All-in with AK

[Ralle]

No-Limit Hold 'Em tournament. Blinds at 600/1200, ante 75. Average stack is 23,000, I have a little over 10,000. Under the gun I pick up AK and make it 3600 to go. Middle position player with a big stack reraises. It's folded to me and I call all-in. Was this a mistake? Should I have folded or maybe just called under the gun, should I have folded to his reraise?

Note: It turned out he had pocket eights, so we were about even money before the flop. No A or K comes, so I'm out.

[Guy McSucker]

I don't think you made a mistake. If this guy will put you all-in with 88, I'm willing to bet he'd do it with AQ too.

You're short stacked and would like to win some chips. Flat calling would be terrible since it lets all kinds of hands in which might beat you even if you hit an ace or king. Folding is out of the question. That only leaves raising.

AK is a good hand to be all-in with. If you see a nine-high flop and someone bets, what do you do? You might even prefer to raise all-in from the beginning. You'll win the blinds occasionally, get a double up from a hand you dominate occasionally, and end up in a 50-50 occasionally. If someone has AA or KK you're in trouble but you don't have the chips to figure this out and get away from your hand. Go for it!

Guy.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

There's a lengthy discussion of the properties of AK in Sklansky's new tournament book.

AK is better when you're the raiser than when you're the one calling the big reraise. I would not have been upset with you if you'da let this one go. You raised pretty big, and most players won't put in such a big reraise without a pair. Now if you knew what he had, you would have had proper pot odds to call the bet, but not that many players make such big reraises with such small pairs, they will usually have a much bigger one. If you wind up against AA or KK, you're in trouble, and many times you'll see exactly that in this situation.

You must also remember that the consequences of going bust here are dire, and your opponents know this too.

al

[maplepig]

It depends on how big is the big stack. If he has more than 5x of your stack, then definitely call. Big stacks tend to play aggressively on weaker hands. If he's only around or less than 3x of your stack, a fold is probably better. I don't think many people will make this raise without KK, AA, QQ. Given that he will only reraise with AA, KK, QQ, JJ. You return is
17% * 0.07 + 17%* 0.3 + 33%*0.43 + 33%*0.43 = 35%
chip proportion: 6400/21800 = 30%
It's still better not call as many people won't do that with JJ.

[ohkanada]

I would certainly call unless this player would only make the re-raise with AA/KK. You say you have a little over 10k. I think you are close to the point where raising all-in is better than raising to 3600 and then calling a re-raise

Ken Poklitar

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

If you're going to call an all-in reraise, you're probably better off raising all-in to start with.

[Jon Matthews]

If there is usually a preflop raise then in this chip position, if I am UTG, I would limp and reraise all-in if I wasn't suspicious of AA or KK. The blinds would be quite appreciable then if the original raiser folds. He probably wouldn't have here since he reraised an EP but there is still a chance that he wouldn't call.

Jon

[Ralle]

What I really need to do in this situation is build my stack. We're still far from the money, so survival is not the number one priority. Folding seems out of the question with my short stack and the blinds coming up. Limping is not my favorite way of playing AK under the gun. So, like some of you commented, I must raise. If I make a normal raise and someone reraises I can't fold, since my stack will be severly crippled and I will immediately be in the blinds, leaving me with almost nothing left (I would have less than 5000 after the blinds, and one round costs almost 2500). Maybe this indicates that I really should raise all-in and hope that nobody calls.

But what I would really like is to be up against AQ, AJ, KQ (yes, they might actually call with this) or maybe even some comedian with ATs, KJs, QJs, JTs. These guys might call my raise to 3600, but will probably fold if I move in. If I get these callers I might be able to build a nice stack that will put me back in contention.

If I do raise all-in, the only callers will be pocket pairs, giving me a coin flip (unless they have AA, KK), and maybe AK and AQs, which is ok.

This is how I see it then: I'm prepared to go all-in. If I move in from under the gun, I will either win the blinds and antes, or probably be even money with another player. If I make a normal raise the above can happen plus I have the chance to get extra chips from dominated hands, and from big stacks that try to bully me with even worse than the possible calling hands.

[ohkanada]

Lets say you make your raise to 3600. Only the big blind calls. On a Ten high flop he goes all-in. Do you call?

How about if some late position player only calls. It is a Ten high flop. Do you bet on the flop or check? If you do check and he bets all-in, now what?

The problem with betting 40% of your chips pre-flop with AK, is that when you miss, it is easy to muck on the flop when you miss.

Ken Poklitar

[Mackie]

The only way I can see laying it down is if you know the other player very well, you know he respects your initial raise, and you know he will only re-raise with AA or KK. I can think of only a few players I could lay this down against. You did fine. Your initial raise could be a bit bigger (a pot sized raise would make it 4200 to go if my math is right). Someone with a very large stack might decide it's worth it to see the flop.

[gunbuster]

I don't think you can fold here. If you fold, you're down to ~6000 and you'll pay up 2k more by the time you get through the blinds. You aren't as likely to get as playable a hand in the blinds, and you may get raised out of them anyway. I'd make a stand here, either by limp-reraising or just putting them all in before the flop. One benefit to all in before the flop is that you may win the blinds and antes, while, not as good as doubling through, buys time to wait another round. If you do get called, you won't be that much of a dog except to AA.