AA or KK: Which Do You Prefer? (edit note: previous title was AK or KK, but original post is AA or KK)

[eRaS55]

The better question over here is.... do you always raise AA or KK Pre flop?

And the answer is......... a resounding YES! On low stack, you go all in. With a larger stack you should raise high enough that only other "strong hands" remain in the pot with you. I see a lot of players limping with aces and that's when things get dangerous, especially at small stack because now you're open to being bullied pre flop by a bluffer who gets lucky... or just losing to some silly card on the river.

And ur like, "Man! That Kings worked out so great a few hands back! I think I'll go do some slots to cheer up." And after losing your entire bankroll there, you may just decide to come over here and ponder in the forum about what the hell is it with AA???? lol

 

[SPANKYSN]

it may seem obvious but... i may disagree with you. i'm less disappointed with kings when they run into any Ax with an A on the board.... i feel like i should know better.


with aces, i feel like i should win.. and when i don't, well...


what about you?

I hear what you're saying about the disappointment, but that aside, you have to prefer AA to KK. I used to think that KK was my nemesis hand until my son suggested that I keep track...so I did track KK for the next 6 months or so (100 KK hands). I found that I won 70% of those hands, but at the same time, I lost more money than I won because quite often the KK netted me the blinds or small wins when I raised, whereas, KK losing usually meant a monster loss of chips.

 

[samsonand]

from my point of view both but if they gave me to choose one I could choose the AA because it is not always safe to go all in with KK

 

[Baldy86]

interesting point of view OP but i like AA more

 

[Gallego1523]

I will always prefer AA over KK. But it is also a game of probability and chance, we can lose the hand with either AA or KK.
But I hope I always have AA in hand

 

[SawViper]

Obviously Aces. With kings if you have a preflop raiser and an ace comes your hand becomes a bluff catcher or check/fold hand. Statistically speaking you should only be losing aces 1/4 of the time so math still in your favour.

 

[SawViper]

The better question over here is.... do you always raise AA or KK Pre flop?

And the answer is......... a resounding YES! On low stack, you go all in. With a larger stack you should raise high enough that only other "strong hands" remain in the pot with you. I see a lot of players limping with aces and that's when things get dangerous, especially at small stack because now you're open to being bullied pre flop by a bluffer who gets lucky... or just losing to some silly card on the river.

And ur like, "Man! That Kings worked out so great a few hands back! I think I'll go do some slots to cheer up." And after losing your entire bankroll there, you may just decide to come over here and ponder in the forum about what the hell is it with AA???? lol

That's wrong. If you look at tournament preflop charts when you have lower than 25 big blinds you should not be going all in as you can often scare off everyone missing your chance on a easy double up. You should be check calling and by the end your money should all be in the pot anyways. Learned this from Johnathan Little's youtube channel video on running deep in tournaments.

 

[luckyhenri]

I lose much as with AA as I do with KK, so pretty equal hands but of course I would have to pick AA

 

[bobor19871987]

bobor19871987

I like KK but AA is not bad either

 

[Pokerpoet2]

AA without a doubt the best starting hand in Texas Holdem, but I don't fall in love with them, like any hand they can and will be beaten, and you sometimes have to fold them.
I like to think in Ranges of hands I will play at different stages in a game and when I have a short stack AA and KK are a hand I like to call with and hope someone raises, and then I can re-raise and get more value from them, Some might say it is dangerous to slow play them but I find it more profitable to limp so more chips get in the middle.
Smaller pocket pairs I would shove because you really don't want to see a flop and would be happy to take the Blinds and Antes without a fight, but AA and KK are at the top of any ones range and you should try and get as much as you can from them.
All that being said it also depends on what position you are in, in early position you want as many blinds in as possible, but in late position with 4 or 5 players already in the hand, then that could be enough to shove all-in. I once limped UTG with KK and when it got round to the Button he 3X bet so that was my signal to 4X bet shove all-in. It worked because he had a decent Pocket pair of Jacks but were no match against my Kings.
Any hand could have won, but so could 7/2 off if they were prepared to gamble with them.

When the fun Stops, STOP!

 

[azgeda]

AA KK

I will go with AA, aces are likely to win 85% of the time, although KK is one of my favorites too.

 

[GAPete159]

I despise KK. I have ever since I can remember. I have always had bad luck with them. I personally call KK-Nemesis. A more fitting name cannot be found. Anyways, I hate Kings!!!!

 

[WaumpataMaikaefer]

I lost so often with AA
that I prefer KK

 

[eRaS55]

That's wrong. If you look at tournament preflop charts when you have lower than 25 big blinds you should not be going all in as you can often scare off everyone missing your chance on a easy double up. You should be check calling and by the end your money should all be in the pot anyways. Learned this from Johnathan Little's youtube channel video on running deep in tournaments.

Well, that too makes sense, but I'm still skeptical and prefer the strong pre flop bet. Maybe it has to do with me as a player. I consider myself quite patient and happy to just continually add any gains to my stack throughout the game, whether big or small. And I will say, my game completely changes when my chips are different. When I know I'm in no danger of leaving is when I start misrepresenting hands for maximum gains. But big stacks will always look for a steal if the odds are good, so when in danger of leaving, I rather go strong and scare off their pocket 4s or something, which pre flop has even odds to the Aces. Hopefully AJ or AQ or the likes calls me which gives me a slightly better edge in terms of odds.

That said I'll definitely check out that channel and learn some more about running deep, so cheerz for that.

 

[valeski 28]

Good morning.What a question.....well, I always feel more comfortable in any hand with the best pre-flop hand,AA.I also like KK,though.

 

[bekbollkz]

Yes, Cowboy and rocket))) Both hands are great. but most of all to me, of course, AA.

 

[DIANTA]

I like Kings, but love Aces.
Especially when they find a company...
:dancing2:

 

[williemays56]

AA KK

AA all in or fold pre flop

 

[AQA272]

KK ....if bad beat is not so offensive
_____________________________
GLA!!!

 

[peaceofcoke]

AK! ... But between those 2, it's not even a contest man! AA all day! Anyone who says KK is playing poker with the wrong mindset!

Why AK is better for me....

If u have AA or KK, you are hoping to hit on at least another one of the 2 remaining cards respectively, for a 3 of a kind. Likely you don't hit and have top pair, but you could easily lose to 2 pair, for instance. In the event another pair pops up and you think you have 2 pair, you're now at risk of falling in the trap of a 3 of a kind somewhere on the table.

With AK, your odds are better at hitting many of the top combinations, not to mention when it's suited. Hellz to tha yeah!

So yeah..... AK ... is King!?

Yeah, but what happens when you are a runner with a gutter or open str8 flush, st8/flush? The QQ or JJ or TT or any other pairs are going to bleed u dry

 

[peaceofcoke]

After a while of playing, I stay with KK

Here is a better one, why not try 22

 

[Evan Jarvis]

it may seem obvious but... i may disagree with you. i'm less disappointed with kings when they run into any Ax with an A on the board.... i feel like i should know better.


with aces, i feel like i should win.. and when i don't, well...


what about you?

Having played a lot of poker in my days, for me the dream hand is always AA

I accept that I won't win everytime with it, and this is certainly a hurdle that newer players need to overcome.

But i'm always excited that if i'm able to get in >15-20% of my chips in preflop that I'm never really making a mistake in getting all in after the flop in a headsup pot.

Aces are also much better for trapping on short stacks are than KK because they can always play confidently, and having 2 AA, decreases the changes that an Ace will hit and slow the action vs QQ JJ etc.

The big skill that players need to develop is being able to fold aces after the flop in a multiway pot or in a pot where they only get say 3-5% of their chips in preflop (typical single raised pot).

Once a player is able to make those folds I think it's hard for them to not desire AA almost every hand

 

[partz]

I like all the cards. Definitely AA and KK being the biggest cards in the the whole deck are always welcome haha

 

[ironduke11]

AA but whne an ace hits everyone tightens up

 

[efranto2286]

What do I prefer? Always AA.