AKo performs about the same heads up as AKs, sure AKs is a stronger hand but the chance of making a flush by the river are only 6.4% compared to 1.9% for AKo, Realistically i’d only play AKo differently compared to AKs when i’m medium stack in a sng/mtt facing a all in from a short stack. But it’s an exception.
The real strength of AKs is when you have a lot of fishes limp/calling, because you get better odds to continue when you have a flushdraw on the flop (as fishes will just call your preflop raise, rather than 3bet)
My categorization is primarily intended for deep stacks in ring or early in tournaments. AKs has better implied odds than AKo because it has the potential to win huge pots. So, I agree that heads-up and in late tournament or short-stacked situations, either version of AK is basically the same.
Now that you mention it, in heads up at the end of a tournament I would include any pocket pair of 8s or higher or any ace paired with a 9 or higher as premium hand, and I’d pretty much be willing to get my stack in preflop with them.
All your posts are very helpful, thoughtful and strategically sound. Thanks for taking the time bro. Would be happy to sit at your table any day. Regards. FYR
I finally found a productive and fun strategy to beat people out of their money consistently in cash games watch me climb the rankiings as I have been. I will be a mountain of success in cash games for the 1/2 2/5 and 5/10 levels for years to come. Thx you replay poker and good luck to all in your quest to keep up with me.
I just tried your strategy. My ranking has hovered around 900 with around 7 mil in chips for several months. I play 500/1k tables mostly. Today I doubled my buy in on both of two tables in a half hour, because of the stupid calls made against my outrageous overbets. My previous strategy gave too many of my opponents to much credit for not being fish. Here’s my additional tips:
Always buy in for the max. You need all the chips you can muster when you go all in versus a fish.
If you can limp in, do so. Some tables its safe to try to limp from early position. With good players it’s a bad idea to try. You’ll flop enough full houses and go all in with your 2-7 off-suit to more than make up for it. Just be prepared to fold if the pot gets raised.
If you play enough to at least recognize the the names of the people you play with, then contrary to what is said above, don’t assume someone with a better rating than you is a fish.
Play as close to the left of the best player at the table as possible.
Choose the loosest table to play on as you can. That will be the table with the highest average pot to stakes ratio.
Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, who you go up to you 6 year-old boy or girl at a T-Ball game and tell them it isn’t real baseball. Would you tell your 13 year-old that his little league team doesn’t play real baseball? How about the Pop Warner League, they don’t play real baseball?
Come on friend, you know better than that. Maybe you don’t play real poker here but I do. And I know hundreds of others who play real poker here too.
I’ll tell you what, you get your ranking to under five hundred and then see what you think about “real poker”.
Perhaps you are correct at under 500-- but that leaves 800,000 of us not playing real poker on this site. I try to play good poker but it is just does not work. Seriously, how are you to make decisions when some guy is betting a 2/7 unsuited( the worse hand in poker). Now this guy just won betting this by hitting three sevens. Naturally, if he continues to play this way he will be a loser; however the next hand is won by some other guy at the table betting 5/8 unsuited. Then the next hand is won by some person betting 2/9 unsuited. People playing real poker for the $500 bet I’m making fold those hands. Heck you should fold those hands if it is a $1 bet.
Btw. hitting off of a T or coaches pitch, or 4 out fielders maybe a form of baseball just as this is some form of poker here. It is not however what we think of as baseball or poker.
I’m glad this post has been helpful for so many people. I only play a couple of tournaments a week because I have a new job and I have won just about everything I set out to win on this site (even though I never was higher ranked than 161, I believe that tournaments reflect more actual skill than ring games, even though you have to play ring to crack the top 100).
I agree with scratch that, while the site may not play like real poker in some ways (particularly that a lot of players are just messing around and almost nobody plays the high level meta game the pros play, which only works against elite players anyway), it is still possible to play realistic and good poker on this site and win consistently. As I say in the tips, the way to win is to get value when you have a strong hand (not shove and get everyone to fold like most do). At higher levels you can start to incorporate higher level skills like bluffing, but in general it is super easy to win consistently by playing abc poker. There is a ton of variance in hold em and the best player will often lose, but with a little study and a lot of patience, this site can be a ton of fun (and beatable).
And a more succinct and practical answer: donks will call with hands they shouldn’t call with and chase draws when that have the wrong price, but if you bet for value (ie with good hands) with the correct sizes preflop and post flop, you will win in the long run. I guarantee it. It’s also obvious when dunks are strong because they get aggressive so you also have to be able to fold when that happens.
Eddie, you make a point here. It was one of the reasons I stopped playing SnGs. I vowed to myself that I would not play in a 9 player SnG if more than three donks (7-2 players) registered. Before I would register I would look at hands they played and then made notes. It turned out in time too many 7-2 players signed up so I simply left. Now on a new mission, because I have decades of seven card stud and holdem now I am learning Omaha hi-lo, and because I am serious, I will take a year to learn it. I am not keeping the pace I had with SnGs, but am up 2.5M and very optimistic.
My point is either win or buy, nothing wrong with buying, the chips you will need to find the level of play that is right for you. I have invited great players here and told them up front at their level it is easier to buy the 5M chips you will need to find a level where they have real substantial competition.
Or do what I continually do, instead of sitting and playing for two hours, I sit and watch the best games.
You need to try a little harder to recognize that this site is a tremendous opportunity for a good player to become much better.
Scratch, thank you for your advice and suggestions. I don’t want you are anyone to misconstrue my comments as being negative about the wonderful site Replay Poker is. I’m just commenting about the gameplay here. I agree that playing here will make one a better poker player but one must be aware that luck is a greater factor here since so many players play hands that would be folded in real money games. I don’t think any player at the lower than 500 level folds a pre flop hand that has an Ace. no matter what the other card is. In other words, they play A/2 unsuited or suited every time.