Playing Big Slick Preflop

More money is lost with Big Slick than any other starting hand, and I'm talking about cash games as well as tournaments. It seems that most players are thrilled to go into a race with it, because at worst they are even money to win. But they're also even money to lose.

Actually, against most pairs, they are only 46 or 47% to win, which is about the same as the odds of winning with a red or black bet on a double-zero roulette wheel. Which means that 52 or 53% of the time, they will lose a big stack, even with one of the best starting hands possible.

In Cloutier's and McEvoy's book, Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Holdem, one of the early bibles for big bet Holdem, T.J. calls Ace-King "Walking Back to Houston," after guys who came up to Dallas to play poker, got busted with Ace-King, and had to walk home. He stresses that Ace-King is a drawing hand, one that needs help from the board to turn into something worth betting on. He recommends calling a raise with it, but if you don't seen an Ace or King on the flop, to get away from it without further damage.

But that's not how A-K is played nowadays, even by T.J. Nowadays people are much more aggressive with it, which may be appropriate. But most players go too far. People treat A-K like aces, which is a mistake.

I blame this on television. People watch the guys on T.V. push everything they have in the middle with Ace-King, and they think that this is the way to play them. But remember, television only shows you the end of a tournament, when the blinds are huge and the play is nearly always short-handed. The players need to gamble a little bit in order to make the top three spots, and to gamble a lot in order to win the thing. So, if you emulate what you see on television, you are likely to treat Ace-King like a monster. But in cash games and early in tournaments, good players play Ace-King much more conservatively, and may even fold Ace-King preflop, which is something you'll never seen on T.V.

When no one has raised in front of you, you need to raise with Ace-King. Everybody knows that. But when there is a raise in front of you, should you reraise? Probably so, but it is important to understand why you are reraising.

The reraise here accomplishes two things. First, it isolates you with a single opponent. With only one other opponent seeing the flop, your chances of having the best hand on the flop are much better than otherwise. Plus, your post-flop play will be dictated by whether your opponent made a hand or missed, and you'll have a much easier time evaluating that if you are heads up. (More on that next month.)

The second reason to re-raise is that, believe it or not, you are really semi-bluffing. Now, I know what you are saying. Semi-Bluffing? With Ace-King? Are you kidding me? Well, let's take a look at it.

When you re-raise with Ace-King, you are representing one of four hands: Aces, Kings, Queens, or Ace-King. If your opponent has a smaller pair, and he knew that you had Ace-King, he should call you here, right? After all, he's got a better hand, and if there is any dead money in the pot, he'll make that too if he wins the race. But he doesn't know that. In fact, if he puts you on one of these four hands, then he will probably fold, since three of the possible hands will have him dominated.

And that is exactly what you want him to do. Fold. If he doesn't fold, you have a 47% chance of winning the hand, IF YOU CAN SEE ALL FIVE CARDS. In reality, your chances are lower, since you might have to fold your hand on before the river. But if he folds preflop, your chances go up to 100%, and that is the best outcome for Ace-King.

So, you raise with the worst hand, hoping for a fold, but knowing that you have a good chance of winning even if he doesn't. What's that the definition of? A semi-bluff maybe?

If we accept that a re-raise with Ace-King is actually a semi-bluff, then there are some rules to follow with this hand that apply to bluffing:

1. Don't try it against bad players to hate to fold.

2. Don't try it against players who are short-stacked or pot-committed before the flop.

3. Don't raise so little that your opponent isn't likely to fold.

4. Don't raise so much that you will only be called if you are beat.

For example, you're in a tournament, and the big blind is 100 chips. Your opponent raises to 300. If you re-raise to 600, you will be called, guaranteed. But if you raise to 4000, the only hands that will call you are AA or KK. You're better off to reraise to 1000-1500. That way, you're putting some pressure on your opponent, but if you are re-raised by a monster, or if the flop doesn't help you, you can get away from the hand with controllable damages. Risking your whole stack in order to capture a single raise is a recipe for disaster.

Finally, if we accept that Ace-King is a semi-bluffing hand, then we shouldn't call big bets with it. When people say that Ace-King is overplayed, this is what they are talking about. A call doesn't give your opponent a chance to fold, so what is the point?

But can I really fold Ace-King preflop? Isn't there some unwritten rule about it? I assure you that no such rule exists, and even if it did, you are mucking your cards face down, aren't you? The truth is, you can fold any hand, even if you are playing on T.V. If the situation doesn't feel right to gamble, or if your instincts tell you that you are up against Aces or Kings, then just let them go. You'll get them again. And you may save yourself a long walk back to Houston.

Next Month: Playing Big Slick Post Flop

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