playing AK

[Cincy Peach]

Context: Limit, low stakes, not very loose games. A raise before the flop usually results in playing the hand agains two opponants at most, usually one, sometimes you just get the blinds.

Recently I have myself rejecting conventional wisdom, and I would like to know what you guys think.

I have found myself getting away from raising AK, and am becoming convince that this hand should be brought in without a raise. This notwithstanding the fact that i do bring in much lesser hands such as KJ with a raise. My reasoning:

When I play AK, the main people I want to have IN the pot are all the weaker aces. I don't want to fold them out. When we flop an ace, all the players with aces are going to ride their hand to the river.

Now I realize that the weak aces will sometimes spike their kicker, and other hands I could have folded out will sometimes beat me, but I think I make more than I lose.

[trumpman84]

In a tight game, what are the 1-2 players seeing a flop with you calling you with? Is it always a pair? If anything, I'd say tight players are MORE likely to call a raise with a dominated hand like AQ or AJ, maybe KQs whereas a loose player might call your raise with a hand like QJ or 67s, so there is probably more merit to raising AK in a tight game. I think you have a good idea but it should be reserved for hands like like AJ or AT where you might raise in a loose game and expect to be called by lesser hands, but raising in a tight game will most likely put you in a dominated position if called.

In very tight games it can be correct to limp with your bigger hands if you feel like your raises are getting too much respect, i.e., not enough action.

[trumpman84]

I'd much prefer to remedy this by raising more hands and stealing more blinds than to limp with my big hands...that's just my style though

[GMan42]

I think one of the nice things about AK is that even on the hands where you miss and have to slow down at the end, you'll frequently win unimproved against 1 or 2 opponents. This won't happen if you limp in and play a family pot.

Good point. Kind of reverse psychology there.

As the saying goes, play loose in tight games and tight in loose games.

[ QUOTE ]
Good point. Kind of reverse psychology there.

As the saying goes, play loose in tight games and tight in loose games.

[/ QUOTE ]

This saying is incorrect. Do you see why?

[Mike]

Try not to make blanket decisions just due to game texture.

In a game such as you describe, you will find yourself against a big pair preflop which makes AK a bit of a crapshoot but it is player dependant.

You have to watch what the other players are coming in with. What are there standards for playing in this type of game? Do they have a tendancy to play loose now and then or are they always solid? You should hope to find your AK (as you and others mentioned) against Black Jack hands.

If you know that the players in the hand are only playing big pairs, folding is not a bad option, especially if your players stick around and won't fold.

On a side note, if you find yourself in this type of game, find a different one. It is much more profitable to make money off of five loose players than one or two tight players preflop. :->

[Cincy Peach]

one thing that was interesting over the past several days is that the Empire (Party) games got tighter. Empire ran a very nice 100% match which basically required players to play 6000 raked hands in 10 days, and I think there were a ton of players just trying to rack up the hands without loosing more than the bonus. Play seemed more defensive. Last night, with the promo pretty much run its course, play seemed to loosen up again.

If i had AK in a tight game i would vary my play between just limping into the pot and raising. I would raise around 80% of the time and limp in 20%. This way I can keep my opponents guessing on what I have. AK is an easy hand to play in a tight game because its an easy fold if you don't hit and someone comes out betting.