Poker Big Slick Strategy: How to Play Ace-King in Poker

Ace-King, or Big Slick as it’s widely known, is one of the strongest hands in the game of Poker. Unlike other Poker hands, it can be played from both the suited and the unsuited positions. Also, Ace-King offers you the chance to cash in decent amounts, given that you know when to fold and when to hold.

However, Ace-King can also make you lose substantial amounts if you play it poorly. Certain guidelines can help you improve your Big Slick performance when playing Poker at live casinos online. Below we’ve listed them in detail.

Basics of Ace-King

Before explaining the optimal way to play Ace-King, it’s important to touch on some basics. First, you need to know that Big Slick is a drawing hand. It takes the top seat in the list of the best-drawing hands in Poker. With Ace-King, you have great chances of hitting the nut flush (the best possible flush in Poker games). But unfortunately, this is where most players get it wrong.

Many novice players tend to play Big Slick like a premium hand, ignoring that what they’re holding is a drawing hand. As a refresher, a drawing hand is potentially strong but needs additional cards to become valuable. And playing Big Slick like a premium hand only leads to disappointments in terms of winning.

As a player, remember that you must be equipped with several Poker strategies to make the most of Ace-King in Texas Hold’em. To give you an idea, you need to know how to act before dealing with the three community cards.

 Also, your post-flop strategy must factor in whether you’re playing against a single opponent or multiple players left. If you’re new to the world of Poker and want to master Poker fundamentals, we recommend you start with the common Poker terms and then explore other aspects of the game.

Playing Ace-King before the flop

When holding an Ace-King, the chances of you hitting the flop stand at 29%. This means that the probability of you out-flopping – even if your opponent is holding a pocket pair – is close to 30%. And this isn’t considered when your opponent is holding a lower-valued hand, and you’re ahead of them for the entire gameplay round.

When holding a Big Slick, you’ll want to play it aggressively from the very beginning. This is because the chances of winning the pre-flop with an Ace-King are good. Also, playing can help you with bluffing. This, in turn, can turn things in your favour.

As a Poker player holding an Ace King, you’ll want to drive the action most of the time. What this essentially means is that:

• If the pot is unopened, go for a raise
• If you aren’t the first to act and your opponent has opted for a single raise, re-raise
• Against a 3-bet, go with a 4-bet

By playing aggressively in the pre-flop round, what you’re essentially doing is making your hand easier to play in later stages. This is because driving the action results in your stack-to-pot ratio becoming smaller.

Post-flop Ace-King strategy

It is in the post-flop round where the Ace-king tends to be a slippery customer. Before flopping, you can be certain that your holding is one of the best hands. However, in the post-flop round, all options become available once again.

To play Ace-King optimally in the post-flop round at the casino online, you must follow the Big Slick playing guidelines for the pre-flop stage. Again, following the tips for pre-flop play will make things easier for you after the flop.

There are two main post-flop scenarios that we’ll take into account here. First is when all but one opponent has folded, and you must play heads up. The second scenario considers playing with multi-way pots.

Big Slick in multi-way pots

You’d want to play Big Slick against a single opponent in an ideal setting. But again, some things are beyond our control in the context of Poker and casino gaming.

In multi-way pots, the best way forward is to take a cautious approach. What this essentially means is that you should refrain from barreling frequently. Also, you must increase or decrease your continuation betting frequency by the number of players playing a given a hand.

Having a Big Slick and playing heads-up offers you numerous opportunities to win a hand. And this holds even when an additionally drawn card doesn’t improve your hand ranking. As mentioned earlier, the chances of you out-flopping a Big Slick are around 30%. But what about the remaining 70%?

As many expert Poker players would tell you, you’ll want to go with a c-bet when you happen to miss. Here, even if the big blind calls on a miss, there’ll be plenty of room for improvement on the turn or river. Avoiding c-betting on coordinated board textures comprising two or three middle cards is a good idea.

Big Slick in multi-way pots

You’d want to play Big Slick against a single opponent in an ideal setting. But again, some things are beyond our control in the context of Poker and casino gaming.

In multi-way pots, the best way forward is to take a cautious approach. What this essentially means is that you should refrain from barreling frequently. Also, you must increase or decrease your continuation betting frequency by the number of players playing a given a hand.

Conclusion

Big Slick can be a strong hand in Poker, given that you know how to play it properly. Now that our article has given you a brief overview of playing Ace-King optimally, it’s time to enjoy some Poker gaming action at our mobile casinos.

If you want to try a unique and interesting Poker variation, three card Poker is one of the best options. In that case, we also have a comprehensive three-card Poker guide to help you get started. Happy gaming there!