Plus the latest news on "Lucky You", Hollywood's latest big poker movie...
THE BIG SLICK! Playing the Big Slick (Ace-King for newcomers) has long taxed the minds of experienced poker players. The majority view is that it’s a monster starting hand but you really have to play it carefully. It doesn’t have the more obvious appeal of pocket rockets (Aces). The strategy with Ace-King is to narrow the field as fast as possible. Most players will probably raise pre-flop three or four times the big blind if they’re holding the Big Slick under the right conditions. Clearly this approach will be more effective from late position but you will still need to raise pre-flop even if you’re in early position as you want to get down to no more than two callers as soon as possible to improve your odds. One of the important steps to take, all else being equal at the table, is to follow your pre-flop raise with a raise after the flop. Never “check” following the flop having raised pre-flop. It sends out all the wrong signals and remember with this hand in particular you are playing the player and not the hand. Hence the importance of cutting the field down with your raises. As long as the flop hasn’t produced anything scarey your opponents will probably put you on Aces or Kings and there’s a good chance you’ll steal the pot. If an Ace or a King comes down on the flop you’re probably in clover. Your main concerns would be the flop looking like someone could be on a straight or a flush draw or if the board pairs up and signals likely “trips” being out there. The chat boxes are full of players bemoaning how they waded in with raises only to see their Big Slick crushed by a puny pair of threes and of course, it can and does happen. However, the signals are usually there and it’s up to you to see them coming or head them off. That’s poker.
HOLLYWOOD POKER Following in the hallowed footsteps of classics like “Cincinnati Kid!”, “Rounders”, and “The Sting”, a new Tinseltown poker movie is soon to hit the screens. I first mentioned shooting was wrapping up on “Lucky You” at the end of last year. Starring movie heavyweights Eric Bana and Robert Duvall, the film charts the life lessons of a professional poker player (Bana) learned through his relationship with singer (Drew Barrymore) as they both collide with his father (played by Duvall) at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Forget the big name stars, what will be of interest to serious poker fans is the real life cameo appearances of Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Lester, Farha and literally a whole host of the Hold’em elite. For authenticity this is one poker movie that by all accounts has done its homework. As soon as there are UK theatre dates available I’ll publish them in the column and post them on dailystarpoker.com.
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ALL THE ACES poker column: Saturday, June 17, 2006: "Poker: Playing The Big Slick Ace-King!"
