Basic Truths of Big Slick

You probably think you know how to play A-K, and you probably do, but it never hurts to review some basic truths. Here are eight:

1. Big slick is a drawing hand. It's not a big pocket pair. It's not even a small pocket pair. It's not a favorite against pocket pairs. This means that a lot of times, especially in multiway pots, you're going to have to improve to win. How likely is that? Assuming your cards are live, you'll make at least a pair on the flop about 30 percent of the time. That's not so great, but pause to consider that if you do make a pair, it will be either top pair, top kicker or … top pair, top kicker. Does this mean that you have to hit to win with A-K? Not necessarily. After all, there are many other ways to win in hold'em besides having the best hand. You also can make the best bet, for instance. This brings us to …

2. Big slick is a big club. And you should swing it as such. Don't be afraid to make big raises preflop with A-K. If you get called, you'll probably be either a slight underdog (against a medium pocket pair) or a big favorite (against a worse ace or something like K-Q suited). The only time you're in real trouble is when you run into pocket aces or kings. Against all other holdings, you're in good or great shape, plus you might win without a fight. So if you're up against someone who you think might be pushing a medium pocket pair, push back with big slick. You'd rather not get called, but if you do get called, your hand competes.

3. Big slick loves to call a raiser in position. Since A-K is a drawing hand and not a made hand, you have to be careful about making huge reraises with it. The sort of hands that can call huge reraises are hands like A-A and K-K, and, of course, big slick underperforms against those holdings. But there are all sorts of hands that can open for a raise and then continue to bet on the flop, including good aces, big paint, and pocket pairs all the way down to the bottom of the deck. Therefore, if you just call in position with A-K, you'll be sitting pretty on a variety of flops. Of course, you'll be driving the bus when you flop top pair, top kicker, but you're also in position to semibluff when the flop brings rags.

4. Big slick is big trouble in a raising war. Remembering that big slick is not a big pair, think long and hard before spending a ton of chips to call big raises and reraises. Suppose that you open for a raise, someone reraises behind you, and someone reraises behind him. What do you think they have? Unless they're total maniacs, you're looking at big pocket pairs. And even if you're not up against the dominating A-A or K-K, you easily could be up against Q-Q and J-J, which makes you about a 2-1 underdog. In the best case, you're facing, say, A-Q and 10-10. You love being up against A-Q, but not when 10-10 is in there as well, because you'll need to overcome the tens' lead, and one of your outs is spoken for. This is an often-overlooked consideration of big slick: When a raising war breaks out, you're probably not drawing as live as you think you are.

5. Big slick is a great hand for a small stack. If you've reached the point where your tournament life is on the line (less than 10 big blinds, say), you would love to wake up with big slick, and should happily push your stack in the middle. Why? Because you get to see all five cards with it, and looking at all five cards, you'll make at least a pair about 60 percent of the time. Moreover, if you're that short-stacked in a tournament situation, you'll likely get calls from much worse hands - maybe even as weak as Q-J or J-10. And if you don't get called? Even better. Big slick loves to win without a fight.

6. Big slick is a good hand for a big stack. If you're in a dominant chip position in a tournament, A-K is an excellent hand with which to go to war. Why? Because when it gets calls from all-in players, it's less likely to be facing A-A or K-K, and thus more likely to be either a small underdog or a big favorite. Let's say you make a big raise with A-K. An imperiled player calls you with 8-8 (a reasonable call for a short stack). Yes, he's a favorite, but only a slim one. If you beat him, you bust him. But if he beats you, he doesn't hurt you all that much. Big slick and big stacks, then, thrive in coin-flip situations.

7. Big slick is a bad hand for a medium stack. If you're in a tournament with a medium stack, and you pick up big slick, you may be inclined to push it hard. This is a reasonable inclination, for A-K is a quality hand. But if you get called, especially by an aggressive, tricky player, and then you miss the flop, you've played yourself into a certain kind of bind. You'll have to make a continuation-bet that's essentially a bluff (since you don't, at this moment, actually have a hand); or check-call, hoping the other guy is bluffing; or check-fold, surrendering the chips you put in the pot. None of these alternatives is particularly attractive. Medium stacks are a certain kind of vulnerable. They're not big enough to bet people off the pot, nor small enough to shove with. So if you're going to play A-K with a medium stack, raise to isolate, for sure, but proceed with caution if you miss.

8. Big slick is not worth going broke with. Not in tournaments, and especially not early, when the potential gain in chips is small but the potential risk -- of going broke -- is large. Save your big moves with big slick for late in a tournament, when the antes and blinds have climbed high enough to force lesser holdings into the pot. Says Scotty Nguyen, "I get knocked out with kings, aces; A-K doesn't mean anything. I'm not going to let A-K break me." And hey, if it's good enough for Scotty, it's good enough for us.

John Vorhaus is the author of the Killer Poker book series. He resides in cyberspace at vorza.com, and in the blogosphere at somnifer.typepad.com. John Vorhaus' photo: Gerard Brewer.