Wreckless aggression is a frequent mistake when holding Ace King. In particular by those players who do not understand how vulnerable this hand can be. Invariably in online poker tourneys whenever someone in a hand is holding ace king you are likely going to either witness or take part in an big pot.

What a lot of players do not understand is that AK is a drawing hand that rather incessantly needs to improve in order to play a big pot. The way you play Ace King has a lot to do with conditions in the tournament. For example, it is really not bad to push pre-flop when you are short stacked because with AK you are almost never in bad shape against anybody who looks you up. There are really only two hands that you do not want to see flip over – pocket aces or KK. Anything else and you are at worst a slight underdog against a single opponent.

There are nonetheless, circumstances when more caution is needed when holding Ace King. Early in the tourney, even with a hand as strong as AK you still want to keep the pot small unless that flop has really helped you. Top pair and top kicker is a decent hand, but it’s not necessarily a hand that you want to let your tournament ride on in the low blind levels. So if you do hit an ace or a king on the flop you are very likely ahead, but if your opponents decides to stay in the hand you need to be very concerned about straights, two pair, flushes and sets. In fact, on a dangerous board in the early levels you may have to consider folding your top pair hand if the pot gets too big.

Another situation is where you get a preflop caller, and you both miss the flop, but your opponent is first to act and makes a continuation bet. Then all of a sudden you’ve got a tough choice to make because you will be calling with an ace-high hand. If you think about it, AK is really a hand that you want to see all the community cards, because you have a very good chance of hitting the turn or river and making the best hand. However, if you hit nothing on a ragged flop, you’re almost always going to be involved in a debatable hand. That is something you want to avoid in early tournament stages, as well as against aggressive opponents.

There is also another consideration because I also like to play big slick guardedly if there are multiple limpers before me. True, you could raise and narrow the field but with multiple players interested in the pot, my tendency is to think that they are also holding high cards too, further depleting my chances of hitting the flop. If you aren’t short stacked, try and get to see a cheap flop that helps you, then bet out. Calculating on what your opposition does can determine your play for fourth and fifth streets. That’s when opponent profiling can be a factor too. Ideally you want to keep Ace King a paying hand for you, and only play big pots with strong flops.

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