Quiz: Are You Playing Ace King Wrong?
- Jul 29
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 19
"Ace king is overrated." "I always lose money with it." "It's just a drawing hand."
I hear comments like this all the time at the poker table. While ace king can sometimes be a challenging hand to play, if you agree with the comments above there's a good chance you are playing ace king wrong in multiple spots. Want to make sure you aren't making mistakes that are costing you money? Check out this video here, and take the quiz right below it:
Video: How to Play Ace King in Cash Game Poker
Quiz: Are You Playing Ace King Wrong? (Part 1)
For the following questions, assume you are in a $2/5 NLHE game with $1000 stacks.
1) Which of these is NOT a factor that affects whether you should bluff with AK after missing the flop?
a) Your opponent's tendencies
b) How many opponents you have
c) You have been card dead
d) Your preflop range
2) You open AsKh UTG+2 to $15 and the button and both blinds call. Which of these flops make for the best c-bet bluff?
a) Qs - Th - 5s
b) 7s - 6c - 5s
c) 9c - 9h - 8d
d) 2h - 3c - 4s
3) You open AdKs from the CO to $15 and a recreational player in the big blind calls. The flop is Ac - 7s - 5d. The big blind checks, you bet $10 and the big blind calls. The turn is the 4h. The big blind checks, you bet $40 and the big blind check-raises to $160. You should:
a) Re-raise to $400
b) Call and evaluate the river action
c) Fold
d) Jam all-in
4) The HJ opens to $15 and the button 3-bets to $45. You are in the big blind with AsKc. You should:
a) Call
b) Cold 4-bet to $135
c) Jam all-in
d) Fold
5) A tight, straight-forward player opens UTG to $15 and you 3-bet to $60 from the SB with AhKd. The UTG player 4-bets to $240. You have only ever seen them make this play and use this sizing before with AA, KK and AKs. You should:
a) Call
b) Fold
c) Jam all-in
d) 5-bet to $440
Ace King Quiz Answer Key (Part 1):
1) c). Being card dead should not affect your bluffing frequency.
2) a). Your hand has a draw to the nuts and a multi-street bluffing plan on this board.
3) c) Fold. Most recreational players will exclusively have two pair or better when check-raising a turn double barrel on an ace high dry board.
4) b) Cold 4-bet to $135. Folding is too tight, jamming is an overplay, and cold-calling is negative EV.
5) b) Fold. Against a range this tight, there is no shame in folding. Your hand has only 26% equity along with significant reverse-implied odds.
The second half of the quiz, along with the remainder of the ace king video is available to PTO Poker members.
