How to Play of Ace King
Suited or unsuited, early or
late position - ace king is a premium hand that
is best played in a tight and aggressive manner.
One of the unique characteristics of an unpaired
hand such as ace king is that it sometimes has
the ability to hold up against few players
without improving. Additionally, a hand such as
ace king possesses the ability to fold a better
hand. By playing ace king aggressively, you will
see your profit margins increase by taking
advantage of this starting hand’s main
strengths.
Deciding How Much to Raise
Pre-flop with Big Slick
You should raise preflop when
you have ace-king more often than not. There are
several items up for consideration when deciding
how much to raise with ace king. You want to
consider position and stack sizes for both you
and your likely opposition. Venture an educated
guess as to how many players you expect to get a
call from, as it is imperative to plan your hand
prior to acting.
Before we decide how much to
raise, we must take the following into account:
- What is the average
preflop raise at this table?
- What has my average raise
looked like during the course of this
session?
- Is there a
"live player"
at the table and if so, how do I best get
his attention in this hand?
- What kind of players are
at my table (tight, loose, passive,
aggressive)?
When playing this hand out,
let us assume we are playing $1/$2 no limit
Texas Holdem, and we have the maximum buy-in of
$200 in front of us. We will also assume that
the table is made up of a variety of playing
styles as well as skill levels. Additionally,
the average raise for this table is between
$6/$10, and our average raise is anywhere from
$6 to $12.
Consider the Possible Flops
and Post-flop Actions with Ace King
Statistically, the most likely
situation after the flop is that we flop over
cards. The odds of making a pair or better for
us are roughly 3.5 to 1. This means that most
flops will result in us holding overcards to the
board. We will plan for the most likely scenario
and adjust in the event we flop a pair or
better. Of course, considering that are table
image is that of a tight-aggressive poker
player, we will be expected to make a
continuation bet if we are the preflop raiser.
More often than not, a check on a flop we have
raised suggests we might be trapping after
flopping a monster, though we know we use the
check for more reasons than to trap. While the
flop may dictate how much we bet, it will not
change the fact that more often than not, we
will be the aggressor after raising preflop.
That being said, we will take
the following actions based on the following
scenarios:
Scenario 1: Big Blind with
Ace-King Suited 1 Raiser, one caller
Middle position raises to $6
and the small blind calls. Middle position is a
tight and semi-aggressive player who can lay
down a hand. The small blind seems to enjoy
calling when he has “paid the blinds” only to go
away if he misses the flop or bet if he hits it.
We are out of position with big slick in
relation to the raiser. We are torn between
calling and raising here, but decide to simply
call and take the flop.
The pot contains $18, our
stack is $194. The flop comes 2-4-9 with two
diamonds, giving us a flush draw and two
overcards. The small blind leads out with a $12
bet. This tells us, given our player notes that
the small blind hit the flop. The question
becomes how hard did it hit him? Furthermore,
how can we best secure a free card if we need
it, playing for either a pair or a flush? Our
choices are call or raise. As a tight-aggressive
player, we decide to raise possibly buying a
free card on the turn, as well as to begin
building a pot in the event the turn hits us. We
put in a raise to $30. The preflop raiser folds
and the small blind calls.
The pot contains $78, while
our stack size is $164. The turn card is a jack
- no flush. The small blind checks. A check
behind gives us the free card we were striving
for. However, it is possible that our opponent
has a hand such as ace - nine or ace four. He
may have a set, though he would have likely
re-raised the flop or bet out on the turn. The
only way we can rule out a set here is to bet,
though we do not wish to commit to the pot, in
case the diamond does not fall. We decide to bet
$20, disguising this as a value bet, though in
reality we are seeing where we are at, as well
as setting up for a river play of some sort. The
small blind calls.
The river delivers a 2 of
diamonds, giving us the flush. The small blind
puts out what appears to be a blocking bet of
$25. We decided with certainty that he did not
have a set given that he did not re-raise when
he had the opportunity to. Additionally, he is
more of a straightforward player, so we can
comfortably raise here. With the $25 bet, the
pot contains roughly $140, which is just shy of
our stack. If the player would call a value
raise of ours here, he would also call an
all-in. As a result, we move all-in.
Unfortunately, the player folds - however, we
take down a decent pot.
Scenario 2 Cutoff with Ace
King Unsuited
Action folds to us in the
cutoff position. We decide to raise to $8, as
this looks and feels like a stealing move from
us. The big blind calls. The flop comes Jack -
Seven - Two. The big blind checks. As a tight
aggressive player, we decide to continue and bet
the pot. The big blind folds, showing pocket
sixes.
As you can see, ace king has
the ability to extract value by causing better
hands to fold, and additionally plays well
without improving. Ace king suited gives us
additional means to win the hand, with the
potential of a flush. By playing ace king in a
tight aggressive manner, you stand the best
chance of playing optimally and turning a profit
during your poker session with big slick.
Now that you
are familiar with how to play
the starting hand of Ace - King it is time to put the lesson
to use. You can do that by playing for free or
real money in any of our recommended online
poker rooms.
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