Tips and tricks by Jason – AK for beginners
posted by Jason Wallace on May 5, 2012
We decided that this would be a great place to share some tips and tricks about poker. There are many different schools of thought on strategy and often you will find that people have conflicting opinions about how to handle a particular situation. So here is my opinion about playing AK for beginners…….
AK is one of the most powerful hands in NLHE (no limit hold em). There are so many ways to play this hand and so many ways to lose with it that I feel that it is one of the hardest hands to play. Whenever I see AK at the table I get a little excited because it is a top 4 hand according to many experts, but then I remember all the times that I’ve lost with it lol. There are always many variables that need to be considered with every hand of poker and it is impossible to cover them all, but with this basic guideline it should help the beginner learn how to play AK.
My most basic strategy for beginners is to always raise with it preflop. If someone raises in front of you then you can choose to either smooth call or reraise. I feel that the answer to that question depends on your playing style and what you are comfortable with. Since it has so much drawing potential you can even feel relatively safe about putting all your money in with it preflop. But if you want to play more of a post flop game then you have see what happens with those all important three cards. If you hit on the flop then it is easy, you aren’t going anywhere regardless of what happens, if someone bets into you, then you can call or raise, if they check to you (or if you are first to act) then I say BET IT! Don’t worry about those few times that you may be behind in the hand, they will happen and you actually will need those experiences to grow as a player. But if you miss the flop then everything changes. You can try to cbet (continuation bet) if they check to you and hope to take the pot down right there, or you can check to see the next card. Again this mostly depends on how aggressive you want to be with your game. I like the cbet option for most players since the odds that your opponent hit the flop are relatively small (about 30% of the time). If they call you then you have to figure out if they actually hit the flop of if they are just trying to play the game, but most of the time people won’t call with absolutely nothing, they may have middle pair or a draw of some kind but they are thinking that they can win the hand some way. On the turn then if you still have action in the hand, I suggest slowing way down unless of course you hit the A or K, then BET IT lol. At this point without having any draw or pair you should fold to any bet or check if you have the chance. If you have a flush draw or an open ended straight draw then you can consider calling a small bet, I don’t recommend calling a bet of any more than about half the pot size since the odds of hitting those draws is pretty small (approx. 18% for the flush and 16% for the straight). If you get to the river and hit your A or K i still think you should check it or just call if someone bets since your opposition seems strong, but if you hit something bigger like a straight or flush then you could feel safe with a bet or a raise. If you hit nothing then you easily fold to any bet or if you have a chance you can check and hope A high is good in a showdown.
If you are a beginner these ideas should help you be more successful. As your game advances there will be many more ways to adjust your play of this hand, including folding it preflop, but those ideas will be covered next time. This is the part that will probably be the most fun, everyone has an opinion and can now voice it on the website. So feel free to question, comment, or even criticize. Stay tuned for more advanced theories and suggestions for playing AK.
About this author
I have played with Back Door Poker since 2007. My partners and I purchased the business in 2008. Now I can finally say that I make my living at poker ;) Poker is a great game that will continue to challenge you at every level and for as long as you play the game. Free poker is a great way to develop your skill and a love for this game and I look forward to seeing you all at the tables.
Comments
Hmmmmm, let’s see, open ended with AK……… ummm, so you could………ummmmm there’s gotta be a way, ummmmmm, hmmmmmmm……. ding ding ding I got it, I looked at my cards wrong and actually have K4 lol. OOPS, see no one is perfect hehe.
LOL If anyone can be open ended with AK Jasons the one to do it!
Jason, how can you possibly have an open ended straight draw with AK?
MO, if I check raise you just go all in 😉
@Jason thank you for the advice!! I would sometime like to sit down with yourself and Will and learn the basic things like position betting and things like that??!!
I feel that in free poker the check raise is almost entirely useless. Most people won’t fold any hand to it. Also playing against it in free poker is very hard because some people just want to show you how tricky they are without actually having much in their hand. A money game is a different story, the check raise usually represents a very strong hand or a very big draw. Many people can fold to that kind of strength unless they have the nuts. So it can be a very powerful tool in cash games. One of the best reasons to use it in a cash game is if you have an aggressive person in position on you and you want them to put money in the pot. Often you will get more from them by check raising then by betting it. If someone does it to you ask yourself if they view you as aggressive (just making a move in position) or if they are really strong. You then have to judge if you should fold or play, but unless they are getting VERY tricky and creative with their play, you won’t be to wrong to fold.
Free poker is a good place to experiment with it, and start to get comfortable with the different ways it plays out but don’t judge all your results based on play at the bars 🙂 I will try to do a more comprehensive analysis in a different article, but in the meantime hope it helps. Thanks for the question MO and thanks for the input Dallas.
MO, I used the check-raise option on the third hand I played at Wild Horse one day sitting at a 2-300 Spread table. I hit bottom pair on the flop and was first to act, bet just 1/4 the pot and got a call from the big stack at the table. Then, the middle card was paired on the turn and I checked down and he bet—I instantly re-raised and he thought about it for a minute and mucked his cards.
The only way I would personally approach the check-raise would be to consider the options:
If you have plenty of outs in you favor like a flush or straight and there’s nothing paired on the board and you have a pair or two…then obviously I would consider a re-raise or possible all-in if the situation warrants itself, correctly. (Now that is just me)
Obviously, your opponent could have a small pocket pair and flopped a set and that could throw you off a bit. But, I say if you have have no real outs…thats an instant fold, of course. If there is something there that could hit…its poker.
Jason, help me out…what’s your approach?
(and thank you for the insight, we should help each other out…appreciate that!)
Can someone fill me in on how to check raise and how to play against the check raise?