How Do You Play AK Postflop When You Miss the Flop?

Hey CardsChat,

I’ve been working on improving my game, and one spot I struggle with is playing AK postflop when I completely miss the board.

For example, if I raise preflop with AK and the flop comes something like 8-5-2 rainbow, I’m not sure how to proceed. Should I:

• C-bet most of the time to represent strength?
• Check and give up if I face aggression?
• Use a mixed strategy depending on my opponent?

How do you handle these situations, especially against different player types (tight, loose, aggressive, passive)? Any tips or resources you’d recommend for mastering AK postflop play?

Looking forward to your advice!

Against one opponent I make a continuation bet about half pot size bet,if I win I win ,if I get called I watch the turn if it does not help me I fold against a bet.

when the stack same, i will raise high the flop comes
95% enemy high card or deuce, 5% low card
if my stack 3x times than other, i will all in
or raise and raise make them think that i have deuce
8-5-2 rainbow far from straight, raise 3-bet first, second check, if enemy raise high, just let it go
thats my strategy

lennso said:

Hey CardsChat,

I’ve been working on improving my game, and one spot I struggle with is playing AK postflop when I completely miss the board.

For example, if I raise preflop with AK and the flop comes something like 8-5-2 rainbow, I’m not sure how to proceed. Should I:

• C-bet most of the time to represent strength?
• Check and give up if I face aggression?
• Use a mixed strategy depending on my opponent?

How do you handle these situations, especially against different player types (tight, loose, aggressive, passive)? Any tips or resources you’d recommend for mastering AK postflop play?

Looking forward to your advice!

Click to expand...

In my understanding, everything 100% depends on each specific situation and several factors. First of all, it depends on you and your style of play, and a lot depends on your opponents. It's also important to take into account your position, the format and stage of the tournament. There are no specific scenarios, each situation is special and individual, and understanding how to act comes with experience.

It all depends on the situation at hand. There are cases where making a continuation bet is not worth it.

When ever I miss flop with AK, I play smart. If I raised preflop and the board is dry, I make a small continuation bet. If I get called or raised, I stay cautious. On a wet board, I check more often. Position and opponent type decide my next move.

Most of the time I will C-Bet against shorter stacks if I am first to act and there are only two of us. Variance increases with more opponents in the hand, so preflop i usually raise or re-raise to tighten the ranges of my opponent and push the weaker hands out. Mind you the raise size you select may give a great tell that you have a pocket pair, a strong Ace kicker or a weak Ace kicker that hit a pair on the flop.

I generally fold when facing multiple opponents raising, say if I am third to act post flop.

First to act, I will usually check against larger stacks or if there are more than 2 opponents calling preflop. Sometimes it is okay to check-raise post flop depending on if you are finding your opponents range could also be an Ace-kicker, just hope it didn't hit also.

Depending on your opponent you can choose to be aggressive, but it is easier to make that fold after the turn when presented a continuation bet if you are passive here. If your opponent is being passive I would add more aggression. They could be slow playing you with a set though so I would not be calling large bets once you see that turn card.

Depends on opponents stack sizes and type of aggression you face. Going up against an opponent with a smaller Ace Kicker is very common as those ones may also be passive after a missed turn card.

depends on the opponent ,if opponent loose play ,than C-bet if opponent aggressive or calling machine chek/pass 😁

Against a single villain, I'll go with C-bet.
Against many, I pass and see what they do when I'm the first to play. If I'm the last to play, I'll risk a c-bet too.

Depending on the situation...

It really depends on the situation. From what position did you raise? From what position have you been called? Are you playing cash? Tournament? What are the stacks? Are you in position? To illustrate it a bit better. Let's say you raised from UTG and got called from UTG+1. If your opponent is not being sneaky with AA, KK, or AK, what can they have? An overpair or something like AQs, AJs, KQs, KJs, maybe ATs. Chances are they missed as much as you did and you may make them fold. If they called from the BB? Their range connects with the flop much better, so if they check, I would probably check back. Otherwise you're risking X/R in this spot and you don't want to play a huge pot in this situation.

For me I would have already minimum raised preflop to scare of some hands. post flop, same thing. I minimum raise to scare off people from their winning hand.

If I lose, my motto is lose the small bets, win the big bets.

I'm on a flop where there is no draw card and I raised a preflop, the pot is 30-40%, I open, a tighter opponent with 88 with 55 maybe, but he probably won't hit either.

If I mis and have no draw, Im in chek/fold mode