If you want to increase your poker skills and learn how to crush games, visit Jonathan Little’s elite training site at PokerCoaching.com/CardPlayer.
There are many reasonable ways to approach AK play. Some players play it hard every time, constantly raising and re-raising it. Others take the cautious route, calling and then checking when they fail to improve to at least the top pair, or better player.
Instead of playing the same way every time, you must actively pay attention to your opponent’s tendencies in order to play AK (and every other hand) in the most profitable way.
To illustrate this concept, let’s take a look at the hand I was recently told about in the comments on one of my YouTube videos.
With the blinds at 100-200 with the big blind at 200, the player in the jack seat rose to 500 from his effective pool of 8,000. Everyone leaned towards our hero in the small blind who called A
K
.
Although certainly better than folding, three-betting up to 1,800 is usually ideal for getting money in the pot with what is typically your best hand. If you choose to call using only the AK preflop, it is important to note that you are not “playing slow,” hoping to automatically check for a raise on any flop. Instead, you play a decently strong hand with caution, choosing to see if you’ve fallen short of an outstanding hand before investing significant money.
The big blind folded and the flop came Q
8 8. The champion checked, the lujack bet $600 into the $1,400 pot, and then the champion called.
This is an excellent place to check with a view to calling any reasonable bet. It may seem a bit risky to call from outside the position with only the Ace high, but it’s important to realize that your AK trumps all deuces and bluffs.
Of course, you can easily get crushed by a hand like AQ or 8-7, but AK is simply too strong to fold given the large number of hands that fail to call on that flop.
It was turn 6. The champion materialized, and the lujack bet $1,200 into the $2,600 pot.
When the turn completes one of the clear draws, it is usually time to give up when you have lost several completed draws as well as many failed hands. Note that the champion can easily get all the flushes as well as some trips and top pairs in its range, which means that this hand is basically one of the worst hands a champion can have at the moment (probably J-10, J-9, 10 -9 is the worst ever.)
When faced with a bet with one of the worst hands in your deck, folding is the wise play.
The hero folded and relinquished fate.
Some players think that bluffing the turn by raising checks is a good play, hoping to make the process of folding all hands worse than trips, but they are very likely to have one of those special hands, especially if they are playing smart and will check back the turn with… The marginal hands are like the upper pair.
When most competent players bet on their turn when clear draws are completed, they usually have a strong hand that can withstand additional pressure or draw. Against this range, raising checks is of little use with a hand that appears to be in bad shape when called.
Although it’s never fun to fold an advantaged hand after the flop, you should understand that AK is a marginal trick hunter at best when he fails to connect to the board. Sometimes you just have to get out of the way.
If you want more resources to help you improve your game, I’ve put together a course called “The 25 Biggest Leaks and How to Fix Them.” This course is completely free within Card Player Poker School!
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Jonathan Little is twice WPT Winner and 2024 PokerGO Cup Champion with nearly $9 million in live tournament winnings, best-selling author of 15 poker educational books, and 2019 GBI Poker Personality of the Year. If you want to increase your poker skills and learn how to crush games, visit his training site at PokerCoaching.com/cardplayer.
