Everyone who bets in hold’em understands that a-k is one of the greatest opening hands. But, it is just that, an opening hand. It is simply two cards of a seven-card equation. In just about every situation, you’ll want to jump out guns blaring with A-K as your hole cards. When the flop arrives, you have to reassess your cards and consider things completely before you just deduce that your overcards are best.
Like most other opportunities in holdem, knowing your competitors will assisting you in gauging your situation when you have A-K and observe a flop like 9-8-2. After you wager preflop and were called, you assume your competitor is also possessing great cards and the flop may have by-passed them as badly as it by-passed you. Your assuming will often times be correct. Also, don’t forget that many bad competitors wouldn’t understand good cards if they fall over them and could have called with Ace-x and paired the table.
If your opponent checks, you might check and see a free card or lay a wager and attempt to grab the pot up right there. If they bet, you might raise to observe if they are in or fold. What you want to avoid is simply calling your competitor’s wager to see what the turn brings. If any card instead of the Ace or King is turned over, you will not have any more information than you did following the flop. Let us say the turn brings a four and your opponent wagers once more, what should you do? To call a wager on the flop you had to think your hand was the greatest, so you have to truly believe it still is. So, you call a bet on the turn and one more on the river to discover that your opposition was holding 10-8 and just a second pair following the flop. At that instance, it dawns on you that a raise the bet after the flop might have won the money right there.
A-K is a wonderful thing to see in your hole cards. Just be certain you gamble on them astutely and they’ll bring you amazing happiness at the poker table.