I hate AK

[GregK]

Lower-ish limits, 2-4 through 5-10:

Can anyone point me to advice on playing AK, suited or otherwise? I swear it seems that every time I get it--I always raise or reraise with it--the flop misses entirely or gives me just enough that, betting hard, I lose to some straight or flush or trip.

Yes, this is just an impression, and only lately; I need pokertracker for a clearer picture of how paranoid I'm being. But I've become so gunshy I don't even know how to bet it--what to look for in a flop or an opponent or whatever...

Any general advice?

Thanks,
graygor

[RED_RAIN]

The minute you hate AK you should either

A) Stop playing poker
B) Start playing 72o every time and see if it out paces AK
C) Quit whining about something you know is a good hand (perhaps look at post flop strategy)

[sthief09]

[ QUOTE ]
The minute you hate AK you should either

A) Stop playing poker
B) Start playing 72o every time and see if it out paces AK
C) Quit whining about something you know is a good hand (perhaps look at post flop strategy)

[/ QUOTE ]


I think this is a little uncalled for. the guy is doing exactly what you're asking him to do. you're paying too much attention to the title and not enough to the body.

[sthief09]

There are a bunch of situations. in a multiway pot, you're not likely to clear the field much, though you should generally bet because you will sometimes have the best hand and often have 6 outs to the best hand. if you have some draws or backdoor draws, you still have hit a decent flop. If you miss the flop entirely then proceed with caution.

If you're headsup with position, then typically bet the flop and turn, and check behind on the river. if you're shown aggression you'll have to use your best judgment. there are times when calling down with A-high is called for. if you're out of position headsup this is a lot tougher. a lot of times you'll be left check-calling or check-folding the river, again depending on the board.

I personally think AK is one of the hardest hands to play in limit hold'em. Its value changes dramatically depending on the flop. If you have A /images/graemlins/club.gifK /images/graemlins/club.gif and the flop is something like J /images/graemlins/diamond.gif9 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif8 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif your hand is essentially worthless. If you flop T /images/graemlins/club.gif2 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif2 /images/graemlins/spade.gif then you still have a very strong hand that might be best, and if not likely has 6 clean outs with a backdoor nut flush draw. You need to pay close attention to the flop, and more specifically the amount of draws present, the likelihood of your opponents holding the cards on the board (your pair outs are more likely to be dirty on a QJ9 board than a TT2 board), and any reads you might have on your opponents.

Also, post hands in the Small Stakes forum. I'd say that there are more hands posted about AK/AQ types of hands than any other hand, with the possible exception of JJ.

Hey, try not to get too paranoid it happens, i started a new poker tracker database for the holidays and am having a tough time with it as well:

AKo @ 2/4
Times: 107
Win% 47.66
Net:$1.25
Av Hand 0.00

Previously AKo was grabbing me 0.87 per hand (80,000 hands)

It happens chief, i've either missed the flop completely or flopped top pair or top two and run into a set/ twopair/flush straight etc...

It's still a monster hand though!!!

[BugSplatt]

I don't usually call three bets with AK, unless first raiser is a maniac and I think the second raiser is trying to get himself in a heads-up situation with said maniac. When that is the case, I will cap it.

Multi way pots my rule of thumb is "Flop it or drop it."

Heads-up I may follow through with it - depends on who I am up against.

Not saying my strategy is what the pros do, but it's what I do.

Bug

[SA125]

Read up on the numbers that relate to the playing of it. That will give you a better idea of why AK is palyed PF the way it is, how often you should hit and when it's most likely to hold up.

SSH has a great line about raising with hands like AK PF. I believe the example was a 5 way pot. When you raise PF with it, you shouldn't expect to win a majority of the time with it, you should just expect to win more than 20% of the time with it there.

If AK will flop a pair 33% of the time, what percentage of that can it be expected to hold up? It depends on different things, like the number of players in and what draws are out.

Also in the 2-4 and 5-10 games you referred to, Ax is always out there so you can end up shaking your head off your shoulders at all the A's you had dominated that catch and beat you with their with 2,3 or 4 kicker.

[roy_miami]

Its so much easier to play AK after the flop if you don't raise with it pre-flop, it gives you a much better read as to your oppenents holdings and you won't feal obligated to continue to show huge strength post-flop, it'll be much easier to release it on the turn barring improvement.

I would suggest limping with it in certain situations until you get your confidence in the hand back. Back when I played micro limits I would limp with AKs in early position and raise it in late position and vise versa with AKo. The hand becomes so much easier to play this way. IMO the reason this hand is so hated is due to over aggression post flop because they showed strength pre-flop.

As a disclaimer: I'm not saying limping with AK is best for +EV, but for some ppl if it makes you more comfortable playing it post flop it may be the way to go until you gain experience.

[wayabvpar]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't usually call three bets with AK, unless first raiser is a maniac and I think the second raiser is trying to get himself in a heads-up situation with said maniac. When that is the case, I will cap it.


[/ QUOTE ]
Unless one of the raisers involved is an incredible rock according to my notes, I cap AK a good 90% of the time, if not more. Too aggressive?

[ QUOTE ]
Its so much easier to play AK after the flop if you don't raise with it pre-flop

[/ QUOTE ]

Not a fan of this- seems very weak-tight to me. You almost assuredly have the best hand preflop- why not get your money in when you have the best of it?

[RED_RAIN]

AKs - often cap
AKo - 3 bets for me

[sfer]

.

[TommyO]

Excuse the stupid question, I'm kind of new here. I see bump and n/m a lot and have no idea what those terms mean. Can you explain? Thanks.

[juanez]

bump: a blank post (usually blank) that is intended to push the thread to the top of the list of threads.

n/m: means "no message".

[g_unit]

First off, Greg, don't have that in your head going into the hand. Whenever you see a hand, and think "ok, how much will I lose here?", inevidably you will misplay the hand someway. I personally, play AK from any position, but in a loose 3-6 game or even smaller, i will limp with it suited, and perhaps 3 bet it if action comes around (of course depending on how many heads are in the pot.) Don't feel too tied to the hand. If the flop doesn't hit you, and you think you may not have the best hand, check and fold, there is no problem with that. Get your money in preflop while you have the best of it, and if you think you were outflopped, you can release your hand pretty easily. Good Luck Greg!

[TommyO]

Makes sense. I did try to search for the definition but you can imagine the number of hits when searching for "bump". Sorry for the stupid questions. Thanks!

[bicyclekick]

I didn't used to cap that much with AKo (while I did everytime pretty much with AKs) but I'm capping it a lot more. So you may be a coinflip or occaisionally in trouble with the PFR it gets a lot more value from the others in the hand that haven't shown strength and also I really think it makes postflop easier to play.