Is AK a made hand or not and why?

[julio gonzalez]

AK

hello I think it's a premium hand but it's not made to play according to the position at the table and you can end up allin against AQ- AJ jj and all the KQ. and win many times

 

[lukovnikofff]

Hi all,
I keep hearing people all the time talking about AK and the trouble playing it because, while it is a strong hand, it is not a made hand. Yet, almost no one has a problem getting it in preflop with AK (esp suited). So, this begs the question: Is AK a "made hand" -- why or why not?

I believe that AK IS a made hand. It beats all other Ax besides AA (which is a decent made hand as well...lol), it is also beating all Kx (besides the obvious KK that is not too shabby). As draws, it makes the nuts on both flush and straight boards, it flips with every pocket pair (that is not the aforementioned AA and KK) and it is leading every other hand. It does not necessarily need to improve to win at showdown.

What is everyone else's opinion?

AK is not a made hand, but this hand is very strong and beats a lot of hands, this hand has a lot of potential, but still you need to understand that this is not a made hand and it loses to pocket pairs! Always play with this hand, but always be careful! Good luck at the tables!

 

[YRAGAGARIN]

Tournaments often all-in with this hand, I don't all-in with them

 

[slothi]

Your explanation is a very good one I think…..so it’s reasonable to say that AK is maybe a made hand…..🤔

 

[rachelle2291]

How often does ace high win if hand goes to the river? I don't think that often. So I guess it is not a made hand.

 

[odonob]

A lot of ppl get married to this hand. The flop is key. All in is often a bad play in most early circumstances. Two 2s beats AK remember. Patterns matter and potential patterns.

 

[Newzooozooo]

Hi.
I never have a problem with such strong cards. I always know how I will act, of course given my position and the style of play of my opponents. This is a strong hand that opens up good potential for us.
Good luck.

 

[Alex Sentsov]

AK is a very controversial hand. On a par with JJ. ))

 

[jesusali1]

Well from my opinion yes and it doesn't have a 50 and 50 because you can't always rely on a pair like that, the only hand if you don't connect any pair is a high card and that doesn't always win, instead a winning pair is AA or KK, I know many will criticize me but it's not always like that, almost in most of the times you win.

 

[danoscar]

Real time. An ace is nice to have. Online it's your worse enemy

 

[DS3]

Where are you getting your definitions from ?

Seriously?

The question is regards AK, preflop.The only hand considered 'made' in that specific circumstance is a pocket pair. But please feel free to share alternative pre-flop 'made' hands.

The term you used is 'made' not strong.

 

[pokerace_1]

A/K is nothing but unpair hand,u got nothing until u see the flop!I have seen many players lose all your chips with it!

 

[BetterThanAvgButNotByMuch]

Isn't a pair of ducks higher than Ak? I wonder, you folks need to educate me on that one.

Oh and I watched someone at the ACR Venom final table with like 100BBs go allin preflop with AK yesterday while at least 2 short stacks and at least 1 person, probably 2 ppl under their chip count watched in amazement as they got called with AA and sent them out a lot earlier than they probably expected. But hey, at least they had AK!!

 

[CapdeCraniu]

A made hand is a pair or higher.
This answers your question.

Also, please note that a lot of players would have no issue going all-in preflop with almost any pair, which would make your AK highly vulnerable.

 

[AizenFalck]

It is not a made hand. Made hands will be pocket pairs. You need to be very careful when playing AK if you made a mistake, can easy be crushed if your opponent gets pocket aces or pocket kings and if the flor shows and aces or King easily you believe you have a top pair just to realize that your opponent did 3 of a kind. Regards.

 

[elJenio8]

Any hand with a bad board is a bad hand. You can exploit situations. AK its not the exception, its not even a pair, but is a good hand.

 

[Lipki3]

I don't like the AK hand. Maybe because I'm bad on postflop. If A or K doesn't come, I often don't know what to do.

 

[BetterThanAvgButNotByMuch]

Did I mention that the ACR final table had a 1st prize of over $1.1 Million USD, 2nd was 900k, third was 659k etc but I think the AK person got a nice 75, 000 prize which was still very impressive but they probably left just "a little bit"money on the table (lol) and the person that had the Aces went on to win 1st by the way. So they were very grateful for that AK play, VERY grateful.

 

[xOneCoolHandx]

AK is not a made hand, but this hand is very strong and beats a lot of hands, this hand has a lot of potential, but still you need to understand that this is not a made hand and it loses to pocket pairs! Always play with this hand, but always be careful! Good luck at the tables!

Again, it is a flip to all pocket pairs except for AA and KK. So, it wins approximately half the time. So, it doesn't just lose to them.

 

[xOneCoolHandx]

How often does ace high win if hand goes to the river? I don't think that often. So I guess it is not a made hand.

I see lots of ace high hands win at showdown, especially on dry boards.

 

[xOneCoolHandx]

I don't like the AK hand. Maybe because I'm bad on postflop. If A or K doesn't come, I often don't know what to do.

AK is pretty strong even post-flop. Come check out my study stream on Twitch on Fridays if you want to improve your postflop play. https://www.twitch.tv/xonecoolhandx

 

[JordanH]

AK is a flipping hand in some situations, a strong hand in others, but by definition, NOT a "made" hand.

72o and similar hands crush AK often enough to make one wonder where this question is coming from?

Throw it all in pre-flop with any hand and turn the outcome over to pure luck.

 

[xOneCoolHandx]

AK is a flipping hand in some situations, a strong hand in others, but by definition, NOT a "made" hand.

72o and similar hands crush AK often enough to make one wonder where this question is coming from?

Throw it all in pre-flop with any hand and turn the outcome over to pure luck.

Again, I ask. Where do you get your definitions from??? I asked this earlier and did not get an answer. Is there some Poker dictionary out there that defines what constitutes a made hand that I am not aware of? I am only semi-joking because even before making the original post I did look on https://www.pokerdictionary.net/ and there was no definition, but then I looked on https://www.pokernews.com/pokerterms/made-hand.htm and they gave the following definition:


Refers to a hand the value of which is a pair or higher, often used with regard to pocket pairs in no-limit hold’em in which the player has already “made” a pair even before the community cards have arrived. Used in contrast to a drawing hand which still needs to improve.

But, this does not settle the debate because it is "often used with regard to pocket pairs." That does not exclude using it with other hands --like AK-- which, does not always need to improve to win at showdown. So, it seems that this is a hand that remains undefined. It has spurred quite the debate though

I don't know that I have ever lost with AK v 72, I don't know very many people who will play it (without a prop bet). Personally, I don't play the throw-it-all-in game that so many people on here seem to be fond of. If you have ever played with me then you would know that I am a very solid player.

 

[fletchdad]

I havent read all the answers so forgive me if I am repeating anything. This is all how I see it.

Of course AK is NOT a made hand. The definition of a made hand is pretty much the hand that is ahead, but not high card hands. Any PP can be seen as a made hand but if you raise with 22 and get a 3 bet and 4 callers, I am not seeing 22 as a made hand anymore.

AK is only as good as the table dynamics. I almost always raise, and especially 3 bet with AK, but not because I have a made hand, but a 3 bet will possibly get folds but still has a lot of post flop potential, and there lies the strength of AK for me in a long term stats way. It is also a great hand to semi-bluff with post-flop, depending on your opponent.

But if you get bet into PF, AK will need to be played according to the table dynamics. Sometimes calling certain players and reassessing post-flop is the best play depending on the players in the hand. This will all be dependent on table dynamics, reads and so on.

In a tourny situation, when I am short, I am almost always looking to get AI with AK.

 

[SopianaeExtra]

AK in itself is a decent hand, which oftentimes looks better than what it's worth. I would almost never dare to go AIPF with it, like with anything TT+.