Playing Big Slick early

[Hawkeye27]

How are you playing AK early in tourneys? I've had several situations lately in the $20 and $30's where in the first two rounds AK gets all-in against AA, KK, or QQ. Fortunately, I've had the pairs most the time. When I started out in the $10's there were so many people willing to get AI with AQ-Ax thats it seemed getting in with AK was +EV, but I don't see much of that at these levels. Here are a few situations I'm wondering about:

EP min-raises, Hero ups it to 4-5x BB, folded to EP who reraises AI. Call or fold?

EP raises to 3-4 BB folded to Hero in LP. Raise or call? I've been doubling EP's raise amount. What if he comes over the top AI?

Or Hero raises 3-4x BB in EP and someone doubles your raise or raises AI.

Obviously if you have a read that the villian has been raising loosely calling these AI raises would be easier, but in the first 2 rounds you probably won't have that luxury.

[jojobinks]

[ QUOTE ]
EP min-raises, Hero ups it to 4-5x BB, folded to EP who reraises AI. Call or fold?

[/ QUOTE ]

fold. i don't like to call AI with it. especially early


[ QUOTE ]
EP raises to 3-4 BB folded to Hero in LP. Raise or call? I've been doubling EP's raise amount. What if he comes over the top AI?

[/ QUOTE ]
so the raise is 60, you reraise to 120, and he goes all in? i think that's a fold too. but if you came over the top AI instead of min-raising, it wouldn't be bad.

[ QUOTE ]
Or Hero raises 3-4x BB in EP and someone doubles your raise or raises AI.

[/ QUOTE ]
doubles it? call, or reraise AI.
if he reraises AI, i think i fold.

the fact that you've run into huge hands recently doesn't seem to mean anything but that you've run into huge hands recently. usually someone will fold to you, and lots of low buyin players will still call with AQ or the like.

[11t]

In the early rounds of a SNG I tend to just call in EP with AK and fold to a substantial raise. I will call in MP and fold to a substantial raise. I will raise it substantially in LP with 1-2 limpers in front of me. If the entire table has limped infront of me I will call and see the flop. TPTK however is not a very strong hand vs several drawing hands and if you hit your ace you could easily be up against 2 pair. I tend to play my cards less in SNG tournaments and play position and stacks.

I dislike ever getting all my chips in with AK unless I'm confident I'm up against a weaker ace. It is way too much of a CF otherwise. Especially early in the tournament, I dislike ever getting my chips into a pot without a dominating hand.

I know this is the standard weak-tight play but I do think it is the best strategy for such a difficult hand to play. I also do not think AK is nearly as strong of a hand as people think it is due to how easily it is drawn out on by any 2 cards.

[jojobinks]

[ QUOTE ]
I also do not think AK is nearly as strong of a hand as people think it is due to how easily it is drawn out on by any 2 cards

[/ QUOTE ]

one might also say it's so strong b/c it:
-is only worse than a coinflip against 2 hands
-dominates lots of strongish hands (AQ, AJ, AT, KQ, KJ)
-dominates hands that shortstacks will go all in with (any A or K)
-is about 3-2 against any other unpaired hand that it doesn't dominate.

these things make it playable in way more situations than most hands. the only way you want to play as tight as described above, IMO, is if you are have a huge ROI, and are then clearly one of the best players at the table. otherwise, you need to get value out of your big hands.

[11t]

True, I mostly play in the 10 to 30 dollar range buy-ins and I do so well that I dislike gambling. I find AK is best used by a big stack to crush smaller stacks, it is a hand that if I get a chip lead I can run a table over with. It is also a hand that I will push without thinking if I need to.

I just dislike getting involved in marginal situations with it. Like lets say you are at 11BB on the button and somebody in MP with 9BB pushes, I find it very hard to call in this situation. I simply do not want to gamble and would prefer to steal, however if I felt that I was being outplayed and needed to gamble I would take it. Of course it all depends on who pushed, if they are a maniac I'd call instantly and risk being outdrawn/not hitting simply because I feel that it is in my long term advantage to gamble with maniacs when I have a strong hand.

I think any generalization in poker should probably be qualified to do the infinite possibilities.

[Hawkeye27]

In the first senario its hard to put EP on a hand. Does it smell like 99-JJ to you? What do you think the average hand you'll see at the $30 level is? I'm having trouble with this because the min-raise is so fishy.

Second example I agree with. I kind of like the way I play it, because I think it gives me the info I'm looking for without crippling my stack. Here it seems I am at best facing a coin flip, and at worst a dominated hand.

[ QUOTE ]
so the raise is 60, you reraise to 120, and he goes all in? i think that's a fold too. but if you came over the top AI instead of min-raising, it wouldn't be bad.


[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know if I like the AI reraise because I dont have enough info to be sure I have a dominant hand.

Third hand I think I'm calling the reraise and folding to a reraise AI.