What is it about AKs?

I've witnessed so many players fall on their swords over this hand. If they don't go all in before the flop they call all the way to the river with nothing after the flop.
There's something about this hand that makes some players incapable of laying it down. It's like "this is such a great hand I deserve to win no matter what". It's a drawing hand people and if you don't have draw or a pair after the flop lay it down. A pair twos can beat you. Anyway it's fun to watch.

then dont tell them to lay it down, and collect from it

I saw some guy go all in with AK recently when he had over 4000 in chips and there was only 110 chips in the pot lol ,then he sat in the lobby steaming over his big loss when he had the "best " hand lmao he lost to JJ lol

I hate that hand almost as much as pocket aces. It's really too pretty and gets a lot of people in trouble. I like to try to see a flop cheap with AK and if I don't get at least a pair or maybe a four card draw, I fold when the price of the next card goes up.

There is a simple solution to playing AK properly(IMO), play it as you would play a small PP, limp in EP only calling a 3xBB bet if someone bets(folding to any raise larger than 3BB) and raise in LP then c-bet the flop.

Thats my take on AK.

AK is a great hand at two points in a tournament.

1) When your table is full of lag-tards who will call an all-in with any ace
2) Late game when the blinds are huge


That's when AK really shines.

When you're in a cash game, and you get to 4-bet that light 3-betting a$$hole! *That's* when ace king really shines.

What's the old joke?

AK = Anna Kournikova

Looks really good, but seldom wins.

here is a link to a great discussion of AK

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/cash-games-11/value-ak-suited-97972/

c9h13no3 said:

When you're in a cash game, and you get to 4-bet that light 3-betting a$$hole! *That's* when ace king really shines.

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yep, you have an ace AND a king in your hand, making AA/KK unlikely, and you at least have an almost coinflip against anything else, if not totally dominating it (AQ/AJ)
personally i usually just hope the 3 better folds, but if he calls you arent too bad off either uusally. kind of like a semibluff with a nut flush draw preflop, only you have even better odds.

I hate stupid AK threads almost as much as stupid AA threads.

AK is a STRONG hand. Play it that way.

WVHillbilly said:

I hate stupid AK threads almost as much as stupid AA threads.

AK is a STRONG hand. Play it that way.

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This is an AK suited thread. Its totally different.

c9h13no3 said:

This is an AK suited thread. Its totally different.

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It's soooooooooooted

c9h13no3 said:

This is an AK suited thread. Its totally different.

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Sorry my mistake.

shinedown.45 said:

It's soooooooooooted

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WVHillBilly said:

Sorry my mistake.

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^_^ Sorry, my newbfish spelling isn't up to par.

AK suited or not if you don`t hit after the flop best bet is to lay them down. Any pair is gonna beat you unless you fish till then end and get lucky.

guitarpicker69 said:

AK suited or not if you don`t hit after the flop best bet is to lay them down. Any pair is gonna beat you unless you fish till then end and get lucky.

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So in a .50/1 NL game with 100bb stacks I raise to $4 from the CO and the BB calls. The flop comes Q 7 4 rainbow. The BB donks for $3. Do you fold, call, or raise?

Same set up but this time the BB checks? Check behind or cbet?

Same basic setup except this time you're called only by the button. Do you cbet into him or check / fold?

I say that in none of these situations where your AK missed the flop should you give up and fold after the flop.

Seriously do you people only ever win pots when you connect with the flop? Seems like a tough way to win $$ to me.

WVHillbilly said:

So in a .50/1 NL game with 100bb stacks I raise to $4 from the CO and the BB calls. The flop comes Q 7 4 rainbow. The BB donks for $3. Do you fold, call, or raise?

Same set up but this time the BB checks? Check behind or cbet?

Same basic setup except this time you're called only by the button. Do you cbet into him or check / fold?

I say that in none of these situations where your AK missed the flop should you give up and fold after the flop.

Seriously do you people only ever win pots when you connect with the flop? Seems like a tough way to win $$ to me.

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The first example: BB comes out betting $3. What, you assume he's bluffing?. Then to call would be dumb right?. So you raise right? This is just the sort of thing I was referring about in my thread. If you just call then your chasing, which again I see all the time with this hand. He could easily have Queens. He certainly might have called your $3 raise with KQ.
I would fold.

The 2nd ex: I might take a stab at the pot but if he calls now you have problems.

The 3rd ex: This would depend on the player. I might bet 50% of the time as a general rule. If I do check and he bets I fold.

SloansTeddy said:

The first example: BB comes out betting $3. What, you assume he's bluffing?. Then to call would be dumb right?. So you raise right? This is just the sort of thing I was referring about in my thread. If you just call then your chasing, which again I see all the time with this hand. He could easily have Queens. He certainly might have called your $3 raise with KQ.
I would fold.

The 2nd ex: I might take a stab at the pot but if he calls now you have problems.

The 3rd ex: This would depend on the player. I might bet 50% of the time as a general rule. If I do check and he bets I fold.

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Yes, 80+% of the time a 1/3 pot donk bet into a PF raiser is a small pocket pair or maybe 2nd pair that wants you to go away quickly and cheaply. Depending on my opponents aggression I might either call and reevaluate on the turn or I might make it $10 to go and we'll see how much he wants to continue OOP. Call passive straight forward players and raise more aggressive move makers.

In the 2nd hand I have no problems, I'm still in position and he still has to act first after the turn if he calls my flop bet.

The 3rd hand is actually the worst for me if my cbet is called because I'm OOP and won't know where I am even if an A or K hits the turn.

Yes, 80+% of the time a 1/3 pot donk bet into a PF raiser is a small pocket pair or maybe 2nd pair that wants you to go away quickly and cheaply. Depending on my opponents aggression I might either call and reevaluate on the turn or I might make it $10 to go and we'll see how much he wants to continue OOP. Call passive straight forward players and raise more aggressive move makers.

The 1/3 bet I didn't catch..not paying attention I guess. Yes that is weak.
You are an aggressive player and you would be tough to play against in a ring game. I play mostly MTTs and just today I see I guy with 11k chips, bb is at 200 chips and he goes all in preflop from the co with AK. Hes called by the sb with 14K chips who has KK and he goes down in flames.

One of the beauties of Big Slick is the pre-flop pressure that you can put on your opponents

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You can put the same preasure on your opponent prer-flop with 7-2o

but post flop you need to have connected before you can really turn up the heat.

You may hold AK and be sure that your opponent hasnt connected but you arnt a HUGE favorite at this point especially if there are several callers As its more likely that some of them hold Aces or Kings meaning that there are fewer cards for you to draw from.

Pre flop its a mgreat hand .. maybe even worth an all in call. But Post flop it looses its value if it dosnt connect.. especially if the pot is being rised big

RollinOnDubz said:

I personally think Slick is overrated and I hate that hand. If I can get a cheap flop great, if not instantly mucked unless i have a nice stack and a shorty is all in.. I would play Q's anyday, the ladies are good to me.

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Can you please drop the railbird avatar in here, I find it a tad offensive to have anothers forum posted as your avatar. There are plenty of forum members here who are members there too, (including myself) but its just not cool imo.

Seeing a flop cheap is good but you seldom get these kinds of hand and not raising lets everybody see a cheap flop. Yes if you don't connect you can fold but I find that if you raise most poor hands should be gone and those are the ones that might hit the bad flop so you still have a chance to be good even if you don't pair up. Yeah sometimes they call with 5-6 suited but I think that's a mistake on their part and even if they get lucky this hand those plays won't hold up forever. You want to bet with the odds and fold if you don't have them. Otherwise is just random chance.

AK

AK is tough hand, wjere many people fall but i thin kbest way to play them is raise enough that you get informaition for other hands and i wouldnt get all my chips in the middle b4 flop in big pot. Comment if you want .

You are never really unjustified in sticking a lot or all of your chips in with AK, especially suited. It is a tremendous hand because if you pair, you automatically have top-pair w/ top-kicker. Even if you are up against a PP, you are almost even money, unless of course it's AA or KK. But AK is a tremendous hand