Q. I have a question about AK (suited or not). All the books treat AK as a big hand and advise raising preflop with it. I do this as advised, usually raising 4 or 5 times the BB.

However, the maths being what they are, most of the time I miss the flop and I'm looking at absolutely nothing. Shoud I carry on betting big as if I've hit something, and if so do I bet the flop and turn, or just bail out after gettting one call? It doesn't feel good betting when you know a pair of twos has you beat!

Great question...

A. The way to play Big Slick (AK) depends largely on your positioning, how many players are in the hand, your read on on the situation, and so on.

Remember this mantra:

PLAY THE PLAYER, NOT THE CARDS.

Is Big Slick a monster hand?

Yes, of course it is.

But you'll get BURNT with it if you don't take the right things into consideration.

When you're in late positioning, you should raise aggressively pre-flop with Big Slick and try to narrow the field down to one or two callers.

If you're in an early position, you should make a raise with the same goal in mind: to narrow it down to a caller or two.
Except this time, you'll have to use more of your "intuition" to decide how large your bet will need to be.

With Big Slick, you want to get RID of anyone at the table who's holding a deuce... that way you're not scared about an opponent having a pair of two's!

After the flop, YES, you should represent with a bet. Don't CHECK the flop after making a pre-flop raise... only a wuss does something like that.

If the board hits all scraps, you should be able to take the pot down no problem. Make your opponents put you on a hand like K-K or A-A and force them to fold.

If the board hits with either your King or Ace, once again you'll have no problem winning the pot.

The times you need be careful are when either:

1. You think your opponent has a monster hand, like Kings or Aces. (If this happens, fold!)

2. The board pairs up or there's a straight or flush draw there.

In the latter case, you want to be careful not to bet into your opponent if he's holding trips or a draw.

You won't be able to force him to fold, and you'll have gotten yourself into a lot of trouble.

Now... if you represent the flop with nothing but Ace high and your opponent calls, NOW it's time to back down.

If the turn card doesn't help you, just ease off.

Cut your losses and move on.

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