IS BIGSLICK OVER-RATED???

I feel the Big slick is the most overrated hand which often overplayed. its a drawing hand and even behind any pair heads up.also against weaker hands its 2:1 favorite. do u want to goto war just with that? I know its always easier to isolate while having Big Slick but I wouldn't go all in with it early in the tournament. maybe even blinds are high and its short handed I would go All In with it. However it always plays good against weaker Ace. so if i feel any player has a tendency to call with Aces I would play AK against that person. what do you guys please about playing Big Slick?

Defninitely overated.. Most of the times i play ak i flop air.

AK is only a drawing hand. Yet the strongest drawing hand, so b afriad to play it. But u gotta b sensible to know when ur behind and fold it. I've seen so many of the micro players who cant fold AK, even when they've missed the flop!
To hit TPTK with big slick is great, but do u know if ur still ahead? Are u happy to stack off with TPTK?
Jus bcos u've got AK doesnt mean ur gonna win. I've folded bigslick in MTT's and made decent money in 'em.

It is overrated early tourney, unless you're playing against people who are going all-in with anything. It is not a small ball hand. The real value to A-K is late tourney when the blinds/antes force everyone to play long ball poker. A-K is best going all-in shortstacked, reraising all-in short-to-medium stacked, or calling short stack all-ins--where it may be best to reraise and isolate with the hand.

AK is a very profitable hand if you understand how to play it properly.

Its all situational based. AK is a really great hand to be honest and it annoys me when people call it a drawing hand, its a power hand and in nearly all cases it will be the best hand preflop, rarely dominated and very dominating itself.

But what do I know according to you all its an over rated drawrin' hand so ill just smile and nod.

Well then I guess my problem is not knowing how to play it properly. Fairly easy when you hit the flop but what if you hit air and are the first to act? Get so stifled here. I check they bet...don't feel confident with call so fold. Perhaps I'm remembering all the bad that has happened but this hand just befuddles me. I understand it's situational based...perhaps you could give a few scenarios or point me to an already existing article here. For what it's worth I play CC freerolls or 6max ring majority of the time if that has any bearing on anything.

Not overrated, just overplayed

Yeah, I mean just look at this comparison of a AK (drawing hand) vs 22-44 (made hands):

1st the awesome "Made Hands"
made hands.jpg (http://www.cardschat.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=23446&d=1253405677)


Then that loser AK
AK.jpg (http://www.cardschat.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=23447&d=1253405677)


AK is my 4th best overall starting hand in bb/100. You guys are either doing it wrong or you have no clue just how good AK is for you.

Oh yeah and I "overplay" it every chance I get.

Really wish everyone would stop thinking that hands have intrinsic value, these threads about specific hands being difficult or overrated indicate fuzzy poker thinking. All hands have relative value, relative to who you're playing against, what their range is, and to how you did or didn't hit the board (assuming you aren't all in pf).

And geez WV, you must be an AK god, AK is only the fifth most profitable hand in my db, so it must be overrated...

Have u said so, can u please explain how to play AK in different situations???
I have been really wanting to know the AK strategy....
I encounter with AK a lot of times, but end up either underplaying or overplaying it...

I think it is over-rated especially on ftp. I have seen it fall to 2 7 off so many times that I have lost respect for it. Hopefully my luck with the 2 cards will change and so will my attitude about them...lol

Monoxide will probably respond, but here are some thoughts - below assumes both/all players have roughly 100 bb's:

1. AK dominates any non-paired hand preflop, as Monoxide said. If an A or a K flops, you probably have the best hand.
2. If an A or K flops and you get a lot of action on your cbet, you have to decide whether your TPTK is probably good or not. You have to evaluate Villain and what he's done pf to make that decision - is he betting a draw? a set? bluffing?
3. If no A or K flops and you get action on your cbet, you're almost certainly behind and have to decide whether you should pay to see the turn. Do you have a strong draw, or are you counting on your overcards? For example, if you have AcKc on a Qc4cTh flop, you may choose to see the turn or re-raise on a semibluff. How strong do you think villain is to give you action? Is he the type of villain who will raise QJo or 99 there, or is he always showing up w a set? How likely is villain to fold to a semi-bluff or a pure bluff?
4. In general, esp at microstakes cash games, calling is usually a bad option (bet size dependent, villain dependent). If you can't see raising as at least a viable option, you prob should fold.

Note that this isn't an AK strategy, it applies to any hand you play. That's what I meant when I said that hands don't have intrinsic value, the value is relative to context. AA is objectively no question about it the best hand pf, but after the flop is not necessarily ahead.

For example, let's say you raise AA pf and get called by a fairly smart extremely nitty passive player. Flop is T62r and he ch/r's you, then leads the blank turn. What could he be playing? You're ahead of Tx, 99, JJ, and QQ (also KK, but that would've raised pf), and you're behind two pair hands (unlikely, a nitty passive player isn't going to show up w T6, 62, or T2), and you're behind sets (TT, 66, 22). A nitty passive player will usually call w 99, JJ, or QQ rather than raise because they're worried you have AA or KK. A set, however, would be looking to build the pot in a hurry so they can be all in on the river. Here's a spot where I might fold AA on the turn (I don't recommend folding overpairs at micro fwiw) - but note that against a loose aggressive villain, I may be looking to get all my money in on the turn if not the flop, because he's capable of raising Tx, JJ, QQ, etc.

QFT !

read and reread this, this is a pearl of wisdom

A great explanation of why AK is a great hand - Aliengenius - http://www.cardschat.com/showpost531624-post18.html

One way that you can play AK from a good position - Shermstick - Big Slick

W00t another AK thread.

AK is totally over-raited. people think it is some kind of an indestructable hand and have a tendancy to immediatly go all-in with it.
this hand isvulnerable to pretty much every hand there is. it only dominates another hand with a K or an A in it, and isnt KK or AA ofcourse.
people think its magical and prefer it to small pockets for some reason i cannot fully understand. maybe its something about the value of each card seperatly, people see a K and then an A and think theyve got the pot sinched, a big mistake in my mind.

If you want to gamble and put all your chips in the middle there are just two hands you have to fear:
AA + KK.
Against all other hands you got a good chance to win!
Most people play this hand bad after the flop!
If they do not hit and play against a pair you can losse a lot of chips...

No

its not overrated at all, its one of the very best hands...and just like the other power hands, it can lose to retarded hands. you're making a mistake by not playing it and representing the power you have...but know who you're playing against and know when to just take it easy and cut your losses if things aren't working out. one benefit is simply even if you don't hit, and even if you're sure you're behind, that if your opponent is willing to keep the pot small, AK is still dominating a good portion of the time when its worth it to remain in the pot. and the simple fact against bad players who won't lay down a their A4 they paired up with that A that hit the flop...their chips are now your's most of the time. don't give AK a hard time, sometimes he lets you down, but damn, he's got a hell of an advantage most of the time

Really? Why are these topics still popping up? At this point if you think AK is overrated, I'd love for you to come sit at my table.

great comments. For me it is the most destructive hand. But as said early on in thread it depends at what stage the tourney is (if a tourney) and your opponents and their stack sizes.

Full Tilt Poker $2 + $0.25 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 7 players - View hand 293517
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
CO: t1095 M = 14.60
BTN: t1950 M = 26
SB: t895 M = 11.93
BB: t5580 M = 74.40
UTG: t805 M = 10.73
UTG+1: t1105 M = 14.73
Hero (MP): t2070 M = 27.60
Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is MP with A ♣ K ♠
2 folds, Hero raises to t250, CO calls t250, 2 folds, BB calls t200
Flop: (t775) 3 ♦ K ♣ 6 ♥ (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, CO bets t845 all in, BB calls t845, Hero raises to t1820 all in, BB calls t975
Turn: (t5260) 4 ♦ (3 players - 2 are all in)
River: (t5260) Q ♣ (3 players - 2 are all in)
Final Pot: t5260
CO shows T ♠ 9 ♦ (King Queen high)
BB shows K ♦ T ♦ (a pair of Kings)
Hero shows A ♣ K ♠ (a pair of Kings)
Hero wins t1950
Hero wins t3310

Here is a way big slick payed off for me. I think suited is better than offsuite....but with the top 2 ranked cards I'll play them suited or off suite...doesn't matter eiehter way. I don't think it's over rated, I just think it's over played, and people to get too pot commited(sp?) and lose there whole stack after they miss the flop because they can't fold a god hand turned bad, either with all low board or whatever. Also any 2 cards can beat any other 2 cards depending on how the cards end up on the table, so ak could be beat by 72o, but thats just poker...

Its not overrated, its overplayed at low stakes.

Its mind boggling to me how many times at .05/.10 people standard raise AK, miss the flop of something like Q 8 6, c-bet, get raised all in, and call!

I feel it's over rated,,,but if I can see a flop for a small amount of chips,,, fine ,,, if not I'm gone...sure as heck not going all in unless I'm short stacked and no action in front of me....
Take care

Wanna bet?

i think its overated too people push with it but any 2 cards can easily beat ak..most times qk or jq call my ak and i loose.
or even a low poket pair

Wanna bet?

Any 2 cards can win any hand. AK suited is clearly better than not.

Attached Images

Poker Code.jpg (128.8 KB, 17 views)

I see so many all-ins at the micro tables with AK get crushed. I completely agree with the not overrated but overplayed line.

sure aslong as its on ftp..i lost with aa every time i have it and i mean it forgot when i last won with aa..ak too i always loose with it

I would love a graph of your games.

Not possible, mathamatically you can not loose every time with these hands or any hand for that matter. If this is true you are folding every hand pf or you you've only played a few games.

AKs are very strong preflop but only the flop "tells" how strong they are actually.

There are many circumstances that make them more or less valuable preflop. Eg position at the table, folds/calls/raises/reraises/allins before us, amount of our chips, our position in the tournament...

Anyway it's not bad holding AKs in the hand... :P