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The Big Slick, or AK as it is more commonly known, is one of the starting hand problems to face in a Xgtiger Casino game when people play online poker. This is the hand that looks like a winner all the way but always ends up losing against strong sets unless you play it the right way. Why? This is partly because of how people play it and partly because it’s only the fourth best hand in the pack after Aces, Kings and Queens – it’s also a bit of an underdog against pocket Jacks in an all-in situation. It can, of course, be a very bold preflop with a Big Slick but if you don’t eliminate the opposition by semi-bluffing and pushing your equity preflop, beware of what can happen after that.
So why is a hand that always looks so promising being given the nickname ‘Anna Kournikova’? It looks great, but it rarely wins anything without flopping a top pair or better. Kournikova was a great tennis player during her career, though. Funnily enough, this is actually the case for many female tennis players who have turned pro due to the dominant displays of Serena and Venus Williams over the years when you watch tennis online.
Let’s look at the origin of this particular hand. In a standard pack of 52 cards, sixteen different combinations can form a Big Slick. A pocket pair of Aces, Kings, or Queens has six possible combinations, which means you’re more likely to draw a Big Stick.
Playing Big Slick is a bone of contention. Most players tend to play it the same way – raise or, occasionally, when they’re trying to suggest some trick, call. Regardless, preflop, add a 6-max play as your standard move. Even on the flop, these players raise and then bet again on the turn if they flop at least one type of draw in online poker.
Yes, Big Slick is a good hand, but an opponent with any pocket pair will follow and take you when the pot is big enough if they believe you don’t have a premium pocket pair – after all, there are more AK combinations than with TT-AA. So is this the best way to play it? Let’s look at some scenarios:
Huling Posisyon Pre-Flop
Gumawa tayo ng senaryo kung saan nasa huli kang posisyon, at tatawag ka o tataas pagkatapos may ilang tumatawag. Sa batayan na tumawag na sila, malabong maalog sila ng pagtaas, at tatawag silang muli. Kung ang flop ay magbubunga ng Ace o King (na mangyayari kahit 30% man lang), malamang na ikaw ang may pinakamahusay na kamay, ngunit huwag tumaya dito. Ang kalaban na tumawag sa iyong paunang pagtaas ay magkakaroon na ngayon ng hindi bababa sa dalawang namuhunan sa palayok at nais na maghintay para sa ilog, kung saan maaari niyang hilahin ang dalawang pares.
Get in the Driver’s Seat
If you are a naturally aggressive player who wants to build the pot, you should always go for the raise with a Big Slick preflop. Chances are you will achieve one of two things; you win the hand right away or pull a decent pair on the flop when the pot is high. Keep increasing to thin the field. It’s a strategy, but it can work.
Exercise your Enemies
As always, the best play with Big Slick is to be in a position to study your opponents so you know how they play the game. If the game you’re covering has players who often get crippled on the flop and then start betting when an Ace or King flops, raise them if you’re too crippled. This is a decent trick game as most players will raise preflop with Big Slick.
Stacking
How about stacking with your Big Slick preflop? Depending on the relative stacks around the table, it will probably take the pot, but it probably won’t be very profitable. Ending on failure is often better and you may lose less.
Post-flop improvement
So if there’s nothing better after the flop, what should you do? If nothing works for you, the chances of a winning hand drop dramatically, and your ace high hand now looks weak. Despite all your preflop aggression, quietly folding can be a sensible decision if you face an attack and can’t hit a single gutshot or better. Again, if you’re in a game where every flop has six callers, their holdings are probably weaker than yours – but, you’re probably out-flopped in this situation.
The jury is always out on what to do when you are given the Big Slick. There are merits to being aggressive preflop. The former tends to realize results faster but with smaller wins, whereas in the full-ring the NLHE waiting for a flop before deciding on a hand can be a very strong play – if only because it doesn’t many people make space that way. Comparing Big Slick to Anna Kournikova is, perhaps, a bit unfair because even though she didn’t win the contests, she won a lot of hearts. He also made a very good living as a professional tennis player with only a short career. An online email virus is most notably named after him, affecting Microsoft Outlook users in the early 2000s. Big Slick is a winner, but only if you play it with guile and awareness of your opponent’s weaknesses.
Feel free to check out more of our poker game and non-poker related articles, including our interesting history article.
Conclusion
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