Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
Starting to really hate this hand when I am deep in MTT's or freerolls. For everyone else they usually run in god mode when they push them or play them but when I do they are usually the hand that I bust out on. I obviously play them bad some of them times but for everyone else they seem to always win with them or suckout.
Joined: Nov '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 67 (M)
Posts: 3361
Aye, i noticed that they don't play too well on PP,i've lost loads of hands with them ( ofc it could be my shitty play ) Mind you i just had AA cracked by K-J o
I think AK is a hand a lot of people tend to overplay pre flop, it's just ace king high. But why? It's a great hand post flop, when you hit very often you have your opponent out kicked or nut flushes/straights. So if you just play it correctly post flop like you would play any other hand, I don't see how AK could be a -ev hand
Joined: May '12
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 38 (M)
Posts: 2064
AK is a great hand... Main reason being that it dominates all other Ax & Kx, which are common raising hands.. Is a fave over any two paint, and is ~ 50/50 against any pocket pair up to Queens.... The ONLY hands it plays bad against are KK & AA. (And even vs KK you have 3 outs).
The problem comes when you refuse to lay down Ace high on the flop....
Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
For me it is when you have been card dead for ages and you finally get a good hand and its AK you know the rest. Maybe limping them in against higher stacks when I dont need to push when OOP would be better and less aggression when I am in position?
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Canada
Age: 36 (M)
Posts: 3207
Thannnnnnnk you lol...i love AK and play with it well. But find it funny when people will call all the way down or push on turn with just KA...if u dont hit its still just ace high.
Joined: Jan '12
Location: Canada
Age: 34 (M)
Posts: 162
maybe you need to learn how to fold if you miss on the flop?, or fold preflop sometimes if theres 2 -3 people raising into the pot?... i make that mistake too, i mostly play freerolls tho...
Joined: May '13
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2219
I know how told fold....
....I just don't do it sometimes when I think they have nothing and are trying to steal from me but them have something lame. Standard large stack luck and my bad play.
Joined: Feb '12
Location: Canada
Age: 64 (M)
Posts: 6036
I find that AK gives folks a false sense of invincibility,...when in fact AK is not a hand,...it's ONLY A high, with maybe a K kicker... Easily beat by a pair of 2s...
I like getting them,...but will rarely call a reraise,...because,.... I've been watching AK for years now,...and MOST of the time,...it doesn't connect on the flop and leaves you chasing...and almost always loses...UNLESS,...you manage to bluff or bully folks off the pot...
In the right circumstances,...AK can be lucrative...!
Joined: Feb '14
Location: Portugal
Age: 43 (M)
Posts: 126
Posted by yout85: AK is a great hand... Main reason being that it dominates all other Ax & Kx, which are common raising hands.. Is a fave over any two paint, and is ~ 50/50 against any pocket pair up to Queens.... The ONLY hands it plays bad against are KK & AA. (And even vs KK you have 3 outs).
The problem comes when you refuse to lay down Ace high on the flop....
Absolutely right!
I'll take the AK every hand just in order to bust after falling in love with my top pair / top kicker
Joined: Feb '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 1886
Actually I think AK is underrated as often as it is overrated. Like any hand it can be played wrong but there's no doubt that it's a very good starting hand. Because it is usually quite strong whenever it does hit the flop it is also a hand that you can lose a lot of money with. But this is even more so with KK so don't let fear put you off AK.
I've heard too many people say they won't raise AK pre flop because it's just ace high. This is ludicrous. You can't wait for the ace to hit. Not only is this shrinking the pots that you can take down (whether or not the A comes) but also allows more unreadable hands to call which leads to trouble when you only have one pair and a good kicker. Obviously sometimes you throw chips in pre flop and have to lay it down quickly when you see a flop but that's the risk of any pre-flop strategy. AK in position is very strong on most flops if you've raised enough pre flop.
On the other hand people often overrate something like a pair of 5s. It's a made hand right away so they call a re-raise with it. If a 5 doesn't come on the flop they don't stand much chance of improving so it's much harder to play a missed middle pair strongly. Pocket pairs don't really equal AK until 10s or better imo and even then I'd rather get it all-in with AK than TT though I'd rather see a huge family pot with the tens.
When bad players get AK, no matter how deep their stack is, they tend to be scared of 3-betting or 4-betting AK pre flop then getting called and having to actually play the hand post flop so they just shove right away when someone raises or re-raises them. Of course it doesn't happen too often, but when you do get called by AA or KK after shoving over 100BBs for no reason you kinda have to realise that it was a mistake and you could've avoided losing your whole stack on a ace high.
Joined: May '08
Location: Germany
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 6786
It is always a flip between AK and a smaller pocket pair. So in the long run it is balancing it out. If the other players usualy hit with their AK, then someone has to miss with it. This one seems to be you.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Australia
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 6483
Yeah - AK is definitely over-rated, that said - it is a good hand.. In particular - it's an excellent shoving hand, not a terrible calling hand either.
The real, true value of AK is all the times you get to face-up against a weaker ace.. That really puts you in a strong position out the gate.. Whereas AK vs two other random cards (no A or K) is really not that great, just a race and of course vs 22-QQ its a flip.
Joined: Jan '13
Location: Philippines
Age: 57 (F)
Posts: 857
wel wel well!!!!i guess yur learning a school probably right guys!!!ak or aksuited is a monster preflop its 3to 1 favor.on every medcore hands like aj aq a10.2to1 favor in micro pockets 22 33 and 1 on1 to qq 10 10 jj .ak can posibley win against aa , kk so many ways and connection on ak .but if u play like tilt dont say ak is not a good hand u should know the exact position how to play ak not having ak shoving it right away like a maniac .it should be like agrro.sometime limp.or 3bet
Joined: Mar '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 7371
This hand has been my downfall a lot over the years and i agree with you that is a very overrated hand. Its always a nice hand to shove with when you are short stacked but when you are deep stacked, it becomes a dangerous hand
Posted by Phisix: Starting to really hate this hand when I am deep in MTT's or freerolls. For everyone else they usually run in god mode when they push them or play them but when I do they are usually the hand that I bust out on. I obviously play them bad some of them times but for everyone else they seem to always win with them or suckout.
Joined: Sep '11
Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Age: 41 (M)
Posts: 3048
Ace-King is a favourite tournament hand with which many players like to get all their chips into the middle, especially pre-flop. They feel that Aces and Kings are the only prohibitive favourites against it so it’s a hand with which it is worth gambling.
) 
i make that mistake too, i mostly play freerolls tho...
