When a desperate player in a poker tournament even a free online poker one doesn't get A-A or K-K they tend to go all-in with Ace-something. A lot of players will go for it with AK, AQ, in some cases even as low as A4.

At worst, if someone with A-4 is called with the medium Pair, there is still one overcard. With A-K you could be called by Ace-lower whilst still being be a significant favorite.

So players running out of chips have a tendency to wait for Ace-something before they move all-in. While the Ace element gives them assurance, the likelihood is that someone will call them with Ace-higher and make them a significant underdog. Furthermore, if the purpose is to move all-in, why not try the same move with King-something (preferably suited)?

The trend for tournament players today has changed slightly in favor of moving all-in with King-something, like K-Q, K-J, K-10 (naturally, the applications here apply also to A-K) as well as K-x suited. Other players will also call with a smaller pocket Pair, and thus A-x has the same chance of winning as K-x against a smaller Pair if both cards are overcards.

And K-x posseses an additional advantage. While a hand like A-5 is really a substantial underdog against A-J, K-Q or K-5 is just a slight underdog.

Approximately, it is a 13 to 7 underdog, but compare this to A-5 which is a 15 to 5 (or 3-1) underdog. What you want to fetch with K-x is its live card value.

While using A-5, you must hit the Five if you want to pair and take the lead. With K-5, you can have both King and Five pairing.

If you extend your all-in hand range to include K-x, you might have to move all-in more than usual. Because many players will fold to an all-in (including marginal high A-x such as A-10 or A-9) other players at the table will get a more aggressive impression of your play.

Also you can steal the blinds more frequently. The all-in itself (and not really the cards employed to move all-in) is a sign of strength; it's the same with A-x or K-x.

Overall, should you be running out of chips and the all in approach beckons don't limit yourself to just Ace-x, think about the King too, it may just make your day!

So why not check out the King High approach on the free poker online tables first, get accustomed to it and then apply in more dangerous poker games later.

Hopefully this was interesting and helps your poker game be it free poker games or for cash. Certainly it should demonstrate that in any given poker game situation you will find options to think about based on the cards you've got, the game point, opposition and known and estimated risk to name but a few. If you're a new comer to this approach then by far the simplest way to get ahead is to practice a LOT on free online poker sites such as http://www.NoPayPOKER.com and ONLY when you are winning consistently progress to real money stakes.