A-K strategy in general
 

A recent post discussed a hand with A-K and there were some interesting replies. I wanted to get some thoughts on A-K in general in NL play. When playing A-K, which of these strategies do you find the most profitable overall? I realize that most players (including myself), probably mix up both strategies to keep people guessing, but which do you find to be preferable overall?

(1) Raise before the flop, to drive out weak drawing hands and low pocket pairs. If on the flop you get an ace or king, you can then slow-play if there's no obvious flush or straight draw. If the flop misses you, you can still bet out and have a good chance of taking it down because you showed strength pre flop.

(2) Limp into the flop, as a means of keeping hands like A-rag or K-rag suited in the hand. Then, if the ace or king hits after the flop, you can get those guys to bet into you and just call them on the flop and turn, which hides your strength. On the river, you can pull a check-raise, which they'll have a tough time not walking away from with so much already invested on a top pair, and you're going to most likely bust them (or come close to it) and take down a monster pot. If you had raised it up pre-flop, a hand like ace-6 isn't going to like his hand nearly as much after the flop as if you had just limped in.

All books and strategy sites tell you to raise pre-flop with A-K as a rule, but since it's a drawing hand, I'm not sure I understand why option (2) isn't the better option overall. If I'm in late position and there have been a bunch of limpers, sometimes i'll come in with a good sized raise to try to take it down right there, and if you get called thats fine too because it's a powerful hand. But I'm not sure I see why it's smart to raise it up pre-flop in early position with that hand. It's not like when you have a pair of jacks or queens, where you're trying to drive out the overcard hands like K-J and A-10... if you have A-K, you WANT those types of hands to see the flop because the people holding them are going to have a tough time letting them go if they pair up the big card.

What do you think?

Re: A-K strategy in general
 

AK is leading more than 50% of the time preflop. Therefore we raise. Raise when you are winning.

Strategy 2 sounds like a good way to go bust against 2pair or a set.

Re: A-K strategy in general
 

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AK is leading more than 50% of the time preflop. Therefore we raise. Raise when you are winning.

Strategy 2 sounds like a good way to go bust against 2pair or a set.

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Sure, that can happen. But you can lose or go bust in any hand in which you don't have the absolute nuts. I understand that it's wise to raise when you're likely ahead, but to always do this seems overly simplistic. My goal in poker isn't too win the maximum number of pots possible, but rather to win as much money as possible overall. Therefore, I feel a case could be made for limping in with A-K, because when you hit the hand on the flop (which will be far more often than some small pocket pair nailing the set), you're going to be able to extract a lot more chips from your opponents, on average, than if you raised something like 3 times the BB before the flop. I feel like this is especially true on internet poker, on where people like to limp in with A-anything.

Re: A-K strategy in general
 

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What do you think?

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I think that dogging AK is how a lot of newer, timid players turn it into a loser.

fim

Re: A-K strategy in general
 

All of the arguments you give for option 2 can be applied just as well to AA, so why don't you usually limp AA? Of course it's important to mix it up, but if I'm mixing it up, I want to be raising more often than calling with what is likely the best hand. Besides, AK can be very tricky to play after the flop, especially when you haven't raised preflop, and although you'll get people overplaying KQ when the flop is K 7 2, you'll also find yourself having to lay it down more often. Besides, it seems that the types that are most likely to overplay tpgk will also call your preflop raise. I play mostly small stakes no-limit hold'em, and I imagine it's different as the players become more skillful, but I can't even count the number of times people misplayed AK for all their stack by letting my BB into the pot with 72o on the above board.

-cj

Re: A-K strategy in general
 

i sometimes limp with ak and then raise a raiser.......option 3
[img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] i play in loose california games though

Re: A-K strategy in general
 

The vast majority of the time, folding AK preflop is way way better than limping in to check call Axx board, check call turn, check raise river.

Re: A-K strategy in general
 

Watch out for setting traps that involve one pair. They get you into trouble.

Re: A-K strategy in general
 

I've made lots of money both ways. In late position, I'll almost always raise AK. In early position, i mix it up sometimes calling a raise, sometimes reraising (although I don't do a set postflop strategy when I hit like you say in the post).

Re: A-K strategy in general
 

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(2) Limp into the flop, as a means of keeping hands like A-rag or K-rag suited in the hand. Then, if the ace or king hits after the flop, you can get those guys to bet into you and just call them on the flop and turn, which hides your strength. On the river, you can pull a check-raise, which they'll have a tough time not walking away from with so much already invested on a top pair, and you're going to most likely bust them (or come close to it) and take down a monster pot. If you had raised it up pre-flop, a hand like ace-6 isn't going to like his hand nearly as much after the flop as if you had just limped in.
What do you think?

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Oh, the times I have seen a limper with AK lose his whole stack to As8s when that 8 hits on the turn...

I really think it's a bad idea to check-raise the river when you have merely been calling down an opponent with TPTK unless they always overplay their own TP. When you raise preflop with AK, you have some way of defining your opponents hand, and will rarely lose to a weaker A unless a Q or J rolls off. But then you are at least armed with enough information that you can more clearly define their hand.

I think the best bet is to mix up both strategies. Limping in with it occasionaly can lead to some big pots and leave your opponents scratching their heads when you do raise with it. Your biggest danger comes from overplaying it when you do limp with it.