Sick of Slick - Part VI

First, I want to recapitulate my recommendations up to this point. If you have memorized everything I have written about playing A-K in no-limit hold'em, I apologize for the repetition. If you haven't, and I strongly suspect that this is the case, another exposure won't hurt you. Second, I want to discuss the clever application of a tactic known as the "stop-and-go" when playing A-K.

Short Stack: With less than 10 big blinds in chips, I am just going to move all in unless I pick up a tell that someone on my left is about to raise. Then, I'll let him raise and move all in when it gets back to me. Why is it correct to move all in rather than make a normal raise? Let's look at the math. If I have 900 in chips (nine big blinds) and raise to 300, and someone reraises enough to put me all-in, the pot is at least 1,350 (150 in blinds, my 300, and the reraiser's 900.) It costs me 600 to call. I am getting odds of almost 2.25-to-1. The only hands that are favored over my hand by more than that are two aces and two kings. I am a small dog to pairs lower than kings, pick 'em against A-K, and a favorite over any other two big cards. So, what is wrong with making the normal raise and then making the automatic call if there is a reraise? The flaw with this strategy is that I'm not putting enough pressure on my opponents. A lot of the time, one or more opponents will flat-call. Two-thirds of the time, I will miss the flop and have to guess what to do next. There is no reason to leave myself with a tough decision. I simply move in preflop and let them make the tough decision. This way, I will always see all five boardcards.

Medium Stack: With a stack size of 20 to 40 big blinds, my recommendation is as follows: With A-K suited, usually make a normal raise. On occasion, especially if you are comfortable with your opponents, limp with the intention of going all in if raised. Tend to avoid the limp-and-reraise play with A-K offsuit. There are two reasons for this. If you get all in against another A-K, he may be suited and a small favorite. More importantly, you lose the opportunity of doubling up with a flush versus a flush. Almost always make a continuation-bet of about 60 percent of the pot on the flop, whether it helped or not. The only thing that should prevent you from making the continuation-bet is some sort of tell that leads you to believe that the flop helped your opponent.

Big Stack: With a stack size of 50 to 100 (or even more) big blinds, my initial recommendation is to play the same way you did with a medium stack. Make a continuation-bet on the flop, whether it helped or not. If you are last to act, you might consider checking when tthe flop gives you a gutshot-straight draw. For example, with a flop of Q 10 8, I will often check with the A K, in hope of catching a jack and winning a monster pot. Be a lot more careful if you are raised. This applies at any point in the hand. Legitimate reraises before the flop usually are big pairs, sometimes aces or kings. Even when the flop contains an ace or a king, legitimate raises later in the hand often are sets or two pair. The more you learn about your opponents, their patterns, and tells, the more likely you are to make these decisions correctly.

Tactic: The stop-and-go play occurs preflop when an opponent has bet or raised, you will be first to act after the flop, and your normal play would be to go all in. Instead, you just call, leaving yourself with a small to moderate amount of chips. Then, you fire out the remainder of your stack on the flop, whether it helped or not. An opponent who misses the flop and is not familiar with the play may fold the better hand, believing that the flop must have helped you.

Here is an example of the stop-and-go in action. Late in day three of a big tournament, the average stack is close to 200,000, but you are short-stacked with 40,000. The blinds are 4,000-8,000 and there is a 500 ante. Everyone folds to the button, who has around 100,000 and has been fairly tight. He raises to 24,000. You have the A K in the big blind. There is a reasonable chance that you have the best hand, although he could easily have a small pair. The normal play is to go all in and hope you win. (There is no way he is folding for 16,000, since the pot is 72,000.) Instead, you flat-call his raise, and then bet your last 16,000 on the flop. Let's suppose that he has a pair of black fours and the flop is Q 10 8. He is almost a 3-to-2 favorite, and he is getting more than 4-to-1. If he knew what you had, he would call automatically, and, in fact, he still should call automatically. But tournaments are all about survival, and he may choose to "save" 16,000. In this case, your miss combined with your opponent's blunder made the stop-and-go a big success.

There is, of course, a downside to this play. If you were going to win the hand, either because an ace or king came or because your opponent had a worse hand that also didn't help, like the A 4 or the 6 5, your clever play just cost you his 16,000 preflop call. A lot of the time, the preflop reraise and the stop-and-go both lead to the same result - a call by your opponent. As with all poker tactics, you should be familiar with the stop-and-go. You might want to use it, and your opponents will occasionally be using it, so be prepared.

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.