AK in the blinds

[technologic]

when there are many limpers and you have AK in a blind position, do you raise this hand, and if so how much do you raise it? i usually go for a check/fold line if i miss, but i feel that this is way too weak and is a big leak in my game.

if you raise, and there are several callers, what are your plans post flop?

also, what adjustments do you make if the AK is suited, or instead, you hold something like AQ or JJ?

[SmileyEH]

I asked sup bro this question, and he replied, "it depends." Then he tackled me. Walking away from my bloody corpse he remarked, "do you see why?"

-SmileyEH

[technologic]

damn...i figure it was one of those...

i suppose it would depend on the texture of the table and your table image...

if i added in factors, ie, i had a tight image, does that change anything? what would the changes be when i'm at a passive table vs an aggressive table

[kmvenne]

One can only assume this makes 16 tackles for loss for sup bro. I wonder what sup bro would have scored on the Wonderlic had he got the chance to go to the combine.

When I take my occasional step up to the lowest of the high stakes NL games, I don't enjoy any of those hands out of position. But I also hate limpers. Big time. How deep are the stacks here? AKs (and to some extent, o. Remember, Hellmuth says it is better cause it can make two flushes [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ) has a lot of fold value for a push if you are willing to play AA and KK the same way and only break out the move when this situation arises (or push AK, show, then play AA the same way). This also assumes you havn't seen much fancy limping from AA's at the table. But it's something to consider, and it beats trying to decide who paired A-crap. JJ is similar, don't see QQ limping late. AQ is not, as another AK may limp late, fearing the futile raise you do.

This hand reminded me of one of Mason's post where he bought into a NL game short, because he can play big hands or top pair hard. Something to consider here, maybe the thing that makes this hand hard isn't your position, it's your assumed risk.

Either way playing AK for the check raise out of the blinds with a deep stack if you hit seems to be the best way to obtain the information these limpers are disguising, since a call from a limper after a raise here isn't gonna tell you that much.

In conclusion, when in doubt, defer to sup bro.

[Yeti]

For me it depends on the number of limpers and whether I feel I can outplay the table or not.

[mgsimpleton]

for me i usually raise as i would with AA or KK and play it like that, try to get one or two callers, then pot the flop. if i get called on the flop i shut down.

it's kind of like what sklansky says in TOP about selectively bluffing... if AK is my "bluffing hand" then i'm getting 3 for the price of 2 (AA or KK) while not bluffing nearly enough to get played back at, because i'll usualyl have it. plus if the flop is A high sometimes you can convince people you have KK and make some extra money.