Limping with AK

[Sardonix]

Maybe he was hoping for a raise so he could throw in a 3 bet. You didnt give any information about the blinds\antes/ other players stacks/ his exact position.

I personally would never limp with A-K unless someone at the table was raising a lot, just so i could slam a 3 bet on him and put him in check. I will slow play AA like this as well but sometimes i wont 3 bet after his raise because i dont want to scare the fish away. I let them trap thereselves. I never slowplay KK.

 

[Sailer18]

i think hands like that u should deal them very carefully...The problem with
ace king is that its a very good pre flop hand and u are hoping that u are gonna get paid...My approach is that some times u shoould raise pre flop not much so the people on the table dont put you very high ...And if u dont hit at the flop or u get small cards u fold immediately,Learn to fold good pre flop hands if u dont make sth good at the flop..Bad luck man
its a part of poker we just have to get passed it...

 

[spranger]

AK is absolutely not a limping hand, everyone above who said it's alright is wrong

 

[sharpone]

what

YOU MIGHT AS WELL LIMP WITH A,K. Raising only gets called by live cards, that hits consistantly so you are ultimately losing more money. I would raise on occassion in good position, but normally try to keep cheap to minimize the losses. DONT get me wrong a pot size bet pre-flop could be a good idea but play it safe.:deal:

 

[Nigel1963]

AK is absolutely not a limping hand, everyone above who said it's alright is wrong

OK.. so, the RULE is, according to you, that it is wrong to play AK slowly?

Why? If I have had them a couple of times and raised them during a tourney, why shouldn't I mix it up a bit to throw players off the scent a bit?

Also, like Bluffyou123 and a few others said, AK can cripple you or see you off if they don't hit.
Again comes down to what table is like, and how you and others have been playing.

Personally AK is just high card and I play it cautiously, but I don't see why there should be a set way to play them!

 

[Bernard Pugi]

Nice bluffing by him. I do also limp with AK. I just wait for the Flop to make sure that I got a pair with a high kicker. If someone will going to raise, of course I'm just going to call. It's a chance for a trap not getting it ALL IN. and when the Turn comes, you go ALL IN and I just Call. So guess what, you got into a trap. I got 2 Pairs with that AK. Don't be too aggressive dude. sometimes their hand are more better than your As.

 

[nightmoves44]

limp

You got caught ,is one of the very reasons to limp with AK.Plus its dangerous in some cases,you got to remember 22 will beat AK,if it dont hit.

 

[Roller]

AK is absolutely not a limping hand, everyone above who said it's alright is wrong

Nice !!!





I agree that 90% of the time you should Raise Preflop with AK.



But remember it's all situational.

 

[PL0TS]

I don't think you should do it every hand, now with that being said i do limp with AK or AA sometimes because it will catch people of guard if you hit the nuts... Like I said its just another trick for your bag but something not to do all the time...

 

[spranger]

OK.. so, the RULE is, according to you, that it is wrong to play AK slowly?

that's pretty much it

it's not the kind of hand you want 4 others coming to the flop. that's a quick way to go broke
it's also one of the top 5 hands in hold'em, and has tons of preflop fold equity and stuff. theres been like a million threads on it where people actually explain it good

 

[Nigel1963]

that's pretty much it

it's not the kind of hand you want 4 others coming to the flop. that's a quick way to go broke
it's also one of the top 5 hands in hold'em, and has tons of preflop fold equity and stuff. theres been like a million threads on it where people actually explain it good

I'm not saying entirely that you're wrong, I wouldn't do that!

Just saying that when you play, you get AK and you're raising, no matter how the tables been playing? I just think If you don't vary how you play, then over time people will just fold every time and all you'll be getting is the blinds. Slow playing big hands especially if you hit the flop can yield more chips, depending how the others are playing.

Just my opinion and others seem to be of the same opinion.

 

[Tom1559]

That was a tough one. What I have noticed a lot is that some players will slow play hands like AK on line but they would not do the same live. I dont really know why this is the case. In fact slow playing good hands seems to be in fashion at present on line. I have taken a few hits recently in similar situations.

 

[spranger]

I'm not saying entirely that you're wrong, I wouldn't do that!

Just saying that when you play, you get AK and you're raising, no matter how the tables been playing? I just think If you don't vary how you play, then over time people will just fold every time and all you'll be getting is the blinds. Slow playing big hands especially if you hit the flop can yield more chips, depending how the others are playing.

Just my opinion and others seem to be of the same opinion.

i see exactly where you're coming from.
but say you do raise every time with AK preflop, you can still mix it up how you play ON the flop. You can slow play when an A/K hits, or you can bet it fast, still making your play unpredictable

 

[sld2]

In most cases raise and re raise with AK, but I can see where he was coming from. Late in the tournament you have to trap, and he hoping for someone to hit an Ace with a lower kicker, (not 2 pair), or maybe he just had a bad experience with raising preflop with AK.

 

[lcid86]

I had 6 straight losses with AK - raised before the flop every time. Got beat by pocket pairs 3 times, suited cards once, and running cards twice. Thought I learned my lesson and just play them like I would a low pair (small raise), but got burned for 3/4 of my stack last night by a pair of Queens. Thought my opponent was bluffing with A and a rag. AK is good to see the flop, but I'll fold it now if I miss.

 

[beefcake413]

Perfect example why to limp with AK (Sometimes). I was 3rd to act and just called. Got the button to call as well as the SB, BB checked. Flop comes A 2 9 with two spaids. I have a raise, I go all in, get both of them all in behind me and I was up against AJ and A10, dodged them and took down a huge pot.

 

[PattyR]

wow dude, very unfortunate.

95% of the time i will check raise or just plain raise.

Good move on his part though being chip leader, got exactly as he wanted

 

[StealTheButton]

I just busted against AK. 4 players left in sit and go. I had 67 in BB and villain limped utg. I had 7BB and villain had 11. Flop 456. He bets every flop and turn, usually with nothing so I check raised all-in and he called with AK. Caught A on turn and K on river. Did he "get me" ? I don't think so. I got my chips in with the best hand and he made a loose call.

I get annoyed when players get paid playing poorly. The fact is they do "get me" limping with big hands. But the fact is the villain will usually make more and lose less when he raises.

 

[gryphon3005]

Okay, so you decide limp into a 3 way pot, out of position, with a very weak Ax hand. You hit the 2 pair but you decide to check...perhaps this was you trapping? Anyway the others check and when the king hits you shove...why? The other players played the hand the same way you did and both certainly would every Ax hand in their calling range. You didn't tell us what the 3rd card on the flop was or what came on the river but both could have hit an Ax holding in the other player's hands. With the money bubble approaching you threw caution to the winds and gambled your tournament life. If, instead, you lead out with a half pot bet you have the opportunity to test the waters and not lose all your chips.

 

[CallmeFloppy]

There are certainly times I will limp with AK. It is rare, but there are certainly times I would do it.

If I know I have someone that likes to raise pots with limpers behind me, I will limp hoping to re-raise him. I may also do it hoping a short stack shoves and get a chance to knock them out.

Just a few times but you have to feel the situation. Sometimes I just limp so they don't know I will raise every time I have AK.

 

[edenman1]

I have had great luck with AK, and usually play it very strong. But it can lose pretty easy for sure!

 

[Sokolik]

These two cards are becoming a nightmare for me. As soon as I start playing with them, I start losing the stack. I'm beginning to doubt the power of these cards.

 

[fundiver199]

The only situations, where I would limp AK, is, if the effective stack is short and I think, it can induce a light ship from players behind. Usually that would be, if it folds to me in SB, since this is the only seat, where I have a general limping strategy. Some players love to "set a trap" by limping aces or kings UTG and then go for a limp-reraise, but this only work well, if you have a general limping strategy. Otherwise anyone but a complete dumb nut will know exactly, what you have, and you will just end up playing a limped pot with your monster hand. Where honestly you deserve to get sucked out on, because you played so badly before the flop.

 

[Fryesmetalroofs777]

Yeah everyone has a different style of playing. It is very hard and frustrating sometimea whenever i cant read the other person. Sometimes i think im playing a robot smh.

 

[BrewCrewWI]

Pretty amazing the original poster on this thread was 2009. Maybe more amazing is the amount of replies or lack there of in all those years.

Limpers with AK get me everytime if I have anything that post flop may be the nutz without AK being considered in the opponents hand. I feel like this move almost never works for me. I limp with AK and every time it's busted by cards lower than 6 for a starting hand. If only I had raised, I wouldn't be losing to a hand that is only in the hand because of it being cheap.

Likewise though when I raise any calls are PPs or Ax and they find a way to a flush or hitting that lower card. Even in AK AK matchups and thinking chop the river flushes me out.
When is AK successful for me? When I raise and the table folds.