Ace King can be one of the trickiest hands to play in No Limit Hold’em, particularly in tournaments. Many inexperienced, novice players win lots of small pots holding “Big Slick”, but when they lose with Ace King, they tend to lose a massive pot, costing them their tournament life.
Poker players often refer to the hand as “Anna Kournikova”, not just because of the initials AK, but because the Russian tennis player and part time model looks great, but doesn’t play very well. This joke is harsh on the poker hand, as it should show a long term profit if played correctly, but many beginners (and sometimes more experienced players too) just find the hand so difficult to play.
The main problem with “Big Slick” is that more often than not, the hand will only make top pair. Admittedly, top pair top kicker is usually enough to take a pot down when playing a No Limit Hold’em tournament, but if the flop contains and Ace or King, it is easy for weaker hands to get out of the pot. Similarly, when a player flops two pair with Ace King, weaker hands don’t need much excuse to muck. Now consider the times when A-K is up against A-X and the dominated hand pairs its kicker and it’s easy to see why most players win lots of small pots and lose a few monsters.
The positive aspect of the hand, is that when it comes up against almost any other holding, it is rarely in bad shape, assuming the chips all move to the middle of the poker table before the flop.
A pair of Queens is a coin flip situation, while any unpaired cards smaller than a King are at least 60-40 behind. Even facing a pair of Kings is hardly a disaster, with three Aces to hit and a 30% chance to win. Against any other Ace or King combination, “Big Slick” is in a dominant position with around a 75% chance to win. The only real trouble hand is a pair of Aces, which would just be unfortunate.
Getting all-in with Ace King has the additional benefit of guaranteeing a look at the river card. Imagine all those times you would flop three rags and your opponent would fire a bet out holding top pair, leaving you unable to call. If you’re certain to see the turn and river cards, you’ve a chance to redraw and win the pot.
Clearly then, if you’re having trouble with Ace King, it would do your game no harm at all to try and get your money into the middle as often as possible with it. The majority of the time that “Big Slick” wins, it is with one pair, a tricky hand to play post-flop, particularly for novice players, so limit your post-flop decisions and limit the opportunity for your opponent to outplay you.
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