Playing A-K in No-Limit Hold’em

A-K is the most powerful hold’em non-pair hand you can hold preflop. “The no-pair nuts” is one of its nicknames. (“Big slick” is another. “Walkin’ back to Houston” is a less-flattering Texas nickname.) In terms of overall results, big slick is about the equivalent of two jacks, meaning that only the three biggest pairs are better starting hands. Even though it is not as good as a pair in an all-in heads-up confrontation, it is a much better hand than most of the pairs when you do not know what your opponent has. The reasons are, it has a large advantage against all other hands that contain an ace, and only two other hands place it at a big disadvantage (aces and kings).

Tournament players are fond of A-K, because the stack sizes relative to the blinds in all but the earliest stages of a tournament are such that you can be very aggressive with it preflop. However, in cash games, where the normal stack sizes are in the range of 50-200 times the big blind, it pays to be more circumspect about getting all in preflop. In this column, I would like to discuss how to play the hand both preflop and afterward, when the money is deep relative to the blinds. I am not going to distinguish between being suited and unsuited, but the deeper the money, the more attractive it is to be suited, because the nut flush can easily be a double-up hand.

To understand my preflop policy, I need to discuss how to play the hand after the flop. The flop will help the hand only about a third of the time. You need to know how to play the hand when you hold the usual “no pair and no draw.” If there are several opponents, I suggest a check-fold policy even if you are the preflop raiser. You are not obliged to make a continuation-bet (c-bet) even when rags come if you have four or more opponents, and I am often cautious about making a c-bet into three opponents.

If I have an unimproved A-K and someone else bets, I will fold in the vast majority of situations. Big slick is a lousy calling hand. It has six outs to a pair, and no assurance of winning when the pair comes.

If no one else has bet, I am certainly willing to take a stab at the pot with nothing a fair amount of the time, so having big slick is a little something to fall back on that is clearly better than nothing. I might make top pair and win, and I have something to show down that beats a busted draw. So, I am more aggressive in attempting a complete steal on the flop or turn with big slick.

In this day of hyperaggressive poker, I like calling a preflop raise with A-K, even when out of position. (Calling a reraise when the money is deep is risky business, even when suited and in position, and is rarely a play that I would make.) One of the nice things about A-K when you flop a pair is that there are no overcards that can come that will devalue the hand on the turn or river. If you are going to slow-play top pair, A-K is better than any other hand. Slow-playing in this situation is an effective tool against aggressive players, who often find themselves representing the hand that you are actually holding. Resist the tendency to raise to find out where you stand, because you are telling your opponent where he stands, which is exactly what you don’t want to do. Let’s try to make some more money here.

Slow-playing A-K by check-calling and smooth-calling with top pair against the preflop raiser is not without its risks. I am certainly comfortable with calling a flop bet, and seldom lay it down if my opponent fires again on the turn. But the river betting round is a horse of a different color. When your opponent fires that third barrel on the river, he has a pretty good idea of what you hold by now. If he makes a solid bet, he knows for sure that he either is behind or can beat your hand. In other words, he does not hold a hand ranked just under yours — like A-Q, A-J, or K-Q. So, you are now out of the realm of good technique and into the realm of making a good guess. Well, playing the opponent and situation is a part of poker, isn’t it?

One of the benefits of playing the way that I suggest (slow-playing top pair) is that it controls the pot size. You are not committed to putting your entire stack into the pot.

Another benefit of slow-playing top pair is that after your opponents have seen you use this play, you can now add another weapon to your arsenal — the float. Floating is a new poker term to me, but not a new play to me. It means smooth-calling a bet with a hand that’s below normal requirements, with the intention of taking the pot away from your opponent on a later betting round, when he gives you credit for the hand that your call represented. Here is an example:

You are on the button with the A 3 and a player in early position opens for a raise of three times the big blind. Two players call, and you call. Your hand is below par for calling a raise, but you have optimal position relative to both the callers and the preflop raiser. The blinds fold. The flop is K 5 2, so all you have is a gutshot-straight draw and a backdoor-flush draw. The preflop raiser bets about half the pot, and the other two players fold. I would call here in a New York minute if this particular opponent has seen me call in this spot with big slick a few times. There is no flush draw or plausible straight draw on the board, so he is surely going to assume that I have top pair or better. If he is looking at two queens and had bet the flop as a probe, he is probably going to check, and release his hand when I bet. (Obviously, my call was made with the intention of betting if he checked the turn; betting there is automatic.) My call has another benefit. What if he has pocket aces or a set of kings, or even A-K, and I make my gutshot. He is going to go for a sleigh ride unless he has a set and fills up. He also will have a disaster if I backdoor the heart flush. Of course, if I make a real hand, I may have to endure a lecture on how badly I play poker (as I am stacking up his chips), but there is no such thing as a free lunch.

I think you can see why I am not a preflop bully with big slick when the money is deep, but do not mind calling a preflop raise with it.

Bob Ciaffone has authored four poker books, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Poker. All can be ordered from Card Player. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons: e-mail [email protected]. His website is www.pokercoach.us, where you can get his rulebook, Robert’s Rules of Poker, for free. Bob also has a website called www.fairlawsonpoker.org.