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Ace King

So file this away under the common questions them! Playing AK correctly is one of the most important and profitable(/costly) hands you will have to play. Thats why its very important that you learn to play it correctly right from the very start!

The most common mistake that I see with AK is with people who forget that it’s not even a favorite over 22! Still If I had to call an all in I would rather have AK than 22 any day why? Because of AK’s biggest strength… It’s unlikely to be Dominated. Thats because the only two hands that really Kick Big Slick’s ass are Aces and Kings. Statisically just having one Ace and one King really cuts back on the chance that your up against a dominating monster.

So now that we have some base line knowledge of AK lets talk about playing it. The first question thats relivant is what game you are playing AK in. Is it No Limit, Pot Limit, Limit? Is it a cash game, tournament, or sit and go?  If it is a tournament or S&G your chip stack may be the deciding factor. If your short or almost short stacked AK is a fine hand to risk your life on. Just remember you’d much rather steal the blinds and ante’s rather than show down. So when your short, you guessed it all in or nothing.

If your playing a cash game AK should be a good hand for you as well but it’s generally not good to play it to agressively. This is because if you move all in with it you are not staeling highenough blinds to mitigate the Danger of AA or KK. Also if you get called theres a good chance of a pocket pair which gives you some thing like a 46% chance of wining and a 54% chance of losing!

So how should you play AK in a cash game? Raise a standard amount ussually 3 times the blinds will do. If you don’t hit an Ace or King on the flop you can still put out a feeler bet expecially if a Queen or Jack flops. After that if your still called theirs a good chance your beat. You may still want to bluff down if you think you can drive that particular person out of the pot but if you get more than 2 callers you can ussually give it up and check! Alternatively you can flat call preflop or you could still raise preflop and skip the countinuation bet on the flop. Point being with AK you can and should really mix up the way you play it.

If you hit your Ace or King you have a pretty good shot of being top against a few players but if their are six opponents still in the hand your one pair should be played very cautiously. Aggressively, but cautiously. This is the main reason that I like to raise preflop with AK most when I’m in a early position. In an early position with not many people in the pot a small 3x raise can skim the field making my AK more likely to win should I flop the top pair. In late positions with lots of callers I ussually call. Although I tend to mix it up quite a bit. Of course in late position of a tournament I might choose to move in on a big pot with many limpers if theirs enough dough in the pot and I’m on the high side of short stacked. I say on the high side of short stacked because the move in here is specifically aimed at making everybody or almost everybody fold. I don’t want to mix it up againt 6 people I’d prefer to just steal a big pot. I also take into account if their are any unusual limpers. That’s because may players tend to limp with Big hands in early positions.

Theres so much more to say about the play of AK that I can’t say it all right now but I will in an article next week!