ACE KING STARTING HAND

A K starting hand is known also as “Big Slick”, “Anna Kournikova” or "Walking Back To Houston", this is the 4th best starting hand in Texas Hold'em Poker. The odds of being dealt ace king (suited) are 1 in 331. If suited, it is one of the premium hands. If off-suit, it is still a great starting hand.

With AK, you hit at least top pair with top kicker if there is an Ace or a King on the flop which will be a winning hand most of the time. A hand like this is a strong pre flop hand, but quite difficult to play correctly. Pre flop you can play this hand in every position. It is only a question of if you should play slow (just to call) or raising the blinds. You must also observe your opponents play. If there is a big raise before you act or one or more raises behind you, then you have to consider how the raising players have played before this hand… are they playing tight, then there is a possibility they hold a better starting hand… are they playing loose and re-raising you or how have you played your game? If you are a tight player, it is possible they are checking your hand and trying to steal your chips. If you are an active player, they may also have a strong starting hand.

There are many aspects that you must consider if you are playing A and K:
1. Your position
2. Your opponents
3. Your play
4. Your chip stack
5. The part of game if it is a tournament – is it at beginning, middle or late part of the game AK as starting hand really needs to be dealt a good flop!

If you can’t see an ace or a king on the flop you have to get out of this hand after raising your opponents. Otherwise you risk further damage…

Where are the nicknames coming from?  

“Big Slick” - originally was called "Santa Barbara" from the destructive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara. It eventually transformed into "Big Slick", because of the English adjective slick (slippery and appealing) which means ambiguous. A K is a "slippery" hand since it is often misplayed or overplayed and can result in big losses.  

“Anna Kournikova” - nicknamed after the tennis player Anna Kournikova by Vince Van Patton during a commentary of an episode of the WPT because the hand "looks great but never wins".  

"Walking Back To Houston" – used by T.J. Cloutier in his book “Championship No-Limit”, after guys who came up to Dallas to play poker, got busted with Ace-King, and had to walk home.