What I do when dealt AK

Recently, I was reading a post from Schaubs where he describes several hands, a couple of which he had been dealt AK. In both hands, he called a raiser pre-flop, choosing NOT to re-raise. You can see the hands here: AK HANDS . I wanted to comment specifically on AK.

I feel with AK (suited or not), you need to raise or re-raise pre-flop. Recessrampage made this comment: "Though I generally agree with incorporating reraises preflop, I'm ok with not doing that out of deception. I'd say with AK, reraise sometimes, smooth call other times, and maybe even limp sometimes. " Now, if you read Recessrampage at all, you know he is a great cash player. So I won't say he is wrong. But here is my reasoning: With AK, you are generally hoping for race hands. You want your opponent to have a smaller pair, Ace with weak kicker, draw hand, etc. I think I read somewhere that an A hits the board 30% of the time. With AK, you are generally hoping for any A on the flop, and your opponent holding a pocket pair that has not made a set. Then you can slow play, if necessary depending on your opponents style. Otherwise, with no A on the board, you will want to take down the pot before going to the turn or river.

Looking at the betting, I would say if you have limped or just called a raise, you are limited in how you can play it after the flop.

Example 1: You limp with AK and flop comes A95. If you raise, you are showing a strong hand, AK, A9, A5. If you check-raise, again, you show a strong hand. Anyone holding 2nd pair or a low pocket pair is folding to your bet, assuming you've hit some kind of Ace. Let's say you raised pre-flop. Now any raise after the flop is considered a continuation bet. Most players will call or raise a standard c-bet (1/2 to 3/4 of the pot). Also, a check-raise is more likely to look like a steal, IMO. Either way, I believe the call or raise percentage from your opponent is higher if you have raised pre-flop (if your opponent has any mediocre hand). You can also check to the turn to show that the Ace scared you, if you want to slow play it after the flop. If your opponent is folding to ANY bet, you have maximized your pot with the pre-flop raise.

Example 2: Lets consider you miss the flop entirely. It comes J76 rainbow. Now if you have limped into this flop, you have limited bluffing ability. You can bet out a c-bet and someone holding J4off or a K7 is going to call you. With a pre-flop raise you can represent so many more hands that beat TPWK: QQ, AJ, KJ, QJ, J10 all of which should scare the TPWK or Second pair hand. With a pot sized bet or higher, you can take down the pot even though you are behind.

In Schaubs first AK hand, he lost the ability to take the pot after the flop since he did not raise pre-flop. Consequently, his opponent used aggression to steal the pot at the river. Whether or not he hit the set on the river is irrelevant, because Schaubs should have taken it after the flop, or worst case on the turn. Had he raised pre-flop and then was re-raised, post flop, he could have limited his losses knowing that his opponent had hit his hand on the flop.

In his second AK hand, had he re-raised pre-flop, I believe he could have gotten the same pot value, while having more options post-flop.

Again, I am not saying Schaubs or Reccessrampage are wrong, but I feel AK is a hand you should NEVER limp in with. You will limit how you can control the action after the flop and you will not be able to maximize your profits. I don't think it is premium enough to limp with trying to trap, but also is too weak to just limp with and then try bluffing at a pot. Does that make sense?

Please tell me what you think.