Concept 22 in NLHETAP: Moving in with AK

[Sean Fraley]

I've been chronically reading NLHETAP, and number 22 in the "Concepts & Weapons" section stuck out at me:

[ QUOTE ]
Ace-king is a powerful "move-in" hand, and frequently moving in preflop is by far the best play with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm inclined to agree with this, but haven't had much chance to field test it yet. Basically, Sklansky and Miller's reasoning is this:

1) AK after the flop is difficult to play, even when you spike an ace or king, especially when OOP.

2) Preflop on the other hand, you are a coin flip against most pairs QQ or lower, and definitely ahead of all other unpaired hands. The only hand you truly fear is AA, and your only about a 2:1 dog against KK.

3) Therefore, moving in preflop is normally the best play with this hand, especially with the potential of folding everyone else out.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this, in particular if you think that this concept has to be modified for play in the micros.

[CityLife]

I don't really know how relevant this concept is for 100BB buy-ins. Firstly there doesn't tend to be that much money in the pot pre-flop, so at best you might win 5-10BB if there's been a raise and less in an unraised pot.

You then have to look at the hands you'll get called with (presuming you shove with a full stack). You're rarely getting called by AQ, AJ. Against 22-QQ you're in a coin flip, and against KK or AA you're way behind. Assuming that for the most part you're a coinflip and sometimes you're dominated by AA or KK, i can't see how this is a +EV play.

I also think at the micro levels you're going to make the most money after the flop (some good posts deal with this in the essential collection post).

Maybe this strategy makes more sense when you're short-stacked, and you're more likely to get called by a weaker ace, but i just can't see that happening all that often when you have a full stack.

[Ra_]

I only make this move in cash games against a rabid 3-bettor, whose range is very broad, and even then I just call alot.

When relative stacks < 50bb (tourny or cash) then this move has much more value.