Reraise preflop with AK

[TalentedTom]

I was wondering if this is a profitable move in 25NL when playing against a lot of the fish. When I say reraise I mean if someone bets 4xBB reraising them to about 8xBB. Cause I see a lot of people raising 4xBB with any suited ace or ace + kicker over nine. Would a move like this be +EV long term?

[Drewbie]

I dont mind it versus the fishies.
It will yield information for sure.
Usually worth it to see a flop at least.

Drew

[Rondavu]

If you have someone constantly raising weak in front of you, then it is advantageous to reraise AK. There are a lot of good reasons to do this. By reraising, you will usually isolate the weak raiser and have position on them, which is exactly what you want. Also, it has the effect of sharpening your reads since if someone else besides the weak raiser calls your reraise you know to stay cautious. Another thing it does is body slam them into knocking off the weak raises (It gives you a better read on future raises from this opponent).

As a matter of fact, I reraise weak raisers with any two broadways all day long until they stop raising weak. I've been known to reraise QJ unsuited against these opponents. I do it because it's profitable, and you need to bully a weak raiser to give yourself an advantageous table texture. Maybe you never thought of this, but it's an easy way to build counterfeit loose image without a lot of risk and get payed off by other people at the table.

Against someone who regularly preflop raises strong, I wouldn't recommend it unless you really feel the need for isolation regardless of your raising opponent (say two limped in before the raise). The reason for not doing this here is you give away your strength in a situation where there is an increased chance of your opponent having a hand you're dominating like AQ, or KQ. You don't want to reraise against that because you take them out of the lead with a hand that is likely behind you and still playing like it's ahead on the right boards. By reraising preflop you represent a possible AA. That will lose you money against this type of opponent because they will fold way too quickly.

Just remember it has less to do with what you're reraising and more to do with who you're reraising

[Element187]

i agree with Rondavu .. just dont get into the habit of reraising with AK too much, if you do this to the wrong players, your going to run up against AA or KK.

its all read dependant, i had some wacko last nightraising any pocket pair from 22 to AA and any Axo by 4x the BB in all positions .. i caught on to him and had him read like a book, waited for a pocket pair above T's and push over the top of him.. made some good loot .. the first few times, he didnt catch on, that i knew his game, but after awhile he stopped raising with crap and played ABC poker, which became even easier to read him.

[Checkways]

I was wondering if this is a profitable move in 25NL when playing against a lot of the fish. When I say reraise I mean if someone bets 4xBB reraising them to about 8xBB. Cause I see a lot of people raising 4xBB with any suited ace or ace + kicker over nine. Would a move like this be +EV long term?

Personally, I would raise it an ADDITIONAL 6-8xBB, rather than mini-raise it. Especially if there are other callers in the hand. I'm happy with not seeing a flop because I would have only won this money anyway probably.

The tricky thing with AK is when the board comes out like AJ9. If you only called the raise, and your opponent comes out strong, you have no idea if he has AJ or AA (if he's loose or in late pos even A9 is a possibility). A reraise then would be much more costly given the size of the pot. If you reraise preflop you have a much better idea of what he holds - especially if you don't reraise often.

The best thing about reraising preflop is that AA and KK get really excited when they're reraised and usually invoke a kneejerk reaction of reraising too much or pushing. That's when you know you just saved yourself a lot of money by not calling.

The last thing you want is to only call with AK vs AA then hit a K on the flop. Now you don't know if the guy is making a move on you, overplaying a weaker K, or has Aces.

[TalentedTom]

Lets say I do reraise to 12xBB total and my opponent pauses for a while and proceeds to call me, flop comes 9-10-3 or in other words rag-rag-rag how should I proceed in the following positions
1-Under the gun
2-The button ( or just last to act )

[BILLABONG]

I also once wondered this same question so I kept track of whats more profitable and whats more wise to do in order to lose less money. And it goes like this.

If a player in any position raises preflop before you and these is either a: a extra player who calls that raise, now making the pot family as opposed to heads up or b: you are say in middle position with AK and there are many players left after you to possibly call making the pot a family pot as opposed to heads up. What you want to do here is to isolate the pot making sure you get heads up and also get checked to on the flop since you are now in command so that you can also check giving yourself a free card in case you miss the flop, which you are going to do most ofthe time... so I re-raise my opponent about 3.5x his total preflop raise bet, for example, if he raises to $1.00 at your limits post-flop, I would re-raise him to $3.50. Now if he calls that bet and you miss the flop, and he checks to you, DO NOT BLUFF/BET! Hes going to call. Instead, Check/fold the hand on the flop, then raise or bet if you hit on the turn, and call on the river if you hit, ( I think re-raising the river in late position is ignorant without the nuts)

Now the only time I really dont suggest re-raising preflop with AK is when your in late position, so far the only player in the pot is the pre-flop raiser which means your probably goin to see this pot heads up if you just call, since there are only a few more players to act after you. On occasion I will go ahead and re-raise a player who comes in with a raise from late position if im in even later position say hes seat 7 and im seat 9 (button) because more then likely hes goin to fold his hand preflop the later in position he is, remember the later in position he his to raising preflop, the more likely he will be to fold to a re-raise. Also, remember that AK is not that strong, I know alot of people on here think its super strong, but its really not unless your goin to see all 5 community cards. Ak is dominated agaisnt even 22 to the flop.

Now lets say you are in a blind with AK and a player raises preflop, NEVER EVER re-raise, hes goin to call 99.999999999999999999%, well not exactly, but your opponent will call most often, of which your goin to miss the flop 70% of time and now your FuCkEd. You'll Check to him showing your weakness, he'll bet at you and you'll fold. Not smart in my opinion. Just smooth call a preflop raise considering its a standard preflop raise (costing you 2:1 or better) and either hit your hand and bet or miss and check/fold.
Now you might ask what if there are many players that have called the preflop raise and your in blind with your AK...what about getting heads up, well this is the most trickiest, just call but be very aware of the set. If you hit your hand, and you bet and then are re-raised, throw it away, this is a aggressive play saying your not goin to pay off the set. 88% of the time theyre not goin to make the set and your goin to win, So let them have there pot and move on to the next one.
I cant tell you the last time I replied to a poker question on here because im normally the one asking them, im a $1-$2 no limit player who just tries to make the gang, but when I seen this question this is one that I also once pondered for a long time so I kept track of it just like anything else I question myself about to see whats best to do. And in my opinion this is with out a doubt the best thing to do. Good Luck

[Rondavu]

I would re-raise him to $3.50. Now if he calls that bet and you miss the flop, and he checks to you, DO NOT BLUFF/BET! Hes going to call. Instead, Check/fold the hand on the flop

I don't know if I agree here. First of all I think you get yourself in trouble reraising AK against strong opponents, though I don't necessarily believe it's a terrible play. You could do worse than reraising AK.

I do however think that if you are going to reraise AK against a strong opponent, that you need to continue when checked to most of the time regardless of the flop. That's because a stronger opponent is going to fold. They are NOT going to call unless they hit the flop. They WILL put you on a high pocket pair most of the time. It's a mistake to not "BLUFF/BET" in my opinion when you have position on apparent postflop weakness acting before you and you hold AK.

A weaker opponent may call your bet. Then again you have more of a chance of holding up unimproved against a weaker opponent.

Always, always continue with AK when checked to postflop regardless of the flop. That's because if you both missed the flop you still have the best hand. You're not bluffing, you're betting the best hand. If they have a low pocket pair you're giving them a chance to fold it.

[BILLABONG]

Well, im a $1-$2 tight/loose( constantly switching gears)-aggressive no limit player who has kept massive track of whats overall* best to do with this statisitic, maybe your a higher limit player where players tend to respect your bet more post-flop. I really dont like betting post flop if you re-raise preflop with AK and the flop misses and your opponent checks. first of all if he calls your pre-flop re-raise you can easily put him on a pair, unless hes a COMPLETE MORON. So if you dont sell your bet post-flop, in other words unless hes a tight post-flop player, hes goin to call you down. Im not here to argue with anyone I hope it doesnt seem that way. This is just something that I have really kept track of.

I think we both can agree atleast call AK to see the flop and check/bet/fold it from there...In other words whatever you do,as long as its a standard preflop raise...Dont fold it

[EasyT]

Lesson Learned:

The past two times I re-raised PF with AK, I got raised again and called to see the flop. Both times I hit an A or K. Both times I bet the pot, and my opponent pushed, and I lost to AA.

AK is a good hand and IMO should be raised. But you need to listen to the information you get from your raise, and be able to lay it down. This is where I am still getting hung up at NL$25. If you raise and get re-raised, you have to proceed with extreme caution, as your hand may already be dominated.

EasyT.

[ChezJ]

in the blinds i like to call a raise pre flop and then check raise if i hit the flop. i think this is straight out of HEFAP and it works awesome.

[evman150]

I don't like reraising with AK. It's just not great of a hand. The only time I might reraise is when it folds around to the guy one off the button and I'm the button and he raises it. He's probably raising with a weaker hand so in that case I'll usually hit it again to get it heads up with what most likely is a weak hand.