On Misplaying AK

AKo and AKs are easily the most misplayed hands in MTTs.

I say this because even though I constantly see people donk off their stack with KQ, AQ, and AJ they are still getting close to max value for their hand - I'll talk about that some other time.

The point is that I see people constantly shove huge amounts of big blinds over a standard open when they hold AKo and AKs and you're killing the value of the hand when you do this, especially when you have position on the original raiser.

Most of the value of AKo and AKs comes in getting weaker Ace hands or even KQ to push over you.

Any other situation where you hold AK is either a flip or a cooler where you're crushed. By jamming too many big blinds pre-flop you're giving your opponent more of a chance to fold AQ, AJ, AT, and KQ. I'm mentioning the last two hands since you will definitely see people shove with them in lower buy-in tournaments.

By jamming AK you also make it easier for people to know how you play the hand and you fail to balance your 3-Betting range.

This is an advanced concept crucial for MTT success and I'll devote an entirely separate post to it, my faithful reading audience of zero.

I digress. Here's a quick example of how I will play AK late in an MTT.

1500/3000/150 (I'm guessing at the antes but it's probably close)

You: Late Position with 35 big blinds
Villain: Mid-Position with 26.5 big blinds

Villain raises to 7,500.
You ???

Time and time again I see people just jam with AK here and either get a fold or get into a flipping situation for most of their chips.

What I will do here is raise to something like 16,999 or a similar total. This accomplishes a couple things.

1. It makes my hand look like a monster and hands like 22-TT may fold, thinking they are dominated.

2. It balances my 3-betting range since I will make a similar raise with hands such as 46s, 89s, 9Ts, AA, KK, QQ, and sometimes ATC in the right spots (very read dependent obv.)

3. It may induce bad players to push bad hands. By taking the lead here and having position you're putting a lot of pressure on a weak player to make the correct decision which they rarely do. The majority of the time I will get flatted and take it down with a c-bet (or hit my A or K and stack them) or they will shove over me with something like 77+ and KQ+ in which case I'm not in bad shape at all with all the money already in the middle.

There are other tactics you can use to disguise your hand if you've been with the same opponents for a long time. Varying your 3-bet size is definitely one of them and I'm UTG+1 or UTG+2 facing a race I will consider flatting if there are several aggressive players left to act behind.

Just remember that the biggest value of AK comes from inducing weaker hands, not flipping coins. Keep experimenting with ways to induce shoves and you will probably see an improvement to your results.

Short and to the Point

Want to know one of the biggest keys to success in online tournament poker?

Avoid playing out of position as much as you can. It really can't be stressed enough.

AJo and AJs UTG and UTG+1 is a fold.

KTo and KTs in the SB and BB is a fold.

It goes on and on. Tournament poker is about developing an overall strategy and then trying to hone your skills within that strategy whether it be small ball, Kill Phil style, or something in between.

But playing pots in position is paramount to success in any given style and there really is no argument against that.

Ding Ding Ding!

"I don't think poker takes that much inteligence - that's something poker players tell themselves - but it does take a specialized skills that some people will never acquire or always have problems implementing."

-V, posted on http://raiseorfold.cardgrrl.com/

I'd say this is mostly accurate and seldom said.

The fact that he/she misspells intelligence and mixes up the singular/plural of 'skills' may add additional credence to this. I say this tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek, of course.

The actual poker math required at the table is 8th grade algebra and even then there are little shortcuts you can take.

Of all the poker math geniuses out there (Paul Magriel, David Sklansky and Chris Ferguson come to mind immediately) there are an equal number of players who play "by feel" or admit they don't know the math behind the game (Chad Batista, Puggy Pearson, Phil Ivey).

I could have done extensive research to make a balanced list of names but much like the Men At Work song, it's just Overkill.

Poker is more about picking up the tells and betting patterns of your opponents coupled with preventing them from picking up on yours than it is about knowing the exact odds on every street. Knowing the math won't do you much good if you can't make a bet that entices your opponents to call - see David Sklansky as an example of this.

However, you should at least know how much of a chance you stand if called even if it's just broken down into the terms "not bad", "good", or "none."