Would You Ever Fold AK preflop?

[davidkimtai89]

A K is a nice hand , I like this hand , i alway all in and the winning is much more than losing , if you are unlucky you able to lose with pair of J J , in short term if we all in we will win big ,

 

[scobido]

Very often especially when it is a large stak !!!

 

[bigthereal]

sure, in a tournament close to the bubble it can happen

 

[Pokerpoet2]

I do it all the time, I have even been known to fold A/A in a crucial part of a tournament, Pre-flop any two cards can win, and any two can lose, it is that simple, If you are going to bust out before the bubble then call with your A/K.
It is one of the most over rated hands, and loses a lot of the time, Sure I am calling with 50 or 60 BB behind me to an all-in shove of 5 or 6 BB, but to risk your tourney life against a 100 BB stack, it would go into the muck every time.

When the fun Stops, STOP!

 

[Pokerishard]

I fold AK pre-flop many times. Depends of pisition and situation on table. But like a statistic i fold maybe 7 times from 10.

 

[Snake2007]

I never fold with AK in hand regardless of position or if I lose or win.

 

[zwbb]

The larger the opponent's opening size, the less we should tend to 3-bet with AK. Against small open raises, we should 3-bet more aggressively. The deeper the effective stacks, the less we should want to 3-bet AKo out of position (OOP). Against early positions with incomplete stacks, we can 3-bet AK more often. 3-betting in position (IP) versus EP and MP can be good exploits against opponents with a low 4-bet rate.

 

[thedarkman]

There are situations (ICM) at the pre-final and final tables when icmizer will advise you to fold with AK if there are short stacks and significant spikes in prize money.

AK is a very over-rated hand, but annoying when you have pocket kings and you are both all-in - there is a three rag flop, the turn pairs the board, then wallop, that horrible ace.

 

[Gusborgs22]

Yes, specially in cash games with lots of action after your raise/ before you
In MTT it depends how deep you are and if you can rebuy
For exemple: 100bb deep with 2 + 70+ bb all ins to call its okay to fold, but if you have 20bb with 2+ i think its a call

 

[Zeke67]

Depends...

It depends on the situation. How deep in the tournament I am. Is there a lot of action in front of me? However, your question was a simple WOULD you ever fold AK preflop? The simple answer is yes. It all depends on the entirety of the situation. That’s just me.

 

[Momo9292]

Don't be results oriented by small samples

It was hard to learn, but meanwhile I can fold AK. I just lost with it too many times against pairs or even weaker aces. Let's see a flop....

This is a very bad example of why to fold AK. We cannot be results oriented in poker, unless of course we are talking about the results after researching a certain spot and realizing it was always -EZ . Losing to worse Ax hand after being All-in pre happens, sure. but mathematically you will win more often than lose in these spots, so we can't be too sad when we make a correct decision and lose. Also if you only call. and lets says your opponent was winning to get in 100BB with AQdd, and you decided to flat their 3bet. flop Comes K56 no diamond. You are going to miss out on a lot of value.

Losing to small pairs. Well if your range is correctly balanced between high pairs (10's-AA) and AK this shouldn't be an issue, if you find opponents are calling off with small pairs too much you may have to adjust this range but you are almost 50% equity with small pairs anyway, also if you add in the chances of KQ's, AJ's and AQ's they might be shoving or calling off with. AK actually goes +EV against this range.

My main point is not to adjust your play style based on results like this. Playing AK passively in some spots is a valid play for sure, if we are trapping/balancing our ranges. But in general it is a Premium hand and should be played as such.

Edgecases-
There are times for sure when AK needs to folded , aggression from multiple opponents preflop who have tight linear ranges. 5 bet jams from players who are massive nits.. I mean only 5bet KK AA

I have correctly folded AK several times in 6max 25-50z games online. being 5bet jammed on by insanely tight nits or facing 4-5bets in multiway preflop aggression. There are spots where it can be done. Just choose wisely. Thanks for reading, hope you crush the tables!!

 

[partz]

Definetely. But it depends about many factors, but id say its an easy call

 

[viacheslavtezikov]

If a tight player reraises from early position, then I fold with AK. Also, I don't play AK if I find it on the bubble.

 

[German629]

Yes, why not?! I did this many times already...:joyman: Because AK this is only...AK.:deal:
That's all!

 

[psycodelic1]

Of course soecially in the bubble or in mp when utg r1ises and other 3 bets and other shoves and youre in the sb with AK

 

[DAVID KEHRER]

Yes if there are two or more already all in you are most likely behind.

 

[donpiatnik]

Yes and even if not often, but it does happen.

 

[AllOut]

In cash games against two players it's reasonable fold. Same goes for tourneys too, also depends on its stage where you can easily lay it down. I remember folding it in early stages of deep tourneys, and one time I did so on the final table when I faced 4-bet all in against my 3-bet raise. Later I knew the guy had QQ.
That won't change anything much, it could be even pocket 5s let's say. It's not easy to get rid of them certainly and in final tables going allin with AK will usually be coin flips, so you decide if you want to put your hours of grind into flip/risk. I usually play them no matter what most of the time. Lately, at the end, it's an easy shove but not so for calling in spesific situations.

 

[Shrops]

Yes

Yes, I fold AK sometimes in my poker play.

 

[Ellah10]

Yes if there was few raisers behind me

 

[Dangames8282]

sim, se fosse a seguir, e uma boa nota sobre o vilão

 

[scubed]

I gotta say, I have done this a rare couple of times in poker tournaments, only because I'm so close to being paid in the tournament that I don't want to risk losing to a subpar hand. Anyone else done this? Or if you haven't, what was the toughest fold you made in a game pre-flop?

I have absolutely folded AKo preflop due to ICM considerations in a tournament.

I don't think I would ever fold AKo preflop in a cash game, but in a tournament I think I can find a few scenarios where it makes sense.

 

[erik_lima]

Yes. AK is not that good as AA and KK. I don't like to risk my tournament with just AK preflop, specially on the beginning of tournaments.

 

[chrismacan]

Haven't done it yet. But reading some of these reponses makes me think that there will be a time that I will.

 

[kobra80]

never folds AK preflop. it is a strong hand and suitable for allin