The NoPayPOKER Free Poker Site Secrets of Playing AA and KK Preflop
By Advisor. Filed in Florida |
Regardless of whether you play entry level free texas holdem poker or high stakes Vegas A-A and K-K are the top two hands preflop that will get your heart thumping with excitement every (rare) time they appear. When you have AA or KK the chances of a lesser pair winning pre-river are only about 20% with unpaired hands being even lower. With your KK an A-x (Ace plus any card) the chances are only 25-30% and then usually only if they hit the Ace on the flop.
And you’ll be hearing that voice telling you to “raise, raise, raise!” Raise heavily, because we know the only hands willing to call us are high cards, like A-K or A-Q, and a heavy raise will drive off suited connectors that have the best chance of cracking our large Pairs if they hit their Straights or Flushes. So raise, especially if you’re in late position, then re-raise and raises. Then your hope, if you raise again, is that your opponents are intending to raise again with a weaker hand which they think is the favorite, like for example A-K or A-Q, and so you can set them all-in, or move all-in yourself.
But there are times when there are more subtle plays than ‘raise, raise, raise’. For example, lets state you’re in early position with AA and you raise. Everyone else folds. It’s frustrating isn’t it? You go all in or raise massive and nobody bites.
So in early position, if that’s what you intend to do – if you want to catch them spilling many of their chips into your stack preflop, then just call, then wish – wish! – that someone raises after you so you can raise again. If they fold, well you’ll at least get a few more chips than if you went for it right away and scared them off. If they call, then already we’re past preflop play…
But this “beyond preflop play” is very significant, in that there is a huge difference between A-A or K-K. Usually you should be willing to move all-in preflop more often with K-K than A-A. Why?
Because if you have A-A and the flop comes, say, Q-7-3 or K-9-5, those willing to square off with you are those with, like, A-Q, K-Q or K-J. They are willing to feed their chips to you with these hands, and you can call their massive bets or all-ins. Your A-A is still the best hand, while they think their big (big but not huge enough) Pair is strong, and that hand’s already a significant underdog. A-A is good for trapping as well as for speeding. You can move all-in with it preflop, of course, but as above you can trap with it if you feel like it.
But if you have K-K, the flop might fall A-7-2, and…your K-K, no matter how golden, is now drawing almost dead. There are two Kings left, and anyone who might be there with you may bet big because he has an Ace. (Is he apt to bet with a single Seven?) So you have to fold your K-K, no matter how hard it is for you to get so good a hand and then banish it a few moments later. Or just call, call, call.
So, preflop, you may have to play K-K more strongly than you would play your A-A. It’s not as good as trapping as A-A. Ideally, if you move all-in with K-K, an A-X will call you, or a small pocket Pair and you’ll be an approximately 75-25 favorite. (You’re not prone to be called with K-X or Q-X because they’re not so strong enough for calling all-ins.) If you get called with A-X, they still have to catch the Ace. They’re the ones taking the danger, and not you. If you play K-K slowly, and they ride their A-X with you on the Flop, and they caught the Ace, it’s a thousandfold different from having to catch it. They’ve no risks to take.
There might be times where there is A-A versus K-K, but these times are rare. And if you’re the one with the K-K, you might even fold it. State two of you in a preflop hand are the chip leaders in a tournament, and you raise again his early-position raise, then all of a sudden he pushes you all-in! You might put him on A-A, and you fold, very, very smartly and sickly. Or he’s a player whom you know who won’t raise that LARGE an amount unless he has A-A. But these times are rare, remember.
So, excepting some special considerations that must be remembered with the K-K, playing A-A and K-K preflop is just almost identical.
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