the Donkey of Poker

There was a thread posted on PKRNation about Playing Ace King
it was interesting read when I followed up with a reply on page 2
here is a re-write

If you want to play bingo aggressive poker (which is all to common at the lower levels) then raise big or push with it (AK) but if you know your the best player at the table, and know how to extract chips from inferior players then you need not know how to play AK but know how to fold it.  The best player at the table does not look to go on race.

If you can out play your opponents on flops, why risk another x3bb or more bet with just over cards or back door straight draws? There is no real value in that, and then in turn you will have shown your opponents your style of poker if you do try to be hyper aggressive with a big hand.  Which can also turn the table your at around to be everyone pushing and raising big.

Personally myself at the micro tables or when the blinds are small I will be looking to extract the most value when I know I have the best hand. The best hand is not AK preflop so I want to at least see the flop. Limping from early position is not an option as an open limp is the weakest play in poker and I want to get some value against hands like Ax and Kx. Min raise and push out Qx and Jx but get hands like 44 33 22 wanting to see the flop. (set mining)

After you see the flop it is all about your post flop play and how well you know your opponents on specific boards. If the board is scary with flush and straight draws it is usually valuable to make your continuation bet if you know you can push them off a hand like top pair weak kicker. Maybe you know they will play any suited cards so a continuation bet is not the best option and now you look for a reason to fold.

I guess from my view and the way I play the lower limits ……
is when a tight player plays any hand from EP then that should send off bells and whistles, but not everyone respects or even notices image (that is something to always remember and usually the question that comes to mind is “How could he call that?)

Now my strategy of why the min raise is essentially to get someone to bump and run cause we know the donks will raise back with any2 cards, hopefully we (I) been playing tight (trappy poker) so far where as they will see this as an opportunity to steal the pot.

So what I do is think what his CB bet would be if we seen the flop after my min raise? if I am going to call it on the flop I am going to at least make the attempt to take it down pre flop with that much as my re-raise. Now, is he respecting my image? Do I get him to fold AceRag? (that he was gonna suck out on me with) Or does my min raise and now the re-raise gets him thinking I have a big hand.

If we are talking about AK from early position we are talking about being out of position and when you “check the flop no matter what” eeeek you are giving away your own strength and we want to control the pot.

Example of Hand Played

raise (get re raised) call
see flop and check (showing weakness) then they open bet and
….you have no idea where you are at in the hand

my/this strategy does pay off, and OMG the cash tables is best for it because you know Ace rag will call a min raise 90% of the time, and when you hit your Ace with AK its like 2pair, and this is how you get paid off….

min raise ( he calls ) see flop hit ace we do 20% – 25% pot bet (he calls)
now bet 30% pot (still looks cheap to his top pair, hell he might even raise)
on river you do 20% he will call w/Ace rag easily (he might raise)

examine the board to increase or decrease your bet
ie: draws on turn we pound the chips in on turn to 50%
ie: flopping 2 pair flop/turn is 20%
we need them to hit something or give them the impression of weakness so they raise.

Be creative, but don’t give them position after you showed strength