I’ve read many poker books and have made myself a lot of money. I’m a fan of Sklansky and Malmuth. The question is ‘How to Play Big Slick’ in low limit hold’em cash games online. I’ve have yet to see Big Slick explained enough in any of these books.

This is the problem I have and I need it explained by an expert…you. I open with AK suited (or not) for a raise in early position. I get 2 or more callers, but assume two. I do not hit the flop in any way. I bet out to see where I’m at and get called by two players at least. Nothing hits on the turn. Do I just simply give up and move on, or fire another bullet? Do I just assume that one of them probably has something?

It seems more often than not when I bet the turn with just AK, I’ll get called again. If I’m heads up, should I still fire away to the end if the guy just calls and calls. Maybe check and call his river bet?… give up?

First off, you’re reading the right people. Sklansky & Malmuth (and now Miller, who collaborated on Small Stakes Hold’em) are, at least in my opinion, the best poker authors out there.

As for how to play AK, if you haven’t found the information in Sklansky books, I’m surprised (I learned a lot about AK from his books in the past), but I think I can help. In fact, if you do end up reading a relevant section of a Sklansky book, I’d consider it essential that you listen to his advice, even if what I write here differs slightly. I’m someone who learned from reading those books; I’m not someone who can deservedly criticize their strategy.

First, remember that in limit hold’em the only time you shouldn’t at least consider raising AK preflop is when you think that one of your opponents has AA or KK, especially if you think one of them has AA. Usually, you can’t know for sure that an opponent has AA unless they raise at least 3-bet or 4-bet pre-flop. Even some very tight players (who deserve respect when raising), may raise a hand like QQ pre-flop. However, most very tight players won’t cap pre-flop with less than KK or AA, so if you’re sitting with AK pre-flop and a normally tight/passive opponent has 4-bet, you can safely fold. If you see a three bet in front of you, often it is hard to decide between folding and calling. In this case, you need to consider position and who is doing the raising (tight player or loose player?).

You should be aggressive with AK pre-flop, not only because you’re more likely to get rid of a few players (increasing the chance you’ll win the pot), but also because you’ll increase the size of the pot (hence, increasing your total return if you win the pot). I’m sure you understand the need to be aggressive with AK, but some players, when in a rut, will forget and just call.

Let’s run through the scenario you’ve described. You get two callers both of whom have position on you, after raising AK in early position. First, you need to look at the board before you bet out. If you have absolutely nothing, you need to hope that your opponents are in the same boat. If the board is ugly (723 rainbow), you might have a chance that they both missed (maybe one is playing QJ and the other AT, for example). But, if the board was QT2 rainbow, you should know for sure now that you need the J (or maybe your A or K) to win, because you’re facing two callers and two cards in the “playing zone”, which is 9 to ace. This term is what Bob Ciaffone has defined as “the portion of the deck most likely to connect with a player who puts money in voluntarily.” In other words, with two callers who are at least reasonable in terms of the hands they will play, you can expect that your AK is not the best hand on the QT2 board.

Nonetheless, you’ll usually be required to take a stab by the size of the pot (7.5 small bets, assuming the blinds fold, before we adjust for rake). This means that, assuming you’re not raised, between the small chance that both players will fold, the small chance that you’re ahead (and they call), and the moderate chance that you’ll make the best hand by the turn, you’re getting laid the right odds to place a bet. For continuation bets where you have very little/nothing on the flop, usually it is advisable to fire a bet when there are two or less callers. Usually when the pot is contested by 4 or more players, continuation betting is useless, and you should check/fold to a bet.

On the turn after a call, you have to consider whether both your opponents are on a draw that has missed, or if you’re ahead of both. In the vast majority of situations, you’ll be behind when you have two callers and usually, unless you’ve picked up the first part of a backdoor draw (so now there’s three spades on the board, and you have the As), you’ll be drawing quite slim. Often, if you have no reads and no image, you’re better off checking instead of firing. Most people who call the flop in low limit, will also call the turn, and quite often this means you’re committed to firing again on the river, or at least check/calling, which means by betting on the turn you’re committing yourself to two big bets.

Remember that the turn is usually when people make their decision in hold’em, and that while in many tight games this means you should fire again on the turn, in low limit almost no pots are won without a showdown. In low limit, you have to be willing to show down to win, and that means that you need the best hand or you need to make the best hand. As you said, more often than not you’ll be called, and that is always the case with low limit.

Heads up is trickier. Often, AK will win unimproved heads up, but still you need to consider your opponents possible range versus the texture of the board. A board of QT2 will more often than not, connect more with a caller than 732 will. Heads up is usually about aggression, so if you bet the whole way heads up you might win enough to justify the losses when you don’t improve and they call down with a better hand. One nice thing about heads up is that you can check/call the river and many players will bluff against you, while if you bet the river, usually the only hands which will call you, will beat you, and the only hands that fold, you could beat anyway.

AK sure is a tricky hand, and I can’t tell you for sure how to play every scenario there is, but I suggest you re-read some of your Sklansky books. Small Stakes Hold’em in particular is a good one to read.

Good luck at the tables!

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