Article The Power of AK
The Power of AK
Alan Bloomfield
I've played a lot of poker and through the years I've heard a lot of players complain about this one hand in particular. T.J. Cloutier calls this hand "walking back to Dallas." When he played in road games in Texas back in the day this hand broke more players than any other hand. I'm here to defend AK and I'm going to tell you why I think it's one of the most powerful hands in the deck.
It is true, more than likely in your poker career you will get knocked out of tournaments with this hand more than any other hand. Although, over time, I believe you will also probably win more money and more big pots with this hand.
The best thing about AK is how it plays against other hands in the deck in a heads up situation. This is the reason why when you need a hand AK is a very good hand to go with. AK heads up is a favorite against any hand that isn't a pair. The only hands in the deck that dominate AK and make AK a huge underdog are AA and KK. Since you are already holding an Ace and a King in your hand it makes it less likely that you will run into one of these hands. Even against KK, AK is going to win that match up 30% of the time.
The real power with AK is the fact that you can be aggressive with it. When you have to you can raise or re-raise with confidence with this hand. Why? Because of how well this hand matches up against a range of hands. When being aggressive with AK your fold equity is what makes this hand so powerful. When raising or re-raising with AK it puts pressure on the other player. The fact that you can re-raise with this hand makes everyone know they are up against a strong hand. The problem is, what hand is it? Let's say a player raises with pocket tens, you look down and see AK and decide it's time to make a move and you come over the top with AK. The player with pocket tens does have a slight advantage in this hand but the problem that he's facing is that he knows that he's just ran into a big hand, but just how big is it? He knows more than likely he's in a coin flip situation, or even worse he's ran into AA, KK, QQ, or even JJ which make him a huge underdog.
Even though statistically a pocket pair like Tens is a slight favorite over AK by being aggressive with AK and getting your opponent to lay down their hands pre flop is where the edge is with AK. When your opponent decides to call with the pocket pair you are still in good shape.
You are not always going to run into a pocket pair with AK either. Like I said earlier, AK is a favorite against any non paired hand. AK is a 70% favorite against hands like AQ and AJ, hands that AK has dominated. Any other non paired hand AK is at least a 60% favorite over. So if your always playing AK aggressively and putting the pressure on your opponent these are the times that AK is really going to be profitable. The times your opponents lay down their hands once again you are picking up dead money, but now the times they call you are now a statistical favorite over them.
Overall, AK is so powerful because of how it matches up against a wide range of hands. Also AK has the potential of becoming a very strong hand because of it's drawing potential. When you do look down and see AK don't moan and groan, it's time to be aggressive and try and take control of the game!!!
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