Horse Hubs

They don’t call it big slick in poker games for nothing. Ace king, suited, unsuited, however it comes, is one of those hands that just as often as it dominates will turn around and end up not able to beat even the worst starting hand in poker, the 7 – 2. So now, how to minimize the back end on this slippery beast of a hand?

One of the main ways I have found to work with this hand, particularly in cash poker games, is not to overpush it before it’s become something. Raising with it is often the right move, and often even reraising a prior raise can work out, but more often, in the face of a raise, I prefer to slow it down a little and see a flop, see what those two big cards can turn into. Always reraising with AK will not only end up with you get reraised out of the pot (or putting your money in against KK or AA with a slim chance of winning, or just another coin flip, which in the long run for cash games aren’t that profitable), but will also end you up in big pots with not even a pair.

While I wouldn’t argue with always just following another player’s lead with the AK, I think a lot of players could do well by chilling out with the AK, even learning to fold it when there’s been too much raising before it gets to you, could improve a lot of players cash game results. AK is a speculative hand and should be regarded as such, especially in formats where every dollar lost is a dollar out of your pocket.