AK hits flop, should I milk it or take it down?

[DPaley]

I don't have a specific hand, this is a general concern that seems to come up once or twice in a session. When I raise AK preflop and hit something great like K82r, if it's checked around to me should I just go ahead and bet pot to probably take it down right there? On a drawless board it seems like I might do better by letting TT or KQ or A8 think they're good and pay me off a little extra. The problem with that play is that with the silly crap that limp-call-check can represent in small stakes, I don't know what cards might two-pair or set somebody.

How do most people handle this situation? For some reason I've got the instinct to auto-pot-it when I hit TPTK. Am I giving away a lot of EV here?

[xorbie]

I would highly recommend betting it and taking it down, unless you have a great reason for thinking that you will make a lot by letting others catch up. The problem is that many of them will catch up to better hands, like K catching two pair or hitting a set.

The advantage of always betting the flop with AK when it's checked to you is that this way when you have AQ, people will give it to you on a K high flop, which probably makes up for whatever bet you might have been able to earn by slowplaying.

OTOH, I do like to check the flop if I raised from EP and the flop comes K82r. This works because I often just check at a missed flop if more than one person called my PF raise (which often happens). They assume I have AQ, they bet, I simply call and then see what happens on the turn.

[poker17]

You must bet in this situation. Say it gets checked all around, then on the turn you get bet into. Then whats the plan? You would have no idea where your hand stood, for all you know you could be drawing dead if a blank hit the turn and someone else had a set. You would also be letting someone draw to two pair. You are also losing value to anyone holding a worse K.

Bottom line is you only have a pair. Your hand is not that strong and you should try to take down the pot as soon as possible.

[swolfe]

TPTK isn't that strong of a hand even on a "drawless" board. never slow play it.