Sick of Slick - Part IV

I hope that you found my digression on Chris Ferguson's rules for bankroll management in the last issue to be useful or at least thought-provoking. In this column, I return to my series on A-K, also known as big slick. Let's look some more at playing A-K with deep stacks. Note that the phrase "deep stacks" is plural. If one player has a deep stack and another doesn't, the shortest stack size is the one that is relevant. Deep-stack situations occur when you have at least 60 big blinds or an M (the ratio of your stack to the current total of the blinds and ante) of 40. This happens at the beginning of most tournaments, and in cash games, especially toward the end when the winners have accumulated huge stacks. When you have a large stack but are up against several players with different stack sizes, plan your strategy around the stacks against which you are most likely to win or lose a lot. This is not always the largest stack, but often a large stack in the hands of the most aggressive or wildest opponent.

A lot of writers like to describe hands that they played well, and give the reasoning that led them to the correct play. I tend to shy away from these "pat yourself on the back" type of hands, but the following hand from the December Five-Diamond World Poker Classic $15,000 buy-in main event illustrates deep-stack play of A-K so well that I can't help myself.

Players start with 30,000 in chips. I manage to call or raise, and later fold, several hands in the first level. I am down to less than 27,000 with the blinds at 100-200 and no antes. I have 130 big blinds or an M of nearly 90. This is definitely deep-stack territory. The under-the-gun (UTG) player limps for 200, and I am next with the A K. I decide that this is a good time for trickery, so I limp, rather than making a normal raise. (This is a dangerous play, as two limpers may draw in one or more limpers. If no one raises, I'll be in a position to lose a big pot if an ace or king comes along with something that gives someone else a set or two pair.) Another player limps, and I am already starting to feel sick about not raising. The small blind (SB) comes to my rescue. He raises to 1,200. The first limper calls, and it is back to me.

I want to show strength, perhaps representing aces or kings, so I reraise 3,500, making it a total of 4,700. The other limper folds. The SB casually fires in a huge raise of 10,000. This is a huge raise, almost half of my remaining stack, and should pretty much guarantee that he has aces, or at worst, kings. The UTG limper folds. I am about to do likewise, but it is always a good policy to take a little extra time before making a big decision. I know the SB is a tricky, aggressive player. He has seen me raise and fold several times already. There is something about the way he has raised that seems suspicious to me. I decide to trust my table feel. I move all in - raising another 12,000. Now, he stares at me, rechecks his hand, hesitates, and looks unhappy. I guess my feeling was correct. Finally, he says he has to call with that much money in the pot. I show my A-K suited and he tables A-Q offsuit. I give myself a mental high-five. My tricky play, combined with getting a good read on my opponent, has created a 60,000 pot in which I am more than a 3-to-1 favorite. Maybe I am not so sick of slick after all.

Then, it gets better. The flop is Q-J-10 rainbow, with one spade. Now I'm better than a 10-1 favorite. Poker is great. I see how players like "The Grinder" and Phil Ivey gather so many chips in the early stages of tournaments. My ecstasy is short-lived, however, for the turn is a king, and we split the pot. As I bemoan my bad luck, "Mike the Mouth," who has been watching the hand from a neighboring table, tells me what a donkey I am to get all in before the flop with A-K suited when the stacks are this deep. Theoretically, he is absolutely correct, but in practice, I was a genius. Did any good come of my brilliancy? Absolutely! My play captured an extra 1,200 from the limpers, of which my share was 600. It also put the fear factor in my favor. After seeing this hand, players will be afraid to try a move against me, knowing that I'll shove if I think the time is right. Nonetheless, I still have fewer chips than I started the tournament with, and I am still sick of slick.♠

Steve "Zee" Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful games player. He currently devotes most of his time to poker. He can be found at many major tournaments and playing on Full Tilt, as one of its pros. When escaping from poker, he hangs out in his bars on Avenue A - Nice Guy Eddie's on Houston and Doc Holliday's on 9th St.- in New York City.