going bust with AA

Hi,

I am new to cash game poker and am interested in learning how to deal with particular hands, like pocket aces. Just yesterday I lost a lot of money playing this hand, and i am wondering if there is a way of playing it with success while reducing the possiblity of going bust.

In my last game, I reraised in late position an early position bettor (LAG). He then reraised to which I reraised all in, then went bust when he called with pocket tens. I know the odds are in my favor preflop, but was I perhaps a bit hasty going all in preflop? should I have just waited to the flop where he may have folded (due to there being two overcards). I may be able to use an unfavorable flop to push someone off their hand

Thanks

I think that you did the right thing. With AA, KK and I would even say that in the microstakes with QQ as well, you want to get all your money in preflop if you can. You holding AA and the villain holding TT with all the money in before the flop is exactly what you want. You are basically 80% to win the hand, which is as good as you can hope for in terms of preflop odds. If you made that bet all day, you'd come out a millionaire. But, 2 times out of 10, you will lose your whole stack, and that's just poker. Good luck out there!

AA is a beautiful hand, preflop. Once the board cards hit, it is just top pair. Sometimes you improve, often not.

There is no this-always-wins way to play AA. All-in against one other player is good -- it will win you the most long-run and lose you the most short-run. When you are both completely committed, you will both sit helplessly until the river, which is not always a good thing. Alternatively, small ball -- wait and see what the board brings-- is good too, but only if you have the ability to fold your AA if the other guys bets out hard or if the board is great for someone else's draw. The good thing about not being all-in is that it gives him a chance to fold, too. So the question is if you can outplay him post-flop.

AA was a big winner for me Saturday, and a big loser for me Sunday. It was a big loser rather than a small loser because I couldn't bring myself to fold it. My bad. Do not do what I did.

You played it right, got your money in pre-flop.
You are going to lose so many times with Aces, all you can do is hope they will hold up.
Running both hands pre-flop in pokerstove gives us this.
1,712,304 games 0.047 secs 36,432,000 games/sec

Board:
Dead:

equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 80.749% 80.56% 00.19% 1379434 3235.50 { AcAd }
Hand 1: 19.251% 19.06% 00.19% 326399 3235.50 { TcTh }

With Aces you want to isolate one player and get as much in as possible before the flop. This allows you the greatest advantage to win. You will make money in the long run even though you will get drawn out on occassionally. The worst thing to do is to standard raise or less with AA. You will allow multiplayer flops which will really diminish your preflop advantage. What loses a lot of money for players is overplaying AA postflop. If you get to the turn and don't improve and you have people raising you, you need to fold. One pair is not a good hand with people raising postflop, even though it is the highest pair. Aces are great but they are not a magic hand where you will never fold.

Not much you can do with that but keep on keeping on. Long run you will win.

No you want to put all his chips in that way there no way of returning. If you have the winning hand in the end of the board then you take him out and there is nothing he can do bout it via fold..

Always remember that even AA is just a pair. True the odds are in your favor, but sometimes they are not! That's poker for you...a cruel game at times. I do think you played them correctly though. Better luck next time!

This. ^^^

There are no 100% preflop hands in poker.

That is so true! If there was a bullet proof hand it would make the game very boring.

Any 2 cards are playable it's how you play them!

I have seen my aces crack many of times and then of course crack other peoples aces. All Swings and roundabouts!

The objective is to get your money in when your EV is positive. It's hard to ignore being stacked when you're a big favorite, but it's an exercise in futility trying to figure out how to keep your big wins when there's no suckout while losing less when there is.

You got the money in good, but if your worried about going bust on 1 hand I would have to guess you are playing way out of proper bankroll management.

You made the right play. Getting you money in preflop with AA against 1010 heads up is the best case scenario. Just because you happened to lose doesn't mean you should be doubting your whole strategy or style of play; that's just poker, sometimes you get your stack in with the best and still lose. Like others have said, no hand is guaranteed preflop, AA especially since it has a certain reputation for getting cracked, but you still played it right. Try not to dwell on it too much and remember you win that hand 4/5 times.

This is what happens when you slowplay aces against someone with TT. If he had reraised me preflop I would have laid down the tens...
(this is tourney situation though)

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $30(BB) Poker Stars
SB ($1,675)
BB ($1,100)
UTG ($1,410)
UTG+1 ($905)
UTG+2 ($1,060)
MP1 ($3,650)
CO ($2,275)
Hero ($1,425)

Dealt to Hero T♥T♦

fold, UTG+1 calls $30, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $150, fold, fold, UTG+1 calls $120,

FLOP ($345) 9♥T♠9♠

UTG+1 bets $30, Hero calls $30,

TURN ($405) 9♥T♠9♠5♠

UTG+1 bets $30, Hero calls $30,

RIVER ($465) 9♥T♠9♠5♠4♣

UTG+1 bets $695 (AI), Hero calls $695,

UTG+1 shows A♦A♠
(Flop 8.7%, Turn 4.5%)

Hero shows T♥T♦
(Flop 91.3%, Turn 95.5%)

Hero wins $1,855

Yeah.. Never ever slow play AA.. it would get u killed with your whole stack. i strongly believe all in with AA as it has a higher edge during pre-flop. when flop is out, you are fighting yourself with dubs,trips, drawing hands.. while AA is just only 1 pair...

u insta ship it in with AA & KK vs preflop raiser anytime

Generally solid advice on a pretty easily advisable topic throughout the thread, and I don't mean to single out jazz, but you don't want to get just one player. +EV is +EV. I want everyone at the table all in preflop with me every time I have aces. Your odds of winning the pot diminish for every player who enters the pot, but not so rapidly as to outpace the increase in your winnings. No matter what HEM's idiotic EV calculator says, EV is a street by street calculation, every penny you get in the pot with the best of it is a penny you've earned your share of.

You want to go allin preflop with AA. You will always have the advantage and definately want to take the chance to double up. It was definately a good play by you, just got unlucky, Aces get cracked all the time. If you don't want them to get cracked as much, you should raise bigger preflop, but the best way to play them is usually slow play. Try it how ever you want, Aces are always a good hand.

I love getting Aces in early position. I always just call the BB because anyone with halfway decent cards is going to raise, and pushing early preflop may scare everyone away before you get their money in. This doesn't always work as well as you hope, but my goal when I get aces isn't just to win its to win as much of others peoples chips as possible.

Slowplaying it postflop is almost always a recipe for disaster though, unless its a rainbow with no straight possibilities and you flop trips.

preflop AA I would go all in anytime with any one no matter he is phil ivey or Jamie Golden lol...

yeah.. if you dun all in with AA, wat other hands u gonna all in. 22?? basically i think AA n KK played the same well unless the flop is out... jus do it.. I've lost so many times with AA till i feel so sad.. but it's maths.. no choice... accept it n moved on...

I have always been told in poker that when you run into hands with AA vs 1010 you have to just go for it and if they hit it they hit it. =) It's brutal, it happens to me a lot, but I get super excited when the favor is returned to me later. =) Karma.

I think you played the hand well, I don't think the guy would have folded his 10's for any reason. That's too good of a pocket to fold. Race. =)

You've been drinkin again, haven't you.

Just remember, any pocket pair is only one pair. You need to raise, but don't get married to the hand. Read the flop and play the hand accordingly. I lose more with aces than any other hand, cause I give it to much value. X

I like the 3bb or 4bb raise pre flop with AA, unless you only have the blinds left and you are on the button or even lp. I want that blind to hit their top pair on the board (k, q, 10 or whatever). Then they typically bet and I put them all in. Otherwise, an all in on the button probably nets you just the blinds

Never do one thing all the time. To say never slowplay AA is ridiculous. I

personally agree with others in this thread that suggest limping in EP. It was a

favourite play for David "chip" Reese and if it was good enough for him it's

good enough for me. Ofcourse if you limp preflop and you don't get a chance

to reraise preflop then you are back to playing a smallpot. Many people

drown with their aces no matter what. If that's you I suggest big raise to atleast not

give other players implied odds to hit a set.

We are talking about over 1300 possible card combinations that you can be dealt and pocket aces is definitely the best one. You did play well, especially if you figured out that the opponent has a pair (lower than you of course) You do want to go all in with AA against a pair when compared with something else. You have a lot more chances to win. As everybody knows, there is NO WAY that will guarantee any type of win in poker. Everybody plays differently and AA will be busted one day, another day or even 3 days in a row. It can happen. It is your decision how to play it but I do think there are some important things that you have to look out for:

1. How the other people are playing - observe the table and learn how your opponents play. Betting pattern is highly important.
2. Your BR - can you afford to be taken out even if you have pocket aces. what is the impact on your BR?
3. Your table image - people can tell when you have a strong hand if you usually play tight. mix up your play and you can end up with AA versus K-7 for instance. You want bad opposition when you have pocket aces so that you can win more money.
4. Can you fold the pocket aces? This is a highly important question and the answer should be yes. If there are 4 hearts on the table and your aces are diamond and spade there is a huge chance that some of your opponents have a heart. Can you fold the pocket aces then?

AA all in preflop = awesome play
any hand against ivey = your doomed buddy...

if u lose AA theres nothing you can really do just accept it and hope you can win a hand next time

Pretty good advice throughout the thread; from my perspective adrianrose provided the most sound advice in style with my play. It is heartbreaking to be knocked out of a tourney when the OP has pocket Ks & is dealt quads on a pre-flop all in. It is inevitable that Aces will be cracked @ various points throughout one's poker career. During certain hours some brick & mortar poker rooms offer an Aces Cracked bonus which softens the blow.

lol at somone using Jamie Gold as an example next to Phil Ivey hahahaha

You must play aces more agresive and you will not be payed with everycard.
I considered my aces are good when I go all in and another player play a good card , if I'm busted or not this is poker but I don't play AA with scarring

Pocket Rockets - you got to love them when they win and hate them when they loose.

I believe your play was correct but then again so was the villains. He could have placed you on AK,AQ,AJ even A10 where he had you beaten - a race but worth the risk as villain would have been infront. With an +80% chance of winning the hand it was best to get your money in the pot.

You played the hand correctly. You reraised, which is what you want to do and were well ahead when he called All In. If the flop falls your AA is, as someone above said, ONLY top pair. Any number of hand or combination of flops can have you dominated. Make your opponent make the decision preflop. If you get more then the blinds and don't have to see a flop, you are better off. I have seen AA lost to it all...I especally like when it gets beat by crap like 22 tripping up or 94 hitting two pair. It happens...a lot. Just don't ever limp with it. Not only does it put your initially strong hand in a ton of danger by inviting too many people into the pot, but if you trap me pulling some donk move like that I will track you down and smack you in the face!!!