Ace Rag Early in tournament

PHX

PHX

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Hi

Just want to get your thoughts on playing Ace Rag early in tournaments when there is a lot of limping/single raise hands preflop.
 
Archiv3r

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If its offsuited throw it away, if its suited play it.
i wouldnt limp it unless you are LP, just open it like any other hand
 
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B1BOMBER

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About the only time I will play ace rag is if I'm in the BB or LB with no raises. I don't care if they are suited or not. I even fold AA, AJ, and A 10 if I am not in the blind. I don't fold AA every time, if the blinds are low I will play it.:D:D
 
NCDaddy

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Ace rag late position in an unraised pot is fine. I've noticed King rag being A LOT more lately in LP than what used to be the norm. I think it's all positional and any hand can fly in LP. Ace rag early can get you in trouble. If you're going to play it early, raise like you got a primo hand.
 
gjwalk

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I might play it if I'm in position with an open bet, but otherwise it's best to just fold them. Even if you hit, you can't be comfortable with Ace Rag with the good possibility of a bigger kicker in the other hands. Later in the game with fewer players at the table, I'm more likely to play them.
 
antonis32123

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Well I must admit sometimes I am tempted to play them early in a tournament or generally with very low blinds in contrast to mine , but mainly , ofcourse , as Archiv3r said , if it's suited and if I have position .
 
Edubb78

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I play it whenever I feel comfy, if I don't have alot of chips in late position I push, sometimes if I have a ton of chips I will limp to see what I get... whatever floats your boat.. but I'm just talking about freerolls here.... lol
 
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doodydota

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Deepstacked, suited ace rag is playable. However ace rag offsuit, without antes, you must have a very good reason to enter the pot. Such reasons may be: target a big fish, attack a sit-out or try to get a bouty from a crippled player.
 
SuzdalDEcor

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I will give you 1 advice - avoid multi pot with a marginal hands
 
edc1

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playing ace -rag in any position but sb and bb can only lead to disaster post-flop especialy if your ace hits and is outkicked from any villian in pot,at least for me anyway-i fold ace-rag 9 outa ten times-il fold it to any raise for sure
 
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the0

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I know that Sklansky in recommends playing A 10 suited down to Ace 76 suited for a big raise. For example in a cash game recently I went all-in with JJ only to have my hand busted by A 7 ona AAx flop.
 
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skaterick

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I think B1BOMBER needs an editor ! He said "i don't fold AA every time , if the blinds are low I will play it '. ???!!!
 
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skaterick

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there are dozens of situations where ace-rag can be plus EV . however , as many newcomers have not yet learned ,there are far more situations where a quick muck is in order !
 
firstcrack

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I think it depends on how much you trust yourself. If you can fold A-Rag when an Ace hits the flop, then you can get paid off by A K early in tournaments if someone is slow playing them, or any strong Ace, if you happen to flop two pair--if you can get away with limping (even though conventional wisdom may say raise if you dare play them). It's sort of a dangerous variation on set mining, with emphasis on dangerous. Even if you do hit two pair you are still up against it if someone hits a set, or an even stronger Aces Up. Admittedly, once in a while I will play Ace Rag if I am in an STF mode early on in a free roll, say, and in position--but mostly I fold them. Then I will play them if I am extremely short stacked. of course.
 
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FlushWithFlavor

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depends on my mood, sometimes ill raise 3x and c-bet and try to steal even if no A flops lol not the best choise, but early on esp, very easy to steal pots, no one wants to risk it unless they have the nuts, and occationally you try that and run headfirst into the nuts, sh*t happens lolol
 
SaintNick1968

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Well, this is a very wide question, but I'll do my best. You generally want to be cautious with these kind of hands, because they can get a new player into a lot of trouble when they don't know how strong their top pair is and they might not be able to let it go, especially out of position. You don't want to open with these hands in early position, and I wouldn't advise opening the offsuit versions of it on anything but the button. The suited versions do have more value in the earlier stages of the tournament because you can try to get a flush without committing too much of your stack before the flop, and there are going to be more opportunities for you to make profitable bluffs after the flop. I would very rarely recommend open limping in the early stages of a tourney with any hand, because by raising you can build the pot against someone playing OOP, you can disguise your hand and you can steal the blinds (which still has some value early in the tournament).

If a lot of people are limping, then the suited versions can be an okay option to limp along with, but you mustn't get too attached to a flopped top pair.

Kind of a hard question to answer, it really does depend on the situation.

Good luck!
 
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paulsmall007

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Unless it's blind vs blind, I wouldn't even touch it, Like others have said if it's suited than give it a raise
 
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karl coakley

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The problem with A/rag is that you never really know where you are at. This leads to bad decisions. Personally, I want to keep decisions as easy as possible. A/rag vs a bigger ace is generally only 25% chance to win. Not a good spot to put in a lot of chips. odds get a little better if you are suited and can make a wheel.

Generally, I don't think twice about mucking anything below AQ early.
 
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Mikecouil1

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I insta call in position just to see a flop. If it's suited I'll call a 3 bet if there are 3 or 4 people in just for pot odds.
 
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DrakeM

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Depending on position you can play it if suited, if unsuited and early Id rather not play it.
 
rock0001

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it depends on your position on the table. in early position you should fold the hand, in middle and specially in late position you can limp or even make a small raise of 2 to 3 bb and fold to any re raise.
 
redwhitealex

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must be able to play aces. their presence does not guarantee you winning the hand
 
Padlington

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play A suited if the table seems right, only try A off suit if you can get in cheap or you are Bb or Lb any other time dump it
 
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