The Best Way To Play Ace King

Here you are ,the average SitngoJoe in the middle of a sitngo , and u wake up to Ace King. What do you do?. Not knowing the answer to that question can cost you a boatload of chips. Many of us look at that hand, and fall in love with it. What we dont realize is that Big Slick is a drawing hand. Dont get me wrong, it is a very strong hand PREFLOP. The problem that most of us have is that we cant let it go after the flop, even when we are just DRAWING. When the flop doesnt bring an ace or a king, its like we refuse to believe that our opponent has us beat, and too many times we will call big bets, or even worse, call someones all in, and just like that Big Slick has cost you all your chips.Hopefully you find the following post by Stuart Raffeld as helpful as i did. Please read on.

What Is Big Slick?

The name 'Big Slick' is a nickname for Ace King. Hopefully you knew that. Also Ace king is the 9th best starting hand but is the 7th best starting hand if you get A,K suited!

How To Play Preflop

I know that its a very nice thing to look down at A,K and get pretty happy, but just remember that it is a drawing hand. Because it is as drawing hand, it isn't as strong yet as having a pair.You definately want to make a raise pre-flop with Ace King. Your going to want to use your position to determine the size of the raise. If you are first act then you want to make a raise or around 3 times the big blind. If you find yourself last to act or even next to last to act with Ace King , you want to raise about 5 times the big blind to get all the limpers out. You want to show you have a big hand , but not set yourself up to bust out after the flop if you dont hit.

What To Do After The Flop

After you make your pre flop raise there should technically only be players left with big cards or pocket pairs. The flop will determine your next move. If you dont hit anything on the flop, then dont bet, unless it is checked to you or there is only a small raise made ahead of you. If you are in position and all players have either checked or just limped, then make a big raise. You have the 2 highest cards in the deck, and your most likely up against a weaker hand or a small pocket pair. Do not forget that you still only have a drawing hand. At this point you want to figure out where your at and react accordingly. If the flop is all low cards, you have nothing but high card. If you end up with a flop that gives you a straight possiblity, than your looking at having about 4 outs at best. If you find yourself needing 1 card for the nut flush after the flop, your looking at about 9 outs.

The Bottom Line

Dont fall in love with ACE KING . Its a great starting hand, but if you dont hit on the flip, then you are beat by any pair.(even a stinky pair of 2's). Alot of players just cant let it go. I know you see it happening out there. Remember that if you dont hit on the flop, you are just drawing, and at best only have high card. So analyze the situation and your outs, and adjust accordingly.(its ok to fold A,K somtimes)..lol.... I hope this was helpful. Good luck at the table.

for more information on how to instantly get your odds of winning a hand please read this post.