Help with AK

[bisonbison]

AKo and AKs are both top 10 hands. If you are losing with them, it is A) short-term variance and/or B) you're not playing them well.

Post some hands.

[MarkD]

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How many callers do you really need to make this hand profitable?

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0-9

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It rarely wins for me,

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You are deceiving yourself. Perceptions are often greater than reality and I think that is what is going on here. If you really are losing then it's because you haven't played enough hands. No matter how bad you play it AK should be profitable. It's that damn good.

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know it's a hand you're "supposed" to raise,

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Yes, it is, and you should, everytime.

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I have much better results with AJs and AQ

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No you don't. If you do it's short term fluctuations. AK > AQ > AJ. AKs > AQs > AJs. It can be no other way.

[poorbus96]

Thanks Bison, I copied this to a notepad file on my desktop for easy reference. I still make the mistake of going too far with overcards. But am getting better. You should be a plumber man fixin alot of leaks for people. Thanks for the help.

Songwind, they will win.

--bus

[Songwind]

This is something else that sort of confuses me. Is there a reference somewhere that explains WHY AK is a top ten hand?

I mean, simulation indicates that AKo wins less often than even 22.. so why is AKo a top ten hand and small pocket pairs aren't?

I don't mean to be argumentative here, I'm just trying to get to the theory behind this classification so I can understand it.

[bisonbison]

22 is a slight favorite against AK heads-up, but it's value in multiway pots is basically flopping sets (when you've got a multiway pot, the collective outs for someone to catch a higher pair means that dueces have to find a set, or the rare straight, to win).

AK, on the other hand, will often be the best hand preflop, often be the best hand on the flop, and will take money from the dominated Ax hands that people love to call with.

As for AKo winning less often than 22: no.

http://www.gocee.com/poker/HE_Val_Sort.htm

[Octopus]

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22 is a slight favorite against AK heads-up,

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And then, only if he can get all in before the flop. If they both miss the flop (and they are not all-in), AK is going to take the pot a fair amount of the time.

[Greg J]

1g) How much more fulfilling would my life be if I just took the free card here, even if it's going to signal to people who automatically put me on overcards anyway that they in fact have better hands than me which they do?

Why I check this turn: You check and this demonstrates weakness, then one of your outs hits on the river. Opponents bet into you and you raise that bitch!

Also, a lot of .25/.5 players at PS are indeed bluffable. I swaer, it's true. I'm not saying betting the river is correct in this situation, but against many .25/.5 PS players it is the best play -- it all depends on the read you have on yr opponent. Is your chance of making the guy fold > than 9:1 (assuming you won't be check raised)? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

[chief444]

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And then, only if he can get all in before the flop. If they both miss the flop (and they are not all-in), AK is going to take the pot a fair amount of the time.


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22 becomes a pretty big favorite if overcards miss the flop.

[Octopus]

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And then, only if he can get all in before the flop. If they both miss the flop (and they are not all-in), AK is going to take the pot a fair amount of the time.


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22 becomes a pretty big favorite if overcards miss the flop.

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Only if he manages not to fold.

[Octopus]

My point was that AK will almost never lose when he would have won in an all-in situation, while 22 will frequently do so.