With the popularity of poker on television, and the fact that we only see a few select hands while watching, many players have a hard time understanding the correct way to play AK in no-limit holdem. As with all of your decisions at the poker table, much of how you play in any given situation depends on many factors. For this reason, here are some general tips and guidelines, but very few hard and fast rules.
The most important thing to remember with AK is that it usually is a toss up hand once all of the money gets in the pot. To win large tournaments you will be required to play, and win toss-up hands. By knowing that AK is often only a 50-50 proposition it may help you decide how to play it. Against any pair, 2’s through Q’s, you are basically 50-50. Against AA or KK you are dominated. Against any two random cards Q and below you are a favorite, but not a dominant one. The only hands you dominate are hands that include an A or K that aren’t paired. If you happen to allow two or more opponents to enter the pot with you, you will rarely be the favorite to win. As I discussed in a prior column, there are many good things that can happen when you raise including winning the pot immediately and thinning the field playing against you. When this is combined with the knowledge that AK is rarely a dominant hand, you should understand that you must almost always raise with AK. Though I don’t do it every time in order to keep my opponents guessing, I like to raise more than an average amount with AK. I would prefer that either everyone folds or I can play one player heads up, preferably getting all in pre-flop. If however, I find myself playing against top-level competition that will only commit with their best hands, I may fold if I raise and am faced with a re-raise. Only against the best competition will I do this, as in most tournaments you will find many players willing to risk their whole stack with AQ, JJ or even TT or AJ. Against normal competition, I am always willing to move my entire stack in with AK pre-flop. I do this with the understanding that I can make a quick exit if the cards are against me, but I also understand that doubling up, especially early in a tournament, gives me a large advantage. One final point, and it is a very important one, is that I want to be the aggressor with AK. I want to force an opponent to call an all-in bet. I don’t like to call all-in bets unless I have a dominant hand. This is why I will sometimes move all-in with AK, especially if there are a few maniacs at my table.
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If you end up seeing a flop without getting all-in, AK can be very difficult to play well. If the flop does not contain an A or K, do not move in unless you are 95% or more sure that your opponent will fold. With only two cards to come, you are a huge underdog to any pair. If you happen to have two or more opponents see the flop and it doesn’t help you, you should check and fold to any bet. Your chance of wining against two or more opponents when the flop doesn’t help you is almost nonexistent.
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