Playing Ace King Pre Flop

An ACE KING as your starting cards in Texas Hold-em is one of the most desired hands, just after the big two pairs. Doyle Brunson however calls Ace King "Two tickets to Memphis", as in, playing these cards wrong will send you home in a hurry.

Whether or not you go all in yourself, or call an all in, is another key consideration.

Scenario 1, Calling an all in.

There is a mathmatical perspective that says any time you are facing an all in with an Ace King, you should call. I can't remember the precise values, but, if you called every all in you face with Ace King, you will win between 53 and 54% of the time. For those mathmatical players who focus soley on EV, perhaps this is a good approach for you.

Ace King is a DRAWING hand however, its merely Ace High if neither card hits. So, facing any made hand (a pair) puts you in a slightly disadvantaged coin flip situation. You have about a 2% disadvantage over a pair of two's, moving up to a 43 to 57% disadvantage to any pair starting at 10s. And of course you are at a distinct disadvantage against a pair of aces or kings, even if that likelyhood is reduced since you are also holding an ace and a king.

So, against a pair lower than kings, you are in a slightly badly weighted coin flip situation.

The real advantage of Ace King comes when the other player is also holding an ace with a lower kicker. Here is one situation where you would definitely want to call an all in.

So, if you are holding an ace king, and you are facing an all in, you should ask the following questions:

1. Is the other player very tight or conservative? Do they play very few hands? Have they gone all in before? A very tight player with a decent stack moving all in should set off alarm bells. You are almost certainly slightly behind here (10's to Q's) or worst case scenario, one of the big pairs. If a rock moves all in before you act, this might not be the time to call.
2. Are they short stacked? If they are, most likely their range is lowering, call them.
3. Do you know the other players all in range? Have they been trying to double up quickly as part of their tournament strategy? If a player has been going all in multiple times early in a tournament, and Ace King is a great calling hand.

Scenario 2. Pushing all in with Ace King.

Certainly, if you have an Ace King, and it is pre-flop, you are going to be raising, or if someone has raised before you, three bettting. What if you are again raised? Should you push? Or just call?

Any time you are going to push all in with less than the two big pairs, you need to do some careful analysis before making the move. The same holds true for Ace King.

Remember that the power of Ace King comes from hitting one of your cards, knowing what the flop contains and if you have hit can increase your odds of winning significantly. So, if you are in a situation where there are re-raises on your raise, then just calling and seeing the flop can secure a win or prevent further chip loss.

If however, you are facing a small stack that has a decent chunk invested in a pre-flop raise, then a push will either end up with a fold or perhaps a call on a weaker ace. Both are desirable outcomes.

Or, if you are facing what appears to be a steal attempt, then pushing can quickly send the message that you are not easy to blind steal from.

Otherwise, calling rather than pushing with Ace King (after raising yourself of course) can reduce losses.

Very short stacked players should always push all in with Ace King. Lots of inferior holdings are willing to call a small stack all in.


Would you ever limp with Ace King?

The majority of time, you should be raising or re-raising with your ace king pre-flop to increase pot size and therefore your winnings when it hits.

There are however a couple of situations where a call could be a deceptive strategy. One is if you have a blind punisher at the table. This player type loves it when four or more limps take place, they raise to 5x BB or more and take all of the blinds and antes. If two or more have limped in front of you, and you know the blind punisher is yet to act, a limp here followed by an all in to a blind stealer can be a satisfying result.

The other is if other players are hyper aggressive. If you can be CERTAIN that a specific player or player is going to raise, based on history, go ahead an limp. A hyper aggressive player is most certainly going to be behind when they raise your limp, a re-raise or push here can take their chips on inferior holdings.

So, unless you can be almost certain that you will be raised, always raise with Ace King and build the pot pre flop.