I don't ever want to hear how great AK's are again!

I just lost a $40,000 tournament after 770 players were knocked out and I was 13 away from the money...A8 called my AK pre-flop all-in and hit an 8...a second caller had 66.

In one freacken year...I hit them twice...once I had to split the pot with them on a
AKK flop and the second time I was beat on my all-in by QJ after flopping a K and QJ hit a str8.

I play everyday...how many hundreds of hundreds of hands did I get them in the past year...and to only hit them twice!...and then not to even win 1.

suited unsuited it doesnt make any difference they SUCK!!!

I go all-in with them in most cases...because if I play them straight, they won't hit...so the only times that I win with them is if everyone folds...but then I can do that with 72o....in fact I would have won a lot more hands by going all-in with 72o and hitting them then I would have with AK.

I would like to know how many thousands of dollars these super great cards cost me!...don't ever mention those two cards around me!

Big slick...is a BIG JOKE as far as I am concerned!...I will take the oh so powerfull 22 over those two cards any day of the week!!...then you can shove big slick up your butt when 22 beats them!!

If you think AK suck so much why do you go all in with them? You have to consider AK as a DRAWING hand and not as a made hand.

There is no made hand pre-flop. As I said going all-in with them is the only way that I win with them...when all the other hands hit the muck pile and I have a glimmer of hope that if I am called they are calling with an unpaired hand and don't hit.

But your right tvaal...why do I even play them...I should throw them at the muck pile as soon as I get them, before they dirty up my hands.

I don't mean to sound bitter....its that I JUST HATE AK

or more to the point why did you go all in under the gun with aqos in the 10+1000 last night (losing to AK)...knocking you out of the tourney
Ultimately AK is an acceptable all in hand but you have to 1) have a decent amount in the pot 2) has a reliable suspicion that the players who have acted already are unlikely to have anything . The whole point of going in with ak is to either steal blinds or be up against aq. AQ is a hand that you will probably beat anyway so really you are wanting to take what is in the pot. If there is not that much in the pot then dont go all in with ak and certainly not aq - UNLESS there are a lot of fish calling with a5 etc.

Strategy should never be altered by one or two bad beats - you just have to ride through them.

Ben...my all-in with AQ in yesterdays game was a desperation move...I was, how do you say it..."running out of chips" and I was trying to steal the blinds so that I could get back to being serious and playing poker. One of my biggest faults in this game is that if I lose a lot of chips, I get impatient and I pay dearly for it.

Yes there are times and ways to wait for the correct play under the right conditions...but there are also times when none of the correct conditions come together at the same time and then you can be blinded out or in such a low chip position that you don't have any power left and you will be overrun by the big stacks.

There have been plenty of tournaments that I have been in with a good lead...playing it safe and waiting for the right conditions and just watching my stack dwindle down and watch my tournament position fall lower and lower untill I am now forced to make plays worse than the ones that I passed up earlier and watching opponents play hands that are not say "risky" plays but are not good plays and see them move up higher and higher in the tourney...then they are the big stack running over me.

You do have to take some chances in this game otherwise you never will make a play.

Also about yesterdays play...I guarentee you that had it been reversed and I had the AK and he had the AQ...a Q would have hit.

i guess for me thats where position comes into play - I would never do that in early position the chance of getting called by ak or pp's is too great for my tastes.

I think the difference between ak and aq as an all in hand is emense.

It tends to be JJ that knocks me out of tourneys for some reason - i dont rate the hand that strong but it seems to be a hand that tired I can go all in on (when someone has aa or ak (hitting!) in the last week this has cost me very probably two placings in the money and and 100-500$. I only intend on pot stealing but sometimes it backfires lol

AK has knocked me out on final table 3 times. Once was vs 44, the other was 66. I also hate AK as much as you Crap's. I think I have lost more with AK than won. Yesterday I got dealt AK 4 and lost with all of them. My last hand I got dealt AK and I got teedough and Kaart to call me. One had QQ and the other AA. I'm gonna consider playing AK again.

Your right Ben...I should play them only in late position as far as any raise or all-in...but the purpose of a good raise in early position is to get the junk out when you have a playable hand otherwise you are letting all the lucky junk in the hand.

Also the more that I think of yesterdays game...it would not have made any difference if I went all-in or played the hand out straight...an Ace hit...and I did have a good kicker a Q and of course my opponent had a better kicker with his K...I am sure the results would have been the same...me getting up from my chair!

I don't like JJ for all-ins...the unpaired hands that are going to call you are all going to have two overcards to your JJ's in over 90% of the cases so to me its not any better than 22 when you are going against unpaired hands...The only advantage is when you are called by lower pocket pairs....and then hope that they don't hit!