There is already so much material released about A-K that its quantity can simply overwhelm. Today, some players just go all-in before the flop, while others try to just call and catch a pair on the flop.
However, there are a few simple truths about ace-king:
- It is the strongest drawing combination in no-limit hold'em. This means that if you catch a pair on the flop, you will have the strongest kicker.
- You will get a pair (or better) on the flop only 1/3 of the time. This means that 2 out of 3 times your combination will not improve.
- Any pair is a slight favorite against AK (except KK and AA, which are, of course, big favorites).
- It is a very big favorite against any other A-x hand.
- It is either an opportunity to double up or a tragedy through which you will be knocked out of the tournament.
There is a very simple way to play with A-K. It is called “Exploit or Fold.” If you can “exploit” it without having the worst hand, then raise, re-raise, or even go all-in. However, if you cannot “exploit” this combination because you are not ahead, then just get rid of it. In no-limit Hold'em, a good fold is always a very good thing.
Example:
You have A♣-K♥ in the early stage of the tournament. The blinds are 25-50, and you have 2500. A player from early position raises to 150, what should you do?
The worst thing you could do in this spot is just call. Since you have a drawing hand, you don't want to let your opponents see the flop. Re-raise to 600. Re-raising will often force opponents to fold.
Example:
You have A♣-K♥ in the early stage of the tournament. The blinds are 25-50, and you have 2500. A player from early position with 2000 raises to 150. The next player, with 4000, re-raises to 450. What should you do?
Again, the worst option would be just to call. Re-raise or fold.
One of these players probably has a pocket pair. The second player's re-raise signals that he may have a very strong combination, possibly a pair of queens. Queens are 57% favorites to win against A-K. And this number would be even worse for us if one of the raisers also has an ace in hand.
Can we force this player to fold? Even if we go all-in, a player with queens will definitely not fold. Moreover, we do not know the strength of the first player's hand.
There is too much risk that you have a worse hand. A-K is just a drawing hand. Just fold.
Example:
You have A♣-K♣. It's the late stage of the tournament, you have 50,000, blinds are 1500-3000. It's the bubble stage. From early position, you raise to 12,000. Everyone folds to the player on the button who has 200,000. He re-raises you to 39,000. Everyone folds to you, what should you do?
Many players are happy just to make it into the money. Don't be one of those players. Tournaments are played to win. Forget the bubble and play to win.
You need to accumulate chips, and a better opportunity than with A♣-K♣ is unlikely to come.
Your opponent calls and shows A♥-Q♠. The flop comes Q♣ and you are out of the tournament. That's poker.
Example:
You have A♥-K♥, it's the middle stage of the tournament. You have 57,000 chips and are the chip leader. The blinds are 300-600. You raise to 2000, everyone folds to the cut-off, who has 24,400 and re-raises you to 12,000. Everyone folds to you, what should you do?
Your opponent is pot-committed, which means you would have to risk 24,400, which is 40% of your chips. Also, you are the chip leader.
A-K is an “exploit or fold” hand. There is no point in risking such a large amount of chips in this spot. We have only invested 2000 chips, so it's not worth putting in more in this unfavorable situation. Just fold.
Example:
You have A♥-K♠, it's the middle stage of the tournament. You have 57,000 chips and are currently in 7th place. The blinds are 300-600. You raise to 2000. Everyone folds to the cut-off who has 39,400. He re-raises to 8000. Everyone folds to you. What should you do?
Unlike the previous example, your opponent is definitely not pot-committed. You have a great chance to use your stack to force him to fold, as there are only a few combinations with which your opponent would want to continue playing after another re-raise from you.
Push all-in, giving your opponent a tough decision.
Example:
You have A♥-K♠, it's the middle stage of the tournament. You have 20,000. The blinds are 200-400. A player from early position pushes all-in for 3000. Everyone folds to you in middle position. You call. Everyone else folds to the BB who has 15,000. The big blind pushes all-in. What should you do?
Unfortunately, this happens very often in tournaments. You think you played correctly, and suddenly someone re-raises you again and puts you in a very uncomfortable position.
Did you play correctly by calling?
No. It would have been much more correct to re-raise to isolate the all-in player. This re-raise might have stopped the player in the big blind from re-raising.
In any case, accept the loss of 3000 chips and wait for a good opportunity.
Tip: Dominance is not that dominant in poker
Players like to have cards that “dominate” their opponents. An example of dominance is when you and your opponent have the same highest card, but you have a higher kicker. A very common example is A-K against A-Q. Generally, in such situations, the player with the higher kicker is a little more than a 2:1 favorite.
Unfortunately, the word “dominance” is a poor choice. Dominance means that you can control or manage something. You have nothing like that. With this “dominance,” you will lose almost one out of three heads-up battles.
Does that really sound like dominance or just being a solid favorite?
