Master of Disguise
When you play enough poker tournaments, it’s easy to get into auto pilot mode and start taking the same lines when put in the same situation time after time. One of these times is when we’re dealt AK. The third, and debatably the second best starting hand on online poker hold em, AK is a hand that usually merits a 3bet from an opening raiser. Form that point, the raiser will either call, fold, or 4bet you. Depending on the opponent you’ll decide whether or not to shove (If he’s a rock, you’re probably better off folding). If he’s a maniac, you can probably be safe gambling with him on a 55/45 coinflip as the slight underdog against a smaller pair, or as a favorite against a lesser unpaired hand.
But sometimes we get too carried away and our three-bet gives away our hand. Then when the Ace or King hits on the flop, we c-bet and then it’s insta-fold from our opponent and we don’t maximize the value. Don’t get me wrong, this standard line is a good line to take most of the time, but sometimes you have to disguise your hand to maximize your profit.
That’s why I recommend sometimes cold calling with AK, especially when you’re out of position. While it’s not a good hand to play in a multiway pot, if the conditions are right, you may find yourself in a heads-up pot with this hand and your opponent will have no way of putting you on it (since he’s expecting a 3 bet from you).
I don’t advocate making this play with AK every time you have it. I actually suggest that the majority of the time you isolate the initial raiser with a 3 bet. But sometimes by taking this different line you can get a worse hand to call, especially a worse ace like AQ , AJ or AT or a smaller two pair hand. Just be weary of the straight, read the board, and suck as much money as you can out with your masked hand. Look out for this when you play your next poker online tournament.