Do you ever fold AK pre-flop ?

[Flsnookman]

I like ace king if i'm the 1st raiser but if i'm raised into or there is already 1 caller im not putting all my chips in with it unless im short stacked. Good luck.

 

[A2345Razz]

Look I was taught you never fold AK pre-flop but lately I have lossed every hand all in pre-flop with this. It doesnt matter what the other guy has my AK is taking a beaten. Last encounter was AKsuited versus QJoff of course he hit the J and eliminated me. Do you fold it ? or just try to see the flop ?

1) Who taught you "never" to fold AK preflop in Holdem...that is idiotic in NLH...in LHE...well I can see it being true.

ALways exceptions though.

It depends, I would generally try and see a flop and would make a decision based on position , stack sizes and blinds.

Uh, not with like 0-20BB you shouldn't be wanting to see a flop...AK is the perfect reshoving hand.

Pretty much big stacks will call you with everything and your in tough spots when short stacked. Probably better getting it all in shortstacked with PP's... Though Ak vs QJ esp shortstacked it's quite scarey. You'd rather be upagainst KQ or a weaker ace or king. Not sure what the odds are against QJ are preflop but it's not as good as you'd think.

Always a flip preflop all-in and all your hoping for is to double up, I like minraising when i'm shortstacked and sucker ppl into the pot and see the value add. You don't want ppl to fold and you want all the chips in the middle to extend your life. *Also you want to win big pots when your in the pot* due to the fact you want to try and risk your tourney life as little as possible and avoid flips.

If someone's calling range is wide, you would prefer to have AK over a small PP...this is bc you will dominate much more of his/her range than with a hand like 33 or something.

Think about the combinations and freqs of Aces/Suited Aces that AK has in horrible shape.

I throw it away in a tourney, when there´s a raise and a reraise before me (when both players are not donks) or when a very bigstack shoves and i am very deep too, then i don´t like a coin flip...

If the RR is in a good 3betting position or an obvious squeeze position...cold 4Betting AK is wonderful at less than 40BB in most cases. Less than 30 its pretty much a no brainer unless the RR'r is a nit.

it depends on the position, stack sizes and the number of opponents in the pot. usually i don't fold such a hand and 80 % i have the pot with it, even at showdown, or until the river through well thinked bets. it is a great hand, but, it depends on the number of opponents and the position.

Yup, and a myriad of other factors...

it really depends on stack size and action. with under 100bb in a tourney i'm almost always gonna ship it unless there is like a 4bet in front of me or something. As for cash games, I fold it sometimes if i'm OOP and facing a 3bet or 4bet or something.

If youre intent on shipping AK with more than 50BB a lot of the time...you are simply playing badly tbh.

i fold close to the bubble sometimes and whenever there are 2 or more all ins already.

Why would you dump a great shoving/reshoving hand near the bubble....reshove on midstacks or other big one, gather chips, win tournaments.

Your objective is not cashing....ever in MTTs outside beginners or sattys.

 

[MediaBLITZ]

@A2345Razz:

Thank you - I sure didn't have the patience to address all that

 

[swissarmy]

ak is a powerfull tourney hand for shoving because of the many times you will be up against a lesser ace or even better kq...if you flip with qq or under so be it..you are only screwed by 2 hands and if you are suited you can still have a chance to crack em

 

[TeUnit]

multiple times a day, depends on the type of tourney and things like tourney equity

if u are playing a don and have 3k in chips with 6 players left the next blind will take out the low stack - u would need to fold aces to a raise by the big stack

 

[Kkingpoker30]

I would play all-in with one or two opponents

 

[Weissr]

I am more inclined to fold AK in an all-in preflop situation more so in the early stages of a tournament than in the later stages. Seeing a flop and re-evaluating is definitely is a much better option (if stacks are decently deep of course).

With 10-15BB get that s*** in!!!

 

[Aleksei]

I am more inclined to fold AK in an all-in preflop situation more so in the early stages of a tournament than in the later stages.

I'd consider that a mistake. You have AA and KK blocked off, you're flipping versus the tightest GII ranges, and doubling up or going home early will make your decisions WAY easier deep into the tournament.

 

[racorel]

I honestly do not know how often they fold the AK but I sure have given fold.I folded even KK and AA in the bubble.with AA i folded after the river,when were cards on the table for colour and or straight.....from 73k chips i stuck with 50k chips after folding...i dont now if is the right decision but after another 3 hands i was in money)))

 

[jasonv12]

I folded it several times today. I mean it's a great hand, but in double up SNG's, the play often dictates a fold with it.

But, yeah, as annoying as it can be to fold a hand that big, if facing a 3bet or 4bet or whatever, it might be a good consideration.

 

[jcdagenius]

it depends on a lot of things. me personally im playing ak almost everytime except when there is to much action in front of me and I know im beat. ak is too strong of a hand to just snap fold it like its pocket 55 all the time. its about knowing when to squeeze with it , when to call, when to c bet, just knowing where you are at in the hands you are in. Ill take my bad beats with ak

 

[jcdagenius]

I also believe people overplay ak by turning it into a bluffing hand to much. there are spots preflop where ak cant call all in. you just have to be aware

 

[Aleksei]

I folded it several times today. I mean it's a great hand, but in double up SNG's, the play often dictates a fold with it.

But, yeah, as annoying as it can be to fold a hand that big, if facing a 3bet or 4bet or whatever, it might be a good consideration.

If you're facing a 3bet it's usually a good idea to turn AK into a semibluff. Why? Because tight players will call a 4bet with {QQ+/AK} (a range you're flipping against) and 5bet jams with KK/AA, and just having AK in your hand renders the chances of anyone else having AA/KK almost nonexistent. So, you have tremendous fold equity.

And then if someone's flatting 4bets lighter than that, you have fairly large equity versus a 10-15%-ish range because it has a ****ton of Ax hands you dominate.

 

[GWU73]

Yes. If there is alot of action ahead of me from reasonable players, I muck AK without hesitating. It is way to easy to face AA or KK, Plus even if you get lucky and are against QQ or less, you are still a dog.

 

[jcdagenius]

sometimes you can play ak very strong even when someone has a strong hand because some players post flop play is just terrible. so even with qq or jj against ak you can get them to lay down on a k69 type board cause of fear

 

[AtiFCOD]

Under 20BBs, it's true, never fold it. Unless you are on the final table and it is full of shortstacks (cos ICM).

 

[Randall McMurphy]

I honestly do not know how often they fold the AK but I sure have given fold.I folded even KK and AA in the bubble.with AA i folded after the river,when were cards on the table for colour and or straight.....from 73k chips i stuck with 50k chips after folding...i dont now if is the right decision but after another 3 hands i was in money)))

Geez Louise, all in pre flop with AA or KK on the bubble. If anyone calls great. Few will call and you get blinds and antes.

 

[AlfieAA]

I honestly do not know how often they fold the AK but I sure have given fold.I folded even KK and AA in the bubble.with AA i folded after the river,when were cards on the table for colour and or straight.....from 73k chips i stuck with 50k chips after folding...i dont now if is the right decision but after another 3 hands i was in money)))

Lol, if you want to be a min casher then go for it, but if you wanna go for the win and take advantage of people like yourself on the bubble then you need to widen your range on the bubble....folding KK AA and AK on the bubble is lolterrible and shows you dont have much drive to win the games outright.....

 

[AtiFCOD]

Lol, if you want to be a min casher then go for it, but if you wanna go for the win and take advantage of people like yourself on the bubble then you need to widen your range on the bubble....folding KK AA and AK on the bubble is lolterrible and shows you dont have much drive to win the games outright.....

Yeah, the good player notices who gets tight on bubble. They usually fold for a miniraise. The problem is that when I have big stack, I dont even notice the bubble. When I'm short stack, I can't afford losing chips with preflop raises. :/

 

[KPtoken420]

Depends on the action in front of me... If more than three raisers and callers before me means someone else has some big cards like me reducing my outs or might be crused by AA, KK or a small pair which at best I will be flippin against for the win. If I am first to act or taking on a short stack iso play i never fold AK.

 

[psychotie]

I always fold AK against more than 1 all in in , or in case of a reraise all in of more than 1 player

 

[pokerguyben2013]

Pre-flop I wouldn't do that, just because at a 9 player table the odds that anybody would have pockets that could potentially beat your pair right off the bat is very low so if you hit a pair of any kind it will be far better than what anybody probably has or will have, plus you have the ace kicker as insurance.

 

[Jblocher1]

Pre-flop I wouldn't do that, just because at a 9 player table the odds that anybody would have pockets that could potentially beat your pair right off the bat is very low so if you hit a pair of any kind it will be far better than what anybody probably has or will have, plus you have the ace kicker as insurance.

Chances are though that if your opponent 5 bet shoved u for instance, it is extremely likely he's sitting on tens, jacks, queens, kings or aces. If he has any of those at best ur equity is 40% and u are disadvantaged. So yes if I'm on the bubble of a big tourney and I need to make a decision and I'm healthy in chips I am not calling down my tournament life with AK pre. Because it can be cracked pretty easily.

 

[deedbr]

I always fold AK against more than 1 all in in , or in case of a reraise all in of more than 1 player

I don't like to make a hard and fast rule like that. It really depends on stack sizes, peoples ranges and situations.

 

[wagnert]

Normally not. Sometimes if two people are all in ahead of me I will. Even then, it depends on stack sizes, what kind of players they are, etc..