Ak overated?

Who thinks AK off suit is over rated?

To me it is the most over-rated hand in poker but If Im short stacked or desperate its good enough for me.

What really makes me laugh is when these guys push all-in after the flop no matter what comes thinking A-high is the best hand.

If you miss the flop, even if you have that feel out bet.. Dont be afraid to toss it.. Dont go broke becuase it looks so nice pre-flop.. Its still a coin flip against 2-2.

True ,but on the other side they may be feeling out their AK,AQ or small pp that missed a set.Follow your reads and your gut,theres many a person out there that will reraise when the A misses because thats what they automatially put you on pre flop when you raise.Giving them an easy steal.

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I think AK is over rated, whether its suited or not suited. Most people push this hand to the river, thinking its the best. What makes a-k so good, is that you can dump it a lot easier, than aces or kings, and when you do hit a hand, like top pair, you have the best kicker. I also don't think most people think a-high is best, they know they can take down the pot, with that bet, and even if they called they usually have outs.

AK is a drawing hand... not the nuts. I have won more pots with small and mid level pairs because someone refuses to lay down AK ---- lol they refuse to lay down A rag and chase that elusive A all the way to the river

Like witchywitch said I also tend to think of it as a drawing hand and I want to see a flop. If you miss, I think a continuation bet on the flop is fine and you may often win the pot with that bet. Even when you miss the flop it's still possible that you're 3:1 to win with top pair. Like xtra said you must rely on your gut instincts from there on and be prepared to slow down and fold it.

Re-reading that...basically what I'm saying is ...nothing. I'm just agreeing with everyone today..
right which other posts can I agree with today...tum-ti-tumti-do-dahh-diddley-dee-di-dum...

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If i miss the flop i tend to lay A K down.

If I raise pre-flop with AK I'd prefer to win the pot then and there. If you hit the hand on the flop, you'll generally win the hand for only a small sum unless someone if chasing a draw.

I'll may limp with AK depending how loose the table is and my position. Isn't profitable enough for me to preflop raise and reraise everytime I get them since when you don't hit, it's likely you were called by a pocket pair who has you beat.

The other reason why limping with them can be good is everyone expects strong pre-flop raises with them, so on the occassion they make a monster they don't see AK as your possible hand and thats where you'll take a nice fat pot.

The above is for early tourny play and micro cash. Late in a tourny KA is a better holding when other pressures opon opponents tighten their play to preflop aggression.

I'm pretty sure that in higher stakes poker you can play AK more aggressively, but I expect we are talking about lower stakes where the fish swim.

According to one pundit a while back (so I've forgotten which) KQ is the most over rated hand.

Whatever you say about AK applies to all non-pair hands. If you raise pf, what the hell are you supposed to do when you miss? Sit there and get bluffed by an equally missed hand? Let's face it, any even mildly aggressive player is going to bet on any two cards as soon as you check because you are telling the world you missed.

So you bet to prevent that. Your best results then are fold or reraise by your opponent, as either brings the hand to a halt. If you just get called, it is now a complete nightmare. If there is no draw, you shut up and stand by to fold on the turn. But if there is a draw? Is the guy on the draw, or are you dead(-ish) in the water?

Good players, so good players are fond of telling the rest of us, have the bottle to bluff twice. But the opinions above would say only idiots get married to hands. Good, now I'm seriously confused.

It is apparent from this division of opinion that the idea that people merely chase the ace (or king for that matter) is wrong. That only applies to certain players, total beginers. Better players have no thought of catching anything, they are trying to protect their pf raise by bluffing and any catch is seen as a bonus. It may come to the same disasterous loss in the end, but I think we need to be more careful in assigning motives.

So what are we supposed to do then? Never raise pf on anything other than big pairs? It would avoid the missed flop problem for sure, but I think not. We would be flying in the face of all known theory to say that.

Maybe the possible loss could be minimised by not increasing the flop bet when betting the turn and river? What should that be in relation to pot size? If there's no draw then it should be what? Half the pot? I don't know, you tell me.

But if there is a draw I'd say at least the pot on the flop as that denies "one card chasers" pot odds. On the turn it starts to get tricky though. That "one card chaser" is going to be given pot odds on the turn and may turn into a two card chaser if you try to flatten the bets. But he may not be a chaser. Spin the coin and call tails, it is bound to be double headed.

How do I play it? Virtually every way we've mentioned. That has a bit to do with reads, but it has a lot more to do with I just don't know what the real answer is and therefore it depends as much on mood as logic.

Is there a correct answer to this mess? One thing I can say for sure, on those occasions I try to bet it having missed, I do not get hammered every time, as one might think from the posts above. Sometimes I do get hammered. Sometimes the A or K drops. Sometimes they guy was a chaser and folds to the river bet. Sometimes I get a fold on the turn. Sometimes the flop bet ends it. So my experience says betting it out is swings and roundabouts and not at all so loss making that I would want to sneer at those who do it more regularly than I.

If I were a serious enough player and used a tracker I might be able to say who was winning when I choose to bet after missing, me or my opponents. Perhaps one of you more serious types should use a tracker to give us a more definitive answer, because I for one would dearly love to know what to do.

The basics that we all know, like what to play in what position. Raise with these cards, fold those etc. are all general rules, at the end of the day you adapt these to how the table is playing for you overall and who you go heads up against or if it's a multiway pot.

If you play the ABC's then not only will your game become too predictable you also hand a large advantage to your opponents. Something that's benefitted my game is to avoid being getting bored waiting for the decent hands is to watch hands I'm not in and interpret the bets and make a guess who made the best hand, who drawing, bluffing etc. If you manage to make good deductions, you'll not only have a better read on your opponent, you can also exploit them for bluffing and betting for optimum profit later on.

Plenty of online players simply play the cards and this may wins some hands, but you will also lose when you pair your AK and an extremely tight player reraises you, and you go all in against his 2 pair or set. You may think it was a bad beat but you simply didn't take notice of the guy who only plays big hands.

The most profit comes from understanding the players you are contesting a pot with. You'll win more and also know when to laydown a good but beaten hand.

The other thing is you really don't need to understand every player on the table, you are looking out for the most obvious players where tendencies are repeated over and over again.