How the hell do you play this hand?? As of last night, It was my biggest loser after 18k hands total in bb/hand. After about 750 hands today and a couple good pots, its opnly my 5th worst loser at -.46bb/hand. Mind you Im playing SSH poker here... so I correctly raise my ass off PF, but when the flop misses and theres 6 poeple in the hand.. How do you play it?

Fold, Fold, Fold.

You should not be losing money with this hand. It can only be misplayed post-flop.

If I raise and get 6 callers I'm hoping I miss the flop and i can fold, 4 or less opponents I want to hit the flop.

It's my 10th best earner in limit hold em bringing in .66 bb/hand.

when your playing in a loose game remember people play any ace and call with bottom pair with an ace kicker so you should rarely call with overs (KX is not an uncommon site either), also don't bet the flop when you miss and everyone checks to you.

If you get multiple callers just resign yourself that you are going to have to fold almost 3 out of 4 flops.

Not really adding anything new...just chiming in to lend credence/support to Steve's remarks. If you miss the flop with this in small stakes, its a check/fold proposition. I can't count the number of people I"ve watched run themselves onto the spear by continuing to push hard in a multiway pot with this after missing the flop.

I think thats my main problem, I'm basically clicking raise while screaming "Bow Before Me!"

Note that AKs AQs, AQo, and AJo I dont have this problem.

You've got Ace high against a lot of people. I think of this with AKoff: When I'm playing 10/20 live and I look down at AK, when 2 or 3 have entered the pot, I'll limp or fold to any raise into me. In MP, with people in the pot, raising is useless, everyone has good odds to call. Someone's gotta be losing, right? It's the person that puts extra money into that family pot.

Depending on your table, I'd say call a bet or open the pot with a raise. There's no reason to invest more than 2 bets with AK PF against 3+ people and I'll bet a lot of those hands, this is the situation. On the flop, you're thinking, "I have odds."

This has been a thought that myself and Steve have been harking on for a while now and I've said it for a long time to many people.

1.) Think: You raised it up pre-flop.

2.) Ask: Why do I have these odds to call on the flop?

A lot of times with AK, AQ, JJ, TT, and AJ, people have those odds to call a bet or two on the flop ONLY because they wasted money by raising or calling 3 bets, or even calling 2 bets with too many people in the pot PF. If your money is the deciding factor on whether you have the odds, the odds are against you- period.

Yes, the money in the pot belongs to the pot, but your money belongs to the pot if you say so, not because the pot or the cards say so.

I think another problem is the "THis was a damn good starting hand, It deserves to win everytime" Syndrome running through my head. For some reason I dont do this withthe suited AK, just unsooted. Its really the only hand I do it to. Maybe cause I know AKo only has 2 ways to win, with TPTK or aggression and being called downb by a weaker ace. Only TPTK has any merit. I dunno, It was just disturbing to see such a bad win rate fo rthis hand. ANd I know I've been overplaying it.

I play it the same as Alex by the looks of it. I think we have wsop to thank for how much AK is overvalued.It is a prime victim hand. The times I've tripped and my opponent has gone to SD with his stack and AK in his hand.

In late I'll attack blinds with it. Early I tend to limp in hoping to catch AQ or an "ace happy" player. If there's much preflop activity I'll put it down.

I'm ahead on it but there's not much difference between AK and JT off for me...

AK in NL is a completely different hand that it is in limit, Deme, and that's where Marm is focusing here with this post. At semi-tight NL tables, you can knock people off of 9's, T's, and even Jacks holding AK and coming over the top on them. Worse case scenario, you have 2 very live cards.

In limit, it's a different story and the smallest decision can raise your variance by a ton.

Originally Posted by the alex

AK in NL is a completely different hand that it is in limit, Deme, and that's where Marm is focusing here with this post. At semi-tight NL tables, you can knock people off of 9's, T's, and even Jacks holding AK and coming over the top on them. Worse case scenario, you have 2 very live cards.

In limit, it's a different story and the smallest decision can raise your variance by a ton.

Yep I know nothing about limit. I assume everyoneone plays NL

Interesting about knocking ppl off top pair on a weak flop. This is exactly what I am using at 0.5/1 to get money into the pot. Once I've folded a few times at a table you can start play JT quite happily, when you hit you can almost guarantee some fish you try to knock you off with the overcards. Usual scenario is me late JT, rainbow flop - lead out with first bet.I get check raised - followed by a heavy bet on the turn by my opponent. As the fish instincts take over the opponent feeds the pot trying to scare poor little "weak tight" me off the pot... As soon as a threat card drops they get very excited - loads more money. As soon as they hit they tend to drop thier bets as well.

At the moment the mid range cards (eg QJ) are giving me good returns...