PokerStars, Hold'em No Limit - $0.02/$0.05 - 6 players Replay this hand on CardsChat - https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/324Zfmky6

UTG: $10.58 (212 bb) MP: $8.91 (178 bb) CO: $4.04 (81 bb) BU: $3.90 (78 bb) SB: $4.06 (81 bb) BB (Hero): $12.67 (253 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BB with A♥ K♥ 1 fold, MP raises to $0.15, CO calls $0.15, 1 fold, SB calls $0.13, Hero 3-bets to $0.65, MP 4-bets to $1.60, 1 fold, SB calls $1.45, Hero 5-bets to $12.67 (all-in), MP calls $7.31 (all-in), SB calls $2.46 (all-in)

Flop: ($22.03) 3♦ 5♣ Q♦ (3 players, 3 all-in)

Turn: ($22.03) 9♣ (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($22.03) 7♣ (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $22.03 (Rake: $0.91)

Showdown: BB (Hero) shows A♥ K♥ (high card, Ace) (Equity - Pre-Flop: 9%, Flop: 2%, Turn: <1%, River: 0%)

MP shows A♦ A♣ (a pair of Aces) (Equity - Pre-Flop: 71%, Flop: 91%, Turn: 95%, River: 100%)

SB shows J♠ J♥ (a pair of Jacks) (Equity - Pre-Flop: 19%, Flop: 7%, Turn: 5%, River: 0%)

MP wins $21.12

Answer 1

you lost the hand when you raised to .65 on a .50 pot with MP making a strong 3x raise with 2 flat callers following. a bet somewhere between .95 cents to $1.35 would have been a good play, not .65. you want to raise enough to make them fold by eliminating pot odds, which makes it easier for them to call down, chase, or let you set yourself up. MP played this flawlessly, really. he saw your weak raise and priced himself in against your bigger stack pretty darn well. bet sizing is everything. i don't care what your HUD says, it doesn't change the cards and the human. SB knew something was going on, so he just safely flats. you should have done the same thing at this point, because you were definitely priced in for a call right there and nothing more.

the only thing you could have done at that point would be lose when an ace or King comes,on the flop. if you had flatted there and saw that flop, the best move to make would be to bet around .95, if isolated to you. the reason for this bet size is because you've really got no choice and you already made a weak raise earlier, so doing it again with the purpose of being a feeler bet on the off chance you were isolated and actually able to makes the most sense. when either one of them raises another cent you have to fold. when MP opens with 2.50 into the 4.20 pot you have got to fold. because you weren't isolated and he was going to bet something there to secure his pot. you have to pay attention to stack sizes, too. SB might have folded that flop to a .95 cent raise, since he's beat. he's definitely folding to the $2-3 dollar raise MP is making there.

not only is it a great tell, bet sizing is one of the most important skills you can learn for poker, so you need to be able to know it, understand it, and use it to your advantage. your all-in was the wrong move there, especially the way everything went up to that point. like i said, you lost the hand when you bet .65 into .50. so, yes, you literally lit money on fire and it should serve as a valuable lesson to you and make you realize your mistakes, learn from them, and move on, a stronger player.