Why am I losing with AK?

[rickr]

I'm with you. AK is my biggest loser according to PT. From looking through hands it looked like I was playing it too deep. I go against the rules now. I treat it and AQ like 22, limp in, and if I hit, get payed nice. If I don't, I can dump it. I know this goes against what most people say, but who cares. I know for me I get myself in trouble being aggressive with them, so it's +ev for me to limp, and -EV for me to get aggressive with them. The only differance between AK and 22 is I will come in against a raise, and at times I will isolate an aggressive player if they raise preflop. How's that for backward thinking. I do know that I have had much better luck doing this than playing them the way you described. I think you have to find your weakness, fix it or work around it.

Later,
Rick

[sourbeaver]

[ QUOTE ]
I treat it and AQ like 22, limp in, and if I hit, get payed nice. If I don't, I can dump it. I know for me I get myself in trouble being aggressive with them, so it's +ev for me to limp, and -EV for me to get aggressive with them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bravo.

[ QUOTE ]
I know this goes against what most people say, but who cares.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly.

[Pokerho]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If I miss from early or middle position, I'll check and fold to any bet I think is real unless there are a ton of callers.


[/ QUOTE ]

whaaaa? you don't want to be calling a bet with AK if there are many callers. it makes it all the more likely that hitting an ace will give someone else aces up, and so even if you do hit, you can't play it strongly. not to mention a slowplayed set...

in a heads up or 3 way pot, i'll usually take a stab with AK from any position after raising preflop, and will almost never call a bet unimproved.

[/ QUOTE ]

hmm...

That does make sense I suppose. I guess my reasoning is this: When you get several callers, often one is top pair, one is middle pair, and one is one a straight draw or something. It seems like overcards are getting enough odds to stay at that point, but maybe not. Especially if as you say, the guy with middle pair also has an ace, which costs me a big pot.

I shall ponder more.

[VanVeen]

This shouldn't be too hard to figure out on your own. Go through all the hands where you've lost a considerable amount of money with AK and see if there's anything you could have done differently. Go through the hands where you won a decent pot to see if you missed some value. Review each hand on a case by case basis to draw your own conclusions.

A "general line" isn't going to tell us enough to provide assistance.

[DJMaytag]

[ QUOTE ]
I go against the rules now. I treat it and AQ like 22, limp in, and if I hit, get payed nice. If I don't, I can dump it. I know this goes against what most people say, but who cares. I know for me I get myself in trouble being aggressive with them, so it's +ev for me to limp, and -EV for me to get aggressive with them. The only differance between AK and 22 is I will come in against a raise, and at times I will isolate an aggressive player if they raise preflop. How's that for backward thinking.

[/ QUOTE ]

At the levels i've been playing at (.01/.02 & now .05/.10 on UB), i always raise AK about the size of the pot, if not a little bit more. I sometimes bluff at the pot with a potsized bet, and more often than not everyone folds, thinking i probably have AA. Without the preflop riase, i might not get that same level of respect.

If my bluff gets called, check n fold to a bet.

[Cat]

Personally I raise w AK 90% of the time, and bet the flop around 75% of the time if I have only 1 or 2 callers. More than that, it depends, but I'm much more inclined to check if i miss as with 3 or more callers, someone is likely to have something whatever the flop is.

I dont like limping as you'll let in players with Ax to hit their 2 pair, or in fact players with any crap to hit their hands, and then you won't know where you are. (See the hand i just posted called 'Guess the hand')

Finally, I only check/ call the flop with lots of callers if its given me a flush or (inside) straight draw.

[fimbulwinter]

Everyone knows i play laggy. hoewever, when holding AK, I turn into a complete sissy schoolgirl. i hate that damn hand and i'm as likely to limp with it as i am to raise, just depends on how many people will be in the pot and my position. there's a reason limit players and tourney guys love it and us cash guys who play real poker [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] hate the thing. keep your pots small and keep position in mind and you can turn AK into a marginal winner, but don't expect gold out of it.

fim

[sourbeaver]

That's basically how I see it, but I'll limp a lot more often than raise (90-95%).

[el_grande]

I will bet AK unimproved against 2 players on the flop after I have raised.

Remember that one of the reasons you are doing this is that you may have the best hand and you can win it there before someone improves. There is some likelyhood that people with a piece of the board will fold to your bet. Against 4 players, ace high may not the best hand and there is more likelyhood of multiple players having a piece of the board.