How loosely do you play AK?

How do you play AK?

  • I always go ALL-IN preflop with AK

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    53
punctual

punctual

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
Total posts
1,057
Chips
0
It seems to me that many players play AK as if they were the nuts. I see people going all-in with this hand so often mostly preflop but even post-flop with no improvement in the hand.

My own experience with AK has been varied but I try not to play the hand so aggresively. After all, in the absence of a hit on the flop, turn, or river, AK is simply Ace high.

Now I used to go all in with this hand regularly when I first started playing but I soon realized that it didn't make much sense to take that kind of risk if doing so meant I would risk tournament elimination. A draw is just a draw. Why put all your chips in? Of course, this play makes more sense to me when you are not covered and perhaps also when you are severely shortstacked. I find myself not only losing with AK very often but also eliminated from a tournament because of my unwarranted faith in the hand.

Was wondering how other people on this forum perceive AK and tend to play it.
 
dino

dino

10 cevapcici = 0 stress
Community Guide
Joined
Jan 14, 2007
Total posts
6,534
Awards
3
DE
Chips
247
play aggressively but not extrem, depends of the table
 
J

joe777

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
May 3, 2014
Total posts
2,694
Chips
0
Early in a tournament,I'll try not to be so aggressive with AK.But it is different story in the middle and especially deep phase.It also depend heavily on the dynamic of the table and my stack condition.
 
T

tomnovember

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Total posts
598
Chips
0
It really depends. AK is quite strong in tournaments. I will play AK cautiously in early stages, but not hesitate to shove preflop when my M value become low.
 
Daniel72

Daniel72

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Total posts
2,284
Awards
2
Chips
18
In micro tourneys in the early stages you can shove AK preflop, because the crazy weak players are still in the MTT and you get full value, because they call with all sorts of crap (any ace , any paints, any suited crap etc.) so you get lots of 70:30 and 60:40´s. :)
 
tothbopo

tothbopo

Legend
Silver Level
Joined
Aug 15, 2013
Total posts
1,433
Chips
0
AK is to schove and maybe reraise depending on situation.

Remember if you miss the flop dont spend any more on it.
 
T

trent32la

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
Jun 12, 2013
Total posts
2,852
Awards
1
Chips
0
AK is a hand I often see misplayed in tournaments...at times I will see people open limp with it..and this is a huge mistake as your lowering your equity by allowing others to take a cheap flop...AK is a hand you want isolated often and you should be playing it aggressively regardless...if your not 3betting with AK...you better have a good reason to flat...early on in tourneys AK is a hand ill flat raises with preflop...in mid-later stages I will never flat with it...by raising or 3betting we give ourselves a chance to win the pot preflop and potentionally take a pot down by cbetting the flop...and we will often get paid off if we hit our hand...AK is a great hand to 3bet shove with when <20bb as you will rarely be crushed....its an undervalued hand and you have to realize it has more equity vs random hands than small pairs! That's often why its much better to call off allins with AK than 44 for say...if your folding AK in spots because its "just ace high" what are you really waiting for
 
EvertonGirl

EvertonGirl

Professional Fish
Loyaler
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Total posts
8,421
Awards
3
GB
Chips
99
AK is a hand I often see misplayed in tournaments...at times I will see people open limp with it..and this is a huge mistake as your lowering your equity by allowing others to take a cheap flop...AK is a hand you want isolated often and you should be playing it aggressively regardless...if your not 3betting with AK...you better have a good reason to flat...early on in tourneys AK is a hand ill flat raises with preflop...in mid-later stages I will never flat with it...by raising or 3betting we give ourselves a chance to win the pot preflop and potentionally take a pot down by cbetting the flop...and we will often get paid off if we hit our hand...AK is a great hand to 3bet shove with when <20bb as you will rarely be crushed....its an undervalued hand and you have to realize it has more equity vs random hands than small pairs! That's often why its much better to call off allins with AK than 44 for say...if your folding AK in spots because its "just ace high" what are you really waiting for

+1
 
Daniel72

Daniel72

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Total posts
2,284
Awards
2
Chips
18
it is funny... because i indeed sometimes open limp with AK at agressive tables (from my experience for instance with lots of brazilian, portugease and greek players), because it is almost 100 % sure somebody raises. Then i re-push (like trapping with open-limped Aces LOL)...sometimes i even open-limp-trap these tables with AQ or AJs (!!) because i am almost always ahead, because they "punish" my limp with all sorts of crap (KQ, A9 etc...)
of course i proceed with caution in a multiway pot, even with TPTK, if nobody raises, but again..the micro world nowadays is very aggro :)
 
Salvete777

Salvete777

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Total posts
200
Chips
0
I play very tight preflop with AK. Usually do small raises and that's all.
And all-in only shortstacked.
 
J

jj20002

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Oct 12, 2013
Total posts
777
Chips
0
AK is tricky so just shove when shortstacked (less than 10 blinds and not in the bubble)

at the beginning ot mtt i fold them most of time and when somebody raise before and i hold a middle to large stack i could fold or maybe call (when a cheap flop) but i dont risk my stack if im running deep and well against a significant raise or a shove which could vanish my stack more than one third
 
D

DrStrange

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Jun 11, 2014
Total posts
49
Chips
0
personally.. I tend to be very aggressive with AK pre-flop..try to build a nice pot in case I hit.. but my experience with AK isn't all that good.. most of the time I do not hit the flop and sometimes even lose..

I have a better record with Pockets 9s and Pocket Ts as compared to AK.
 
teepack

teepack

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Total posts
2,317
Awards
1
Chips
14
It all depends on the situation. If it is early in an MTT, blinds are small, then I'll raise it up 5-6x BB. IF someone has raised before, sometimes I will just call to try to disguise the strength of my hand. Then the flop will dictate my next course of action. If I'm shortstacked in an MTT, then it's an automatic shove. If I have a large stack and we're near the bubble, I will do a significant raise, but I will watch out for a re-raise, especially if it is from someone with a bigger stack or someone who could do some serious damage to my stack.
 
Elmanchy

Elmanchy

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Jul 5, 2014
Total posts
68
Chips
0
I tend to go ALL-IN preflop with AK ONLY when I am shortstacked
 
P

PinkTriangle

Rising Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
Total posts
11
Chips
0
It honestly depends on the players you are sitting with. There is no single working strategy in Holdem.

You have to observe the players "style" at your table before making any moves.

I find one thing always seems to work.

Just Call/Check

I think your main goal in poker should be to be confident in your hand.
Even if you have bullets you should assume that you can be beat pre-flop.

I tend to always try and let my opponents feel like they are in control of the hand.. Let them bet.. let them make mistakes and be a tell.

If you pair up at flop wait to raise until the turn or river. Let your opponent get a hand.

If they raise on the turn and you think you have them beat.. Just call... take your time to.. make it appear to your opponent that you are trying to hit it on the river or have a weak hand.

If you know they have a hand and they bet when they do... on the river check it to them.. when they raise.. Re-raise them. By then they are so sure they are going to win that they will at least call.. or re-raise again.

This works for me 95% of the time the only time it doesn't is when someone was trying to bluff.. In which case they will fold if you make a bet anyway.. At least now you've made some chips off of their mistakes, and more people may have stuck around for the showdown.. with weak pairs, and no indication or tell from you that you may have something good. ...

If you want to be confusing you have to be consistent with your betting (regardless of your hand). Personally id rather get to at least the turn for the cheapest possible amount. As anything can happen for your opponent in the last two cards.. At which point folding will not be so hard for you!

Hope I made some sense. Have fun trying this strategy.

P.S. what tends to happen when I play this way is people get wise and conservative. They become weary of betting or calling anything (and fold a lot).. No you wont be able to make huge pots frequently at this poin, but you have the unique opportunity now to be a bully and a bluff. Play aggressive.. Be a tell and profit off of folded blinds.. maybe even lose a hand or two on purpose.. making people think you were just a lucky ass earlier. Build their confidence and or anger!
 
Last edited:
alpinefever

alpinefever

Rising Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
Total posts
11
Chips
0
It depends?

I prefer Negreanu's advice on AK.

I am enjoying this poll, however, and the content within.

Thank you muchly.
 
Roozo

Roozo

Rising Star
Bronze Level
Joined
Jun 13, 2014
Total posts
4
Chips
0
A lot of posts are indicating they play very passively with AK due to difficult post flop situations. It seriously surprises me.

Whenever I play a tournament I've learnt to only play for 1st place, so with this mind set aggressive play is the most fundamental key to winning. No matter what stage of the tournament I'm in, im looking to play AK as aggressively as possible. Most players here aren't playing and an EPT or the ME where the starting stacks are ridiculously deep, we're playing online MTTs which you generally start with 3000 chips and after just an hour that 3000 chips will be worth 30BB.

I'd prefer flipping with AK vs QQ in the first level and having the chance to build an early stack rather than having to play a high variance shoving game so the blinds dont eat you alive.

I'd prefer to be accumalating chips by stealing the blinds with small raises then bluff shoving against steals.
 
olliejjc16

olliejjc16

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
May 18, 2011
Total posts
521
Chips
0
i play it cautious early on in tournaments with small blinds and big stacks, i find the longer a tournament progresses the stronger ak gets and the more aggressive you should get with it as a result
 
Poker Orifice

Poker Orifice

Fully Tilted
Platinum Level
Joined
Jan 19, 2008
Total posts
25,600
Awards
6
CA
Chips
968
Tournament poker is about specific situations & it would be impossible for me to pick any of the options in this poll because none of them even remotely describe the things I'm considering when playing it.

I mean there's the obvious things like open-shoving on a ss
but there's way too many variables in most situations to try to generalize what I would do with a specific holding
 
K

kworm2013

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Jan 20, 2013
Total posts
181
Chips
0
AK is quite good in the tournament. To play aggressively is not bad .
 
V

Vazh93

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Jul 11, 2014
Total posts
25
Chips
0
Play it aggressively pre-flop. Never forget that even though it's a great starting hand, you can always miss when the board comes out.
 
Z_T

Z_T

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Jul 10, 2014
Total posts
26
Chips
0
I used to go all in A-k suited or off suited and lose all my money in early hands, now depending on my position, how many players folded before me and my chipstack I usually just call and see how well I connect with the flop and go on from there. I've learn to become comfortable with folding these hand in certain situations as well.
 
T

terryg642

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Total posts
141
Chips
0
How I play AK depends on what stage of the tourney I'm in .Final table is an auto shove ,In the money is a shove.BFM(BEFORE THE MONEY) I'll put in a preflop raise with a post flop bet no matter what.Most the time people have pocket QQ'S If they go all in before you, I have seen KK but it's more often QQ OR JJ.AK is really the jeckle and hide of poker when hits it's a beautifull thing and when doesn't ,better luck next time.
 
Top