AKo in the small blind

[Chris Daddy Cool]

UB 1/2 200 max NL hold'em

second hand of the table, just sat down zero reads.
3 limpers. 1 has me covered. another about the same. the other has about 150.

i'm in the small blind with AKo. and i complete.

flame away.

[Raiser]

[ QUOTE ]
UB 1/2 200 max NL hold'em

second hand of the table, just sat down zero reads.
3 limpers. 1 has me covered. another about the same. the other has about 150.

i'm in the small blind with AKo. and i complete.

flame away.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Daddy. I call here about half of the time and raise it up big the other half. I hate playing AK or AQ out of position so if there are a lot of limpers I will usually make a good sized raise. If only 1 or 2 limpers I will call and hope to take a lot of money off of some crappy Ace.

[ginko]

I don't think its good or bad. You have the chance to steal, but are out of position with a hand 30% to hit.

Completing isn't bad because you are hiding your strength and you have a chance to outkick somebody, but at the same time are letting crap hands draw for too cheap.

[FeelGoodAboutHood]

Out of position, I like it alot.

The more I play, the more and more it seems like AK isn't what it once was.

[DMBFan23]

you're in the absolute worst position for the rest of the hand, and if you miss you're screwed.

me like.

[edtost]

after looking at why i was losing so much with ak, i stopped raising it in ep. result: winrate moving in a positive general direction. you play g00t.

[ryanghall]

I have to disagree with the other posters.

I used to limp AKo out of position. I did have positive results. However, since I've begun to raise it my results have improved. A lot of times you will take down the pot preflop, which is good. As well, AQ and often AJ will still call you, which is also good. You likely have the best hand and you should want to get money in the pot. You also don't want A8 or a like hand to hit 2 pairs on you and take a good portion of your stack.

Also, DON'T BLUFF IF YOU MISS.

Raise it up good, around 5x BB.

Ryan

[BobboFitos]

yeah... Those advocating a completion, thats fine. It's not bad, parsay. I think raising is slightly better though.

[amoeba]

I agree with everything except the don't bluff if you miss part.

now, you shouldn't bluff every hand that you miss with AK but you gotta bet out the flop sometimes.

[fimbulwinter]

Early in a session with no reads I feel this is by far the best play.

There's a reason NL players don't like AK. Give me a table full of weakies here and then we'll talk flame.

oh yeah, obviously you're checkraising the flop when you hit...right?

fim

[fimbulwinter]

I gotta disagree. raising and completing here are very close in value in general.

however

he just sat down at the table, he has no reads. not the type of time i want to get involved in a big pot out of position with ace high...

fim

[sourbeaver]

[ QUOTE ]
I gotta disagree. raising and completing here are very close in value in general.


[/ QUOTE ]

The thing you have to think about is that the SB is the worst position you can possibly have. I don't like putting more money in the pot with the worst position possible. Why not always limp ?

[amoeba]

by that logic, would you limp in with JJ or QQ from the small blind?

what makes AK special?

[TheWorstPlayer]

The point of raising is that you have pot equity by virtue of having the best hand preflop and therefore you want the pot to be as large as possible. With AK out of position, however, Villain has a lot of fold equity on the flop if you don't improve, and that partially offsets your pot equity preflop. Since the fold equity is larger with AK than with QQ or JJ, it would be a better play to limp AK than a made hand like QQ or JJ. Not saying it is good. Just saying why it is better.

[sourbeaver]

Well I don't know how you understood that from my post.

But I'll answer your question. I limp JJ, I raise QQ.

[TheWorstPlayer]

Man, I really don't like limping JJ OOP. The flop will most likely bring an overcard. Do you just check/fold the flop?

[Don Olney]

Nothing wrong with this play --- mix it up now and then with AKo but over all nothing wrong here

[FlushStraighted]

I like to raise with AKo here as with any position. Reason is to get a few of the rags out. I almost always put in a big bet and take a stab at the pot after the flop whether i hit it or not. if i get called then i try to check it down. i get re-raised then i fold. The trick here is knowing when to get away from the hand.
JMO

[bunky9590]

Flame action.

If this is what we were talking about earlier today, i sadi I'd pop it pretty big, just to pretty much win it right there or if called set me up to steal on the flop.

[sillyarms]

[ QUOTE ]
now, you shouldn't bluff every hand that you miss with AK but you gotta bet out the flop sometimes.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with this but in what kind of situations do you bluff? In what kind of situations do you not bluff?

silly