over rated hands

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marcumx

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i'm sort of new but i've been noticing A J and AK being over played. Everyone seems to be raising ridiculous amounts. I don't know about anyone else, but only like to limp in with these unless i'm short stacked because they usually miss for me..any thoughts?
 
kisambi

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Raise with them. AJ is not a very profitable hand though. You only have to pray for a J high flop or in rare cases a straight. Otherwise u can loose when an Ace fall. About AK, don't limp. Course then when you hit your K or A, you dont get enough value from your hand because you limped preflop. I dont know about the ridiculous amounts but 3x is a decent and acceptable raise for every hand. And when you miss, it's not that big of a loss. Other than limping and going into a flop with all the other limpers to see a flop where you most times wont be ahead even if it hits you. You risk loosing to 2 pair types of hands from the limpers. Raise and reraise with AK, raise or call a raise with AJ, unless people are too crazy.
 
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bnasp2

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At low limits, even AA is often over played :)

But dont limp. Especially not with AK.
AJ, raise in good position, be ready to fold to aggresive action.
AK, raise from any position. Then call or even re-raise. AK is actually very good hand, with good odds against anything but AA,KK. And even against KK you have some reasonable odds.

Most important for those, learn good postflop game, learn a bit about c-bet. As aggresor you need some c-bets in your game, even when you miss flop.
 
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bnasp2

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"AK, raise from any position."
By this I meant of course if you are first one to pot. If there was raise and 3-bet before you, you can fold AK with deep stack.
 
olliejjc16

olliejjc16

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i think 10s and aqo are overrated early in tournaments seen people get really aggressive with these and dominated so many times by ak jj+
 
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DincaAdrian123

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A J is overrated because it's made of two relativelly good cards.On the Flop pair of Jacks with A kicker is a good hand but pair of Ace's with Jack kicker in my opinion is a dangerous card even that the Ace's are the best pair.That's just my stand for this. Play safe and stay focused.
 
Martin

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JJ I find is over rated and a hard hand to play especially when a lot of players play almost any A and of course the A comes on the flop. Not only that but any Q or K on the board can have you in big trouble.
 
IntenseHeat

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I generally don't have problem playing A-J, mainly because of the types of hands that I am often called with. A lot of players will call raises with just about any Ace, and I often find myself dominating them with A-J. I find that players willing to to call raises with weak Aces will often let you know if they've got you dominated, because if they're calling raises with A-8, then they are probably shoving with A-Q or A-K.


As for A-K, I am going to play it aggressively, but that does not mean altering the size of my opening raise, so that my bet sizing gives away the strength of my hand. Nor am I going to be open shoving or three betting all-in as many players tend to do. If this what you mean by overplay, then I too have witnessed it. I've seen many players willing to risk their entire stack pre-flop with A-10 or better. In fact, I have seen more chips lost with A-K than any other hand. While I would try to avoid getting too carried away with these kind of hands, with A-K I will definitely be willing to make or call a 3-bet and even 4-bet or possibly call an all-in, depending upon the opponent I'm facing, of course.
 
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Just an idea on AK that has worked a bit for me. If you put your opponet on something you don't want to get it in with pre, play it to hit flop, or use a scare card like a J or Q to your advantage on the flop if you put the player on something such as 77-1010. Also, if the flop is seen 3 way or so, sometimes a check raise on a flop like K58 can be quite profitable. Best wishes, and GL!
 
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Kinda hard to overplay AK preflop in a tournament. If you got it in, its lol standard.
 
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Back when FTP was still available to US players, I took advantage of a free trial of Poker Tracker. The vast majority of my hands were played in single table SNGs. AK was by far my most profitable hand - mainly because I almost always raised or re-raised with it pre-flop. I c-bet a large pct. of the time with it too, unless there are a couple of callers with position on me.

Least profitable hand? J 10.
 
daredeviljo

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AK is a great hand to have, no matter where you are positioned in a table. But AJ can be just as good... For example, if you are under the gun you may want to raise 3x or if you know you have an aggressive table, you may want to check in hopes of a raise, leading then to a reraise from yourself. But, your success rate is marginal if you are under the gun with AK. Now if you were the cutoff with AJ, recieving minimal action from the previous opponents, then you can play it just as you would play AK, because the likelihood of the SB and BB having a better hand is also fractional. Just remember AK vs 2,2 is virtually a coin flip so you always have to be careful. Goodluck on the tables, Daredeviljo.
 
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You just need to get a better feel for the game. The more you play, the more you will understand which hands to play and in what position. Sometimes it isn't even remotely about the cards. You just have to play more. Generally speaking, KJ and KQ + A10 and AJ are overrated. Players like to raise and call raises OOP with these hands, with no real plan on what to do. Play more and observe situations. GL OP.
 
BluffyouBAD

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The Sklansky & Malmuth starting hands table.

Group Hands
1 AA, AKs, KK, QQ, JJ
2 AK, AQs, AJs, KQs, TT
3 AQ, ATs, KJs, QJs, JTs, 99
4 AJ, KQ, KTs, QTs, J9s, T9s, 98s, 88
5 A9s - A2s, KJ, QJ, JT, Q9s, T8s, 97s, 87s, 77, 76s, 66
6 AT, KT, QT, J8s, 86s, 75s, 65s, 55, 54s
7 K9s - K2s, J9, T9, 98, 64s, 53s, 44, 43s, 33, 22
8 A9, K9, Q9, J8, J7s, T8, 96s, 87, 85s, 76, 74s, 65, 54, 42s, 32s
9 All other hands not included above.

I go by Sklanksy/Malmuth hand groups. Play Group 1 and Top of Group 2 from any position.

I try and be careful with anything after group two out of position though.

People commonly think AJ and AQ are huge hands and then flop top pair only to be out kicked by an AK. They are good hands just have to be careful how you play them. Kinda gotta have a feel for your table and the players at it.
 
tracyrickrobby

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AK is definitely over rated! but always a great raising hand!! AJ is tricky, all depends on position, stack size and place in tourney!!
 
AugustWest

AugustWest

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Never forget position is where it's at in this game.
Tight up front and loose in da back!
AJ UTG is a open in 6 max , but gotta be careful in FR....
 
Kenzie 96

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i'm sort of new but i've been noticing A J and AK being over played. Everyone seems to be raising ridiculous amounts. I don't know about anyone else, but only like to limp in with these unless i'm short stacked because they usually miss for me..any thoughts?






Limping is usually a bad play, limping AK is usually a really, really bad play. If your intention is to get as little information as possible, playing with your eyes closed is much more effective.
Position, stack sizes, blind levels, position, type of game (cash or tourney), table dynamics & position all factor into your decision, but It can't be overstated, limping AK, is almost always a really bad idea. Stop doing it. ;)
 
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marcumx

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@ Kenzie...i used to play these hands the way it is usually taught to play..raising ect..but i always lost with them 98% of the time. i disagree that limping in is a bad play but it also depends what the players are like and where i'm at and position as was stated by others.
i limp in mostly because i am hoping to win a showdown and get the image that i limp in with these hands that way later on in, i can do a small raise and 2..as i stated, majority of the time when i raised with these hands i was out drawn.
To me, limping in is the most profitable way if i hit my cards because i'm getting more players and not scaring them off..unless i'm ss and deep in the tourney then i'll push with them.
 
Aces2w1n

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5/10 ppl are folding to me when I have AK... 2/10 times i'm getting good value. even getting bluffed some ppl try with 72 against me.
1/10 I get 2 pair or better and totally own someone with AQ AJ A10 kicker beats them :)
1/10 forced to fold on the flop due to an oversize bet because ppl are shoving on the flop generally when ppl have a set.

1/10 someone gets 2 pair on me. and beats my tpgk *always have to be wary* it costs you a lot of money
 
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marcumx

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i forgot to include (because when i posted this i was at work) that this was for tournament play. At a cash table i would most def raise with AK. However in a tourney or SNG, my main focus is surviving to the money and i am wanting to present an image that i'm super tight.
Exmple today playing in a SNG, blinds are 50-100..fold fold villian raises 500. folds all around , i'm in the BB..i am certain it's AK down to A 10 or pocket pairs. I have pocket 10's, it's my BB i can afford to see the flop so i call. flop comes A 6 9 , different suits. I throw out the min. 100 and he raises to 700. i think real hard because it's clear he has an Ace but i want to see one more card so i call , mainly because calling and losing will only bring me down to 2200. next card is my third 10. Check check. next card K. I throw out 1000 to present i have either a K or trying to steal, he raises all in and i call praying he doesn't have the flush but sure enough it was A K. I got lucky but i've been in his position more time than i can count. I appreciate all of the feed back :)
 
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K-9 is absolutely the worst, overrated hand of all time. There's nothing spectacular about it except it's named after a freaking dog. I know beginners that will play that hand to high hell.
 
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ChipTowerz

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my experience with online poker AA is overated.
ive probably lost the most money with AA than any other starting hand, yet i still love'em. haha

$ChipTowerz$
 
Tinie107

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KJ is the worst of the two face cards you could get and at low levels it get's overplayed a lot. As for limping in with AK i think you should always raise, i tend to almost 90% of the time 3-bet with it aswell, some people prefer to call a raise with it and see a flop but if you then miss you could be in trouble. AJ imo is one of my personal worst hands it's quite a tricky one to play.
 
DaReKa

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my experience with online poker AA is overated.
ive probably lost the most money with AA than any other starting hand, yet i still love'em. haha

$ChipTowerz$

I don't know how to play HORSE, but in Hold'em that would be virtually impossible. They have over 80% equity vs any other two cards. There are times to fold them, but far more frequently are times to keep value betting with them. So even if you overplay them, you will likely be making money with them.
 
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