Don't slip on the Big Slick!

There are a lot of new players on this site, which is great! I consider myself to be somewhere between novice and intermediate, having played online on an almost-daily basis for over a year now. I have a country mile to go before I will strike fear into anyone's heart at the poker table, but I've picked up a few basic tools.

One of them is this: AK IS RARELY AN ALL-IN HAND PRE-FLOP!

I see players overvaluing AK all the time and paying the price for it. Despite the high ranking of each card, it does NOT represent a pair. It loses to deuces. Without help, it's rags. BIG rags, granted, but rags nonetheless. If you pick up no help on the flop, MUCK IT! Learning how to toss AK after the flop is one of the hardest, but most important, disciplines a new player can acquire.

Good advice on after the flop play with Big slick.

However, I kinda disagree with the Pre-flop all in. It's not a GOOD play by any means, but it's not a BAD one either. Big slick is a coin flip vs any pair under KK, so if you think he's got a pair you're taking a big gamble if you're playing for all your chips. HOWEVER, if the player likes to overplay AQ, AJ, A10, etc then you are a HUGE favorite. In which case you want all your chips in the middle.

No hand is a good pre-flop allin hand. You should rarely be pushing allin pre-flop. The only background for such play is in tourament play. But I agree completely with RammerJammer on this. Big slick is a big mess for all novices who see people in the WSoP pushing allin with Big Slick. Its a great hand... but not the trump card(s) in texas hold'em

AK is one of the best hands you will see in terms of playability, but for an all-in bet preflop it figures to be either a slight or huge underdog. People normally aren't moving all-in with AJ, KQ, etc... but more often, QQ, KK, AA... AK does not fare well against these hands.

I agree with you on only one thing: AK is a dangerous hand, and when i started i was playing scared because i lost my first all in with AK against JJ, but ow as my game has developed i realize that if you have AK and you are playing in a tournament especially you have to put yourself in position to win and that means having heart and making big moves and AK is one of the best times to use it, calling a raise is a weak play so remember in tourny play make big plays and if that means all in with AK preflop then so be it

A simple blanket statement like this is false for both tournament play and ring games. While this statement is true on occasion within a certain context, you simply can't generalize.

This is very true. I've seen (and helped) plenty of novices pay for a big slick bust out lesson .

The Big Slick gets slippery if you dont slow play it!!!!!! Just walk on thin ice. When I first started playing I made it one of my favorite hands. Now it is just high suited connectors for me. Almost makes me wonder if I will end up getting milked if I call a decent raise.

Well said RammerJammer!


I have only been playing for about 6 months now and I used to overvalue big slick big time. Now I play it more cautiously. Especially early on in a tourney. I used to play it like it was the best hand going in to the flop and I learned a big lesson that its just a drawing hand. I lost a lot of money early on in tourneys when I first started. Now that I'm playing more cautiously with them I am actually lasting much longer! The first time I had a hard time laying em down but now its easier!

good advice!
i prefer to 2 pairs rather than AK AQAJ A10

AK, especially suited is one of the best hands you can start with, I would take make chances going all-in with them before the flop.