Playing the AA

Good Morning Cardschat Followers,

I am interested to hear from fellow poker players of there methods of playing premium high value pairs especially AA from the small and big blinds. I am doing some comparison research at present between several pros as to how they play this and whilst taking into consideration stack sizes, position and tournament( not to mention other variables), i want to keep it simple and see if there is a main line on extracting max value from the top pairs and playing these to the river..keen to know what you guys think.
The higher the level i go, the more i see better players playing the aces etc to the river aiming to extract max value at showdown..


Let me know your experiences and thoughts!


Cheers


Glenn

goal with AA preflop:
- eliminate all but 1 opponent
- maximise pot
Required info:
- how many are still in the pot
- did 1 or more raise before you
- how high can/must be the raise to force all but 1 to fold
With this info you make a bet (or rarely check in the BB)

8bod8 said:

goal with AA preflop:
- eliminate all but 1 opponent
- maximise pot
Required info:
- how many are still in the pot
- did 1 or more raise before you
- how high can/must be the raise to force all but 1 to fold
With this info you make a bet (or rarely check in the BB)

Click to expand...

Hi 8bod8,

Thanks for your reply, I am curious mainly with regards to peoples personal preference with regards to playing AA but as you state and I have also made reference in my original post, there are several variables to consider - I have come across many players who push AA in sb/bb nearly all the time regardless of their effective stack or position in the tournament - i tend to play in different ways dependent on these variables.

Cheers

Glenn

Hi Glenn,
excactly,
my experience (but that is maybe not very good info, be careful):
- early in MTT, make a big raise >5BB, or 3bet pot size, then reraise all-in
- just before bubble: 2.xBB
- just after the bubble: all-in
- FT or close: 2-3BB

never do "slow play ..." make your bets trying to play alone against a villain ... and you must be aggressive ...! I usually make a 3-bet .. and if some villain entered the pot I do a re-raise for 2

8bod8 said:

Hi Glenn,
excactly,
my experience (but that is maybe not very good info, be careful):
- early in MTT, make a big raise >5BB, or 3bet pot size, then reraise all-in
- just before bubble: 2.xBB
- just after the bubble: all-in
- FT or close: 2-3BB

Click to expand...

it's right, I just miss you, NEVER SLOWPLAY

Thanks guys, i tend to mix it up but i am noticing much more at pro/elite level the play to run AA to the river, extracting max value or to the point of where an all in becomes inevitable..to be honest its not giving away too much information as there are so many variables. Really appreciate these contributions - keep them coming chat, i would like to know your views.

I agree with the other posts - a sizeable raise 3-5 BB, depending on position. Naturally, if someone has raised ahead, and there are other callers, you need to force many out. Never be afraid to go all-in if others re-raise. You have a head start on them. If you get too many callers, it will be a crap shoot.


Once, a long time ago, holding AA, I was forced all-in from late position by someone who went all-in pre-flop ahead of me. We both turned over AA. No flush - we chopped the pot.

8bod8 said:

goal with AA preflop:
- eliminate all but 1 opponent
- maximise pot
Required info:
- how many are still in the pot
- did 1 or more raise before you
- how high can/must be the raise to force all but 1 to fold
With this info you make a bet (or rarely check in the BB)

Click to expand...

I would say this is the most simple way to explain it, and I completely agree 100%. At the end of the day, its about getting as much money into the pot as possible. Do you want it down to 1 player? absolutely. Is that always gonna be the case, probably not. Especially in low limit games. The only thing I would add is, you should be raising, building the pot, but if your EP, and you know that over half of the table will "put pressure on a limper". why not let them build the pot for you?


With at said, I hate this line. lol every time I try it is the one time no one wants to raise the pot, but it works well for others. I'm not sure if this line doesn't fit with my playing style, or what, but I will say I've seen it work very well for others, at overly aggressive tables.

I usually don't get involved with no more than one opponent with pocket Aces because too many players can be dangerous so I raise to 4x if the blind is 200x400 but at the begining for example when the blind is 40x80 don't raise too much ,or go all in pre flop and pray for some small pair call you.

With the best possible starting hand, you want to be aggressive enough to get chasers to fold. You want to get heads up against kings with it all in and win.

I always play really good hands on the downlow. The more money I can rake into the pot, the better. So long as I know I'm gonna win, keep the bets low until the river. The more chips you can accumulate from the other players is always essential.

With AA I always play aggressive, I never slow play them because when I slow play my AA I end up losing.

You need to play differently on AA, in some moments you need to play aggressively because there are many moments when your AA does not play and you need to watch the situation how many players are involved in the hand, I play AA differently sometimes I raise 3-4 bets or I play all -in to play in the distribution of less players and there was more chance of winning!

Hi Vov4ik,

Thanks for your reply and of course everyone elses but i feel my mindset and method of play reflects your response best. Cheers

I *never ever ever* slow play AA, they are only good preflop. So I love it when someone opens with a strong hand before me, I'll almost always try to get it all in heads up preflop.

Keyword is almost though-- I also try to be unpredictable, so I really follow the aggression before me.

If I'm in early position at an aggressive table, that's probably the only time I'll limp in knowing that someone behind will build the pot before I shove.

friend, I think the pair of AA is very dangerous in poker because it gives you hope that you already have the game won and sometimes this is ilisory because you can ask for 2 pairs down.

Betting, I prefer betting than playing slow play. They are premium cards but we depend on the rest of the cards to have a game. I take into account that pre flop would be the best card possible, so I bet it well that if the person wants to get in the hand it has to pay dearly for this, thus scaring the onlookers on duty.

The ideal is to play against 1 or at most 2 villains, and force them to raise the pot and drop.

Dailon Arroyo Blandon said:

never do "slow play ..." make your bets trying to play alone against a villain ... and you must be aggressive ...! I usually make a 3-bet .. and if some villain entered the pot I do a re-raise for 2

Click to expand...

I disagree. 99.99% of the time your correct. I had to slow play some aa today but it was because the whole table was squemish. They would all fold pre-flop whenever there was a raise and post flop on bets. For 25 rounds i won all the blinds whether i had ak or 72.


For the aa only player stuck it out and went all in on the river. His pair of 8s were no match.

I never ever ever limp! Too many things can go wrong. Attempt to isolate as much as possible!

With AA I am raising at least 4-5 x big blind. First to act and early positions definitely is a good spot to raise to get the trash out. Sometimes it's good to go all in early to act because you might get a caller or two. Definitely slow playing aces is not good. You want less players and to get it all in with the goods preflop against hands like AK AQ KK KQ and any other pair. Also it depends on what part of the table you are when you get AA. It's a good feeling when you see the weapons of mass destruction for sure.

pirateglenn said:

Good Morning Cardschat Followers,

I am interested to hear from fellow poker players of there methods of playing premium high value pairs especially AA from the small and big blinds. I am doing some comparison research at present between several pros as to how they play this and whilst taking into consideration stack sizes, position and tournament( not to mention other variables), i want to keep it simple and see if there is a main line on extracting max value from the top pairs and playing these to the river..keen to know what you guys think.
The higher the level i go, the more i see better players playing the aces etc to the river aiming to extract max value at showdown..


Let me know your experiences and thoughts!


Cheers


Glenn

Click to expand...

Hey. Why exactly AA? Aces are a couple that in fact are not much different from other couples, except their value. Many beginners playing with aces on the whole stack at any structure of the board. When an opponent raises you on the turn / river, then with a probability of more than 50% your aces are worthless.