B
Berbo
Enthusiast
Silver Level
Believe it or not, I HATE AA
I want to say the best way to play AA is to fold it, (because every time I've played it in a tournament they get cracked) but never put them all in preflop. Make sure you see if some two pair flop sleepers would take you out.
I seriously have had better odds with 72 that I have had with AA.
I want to say the best way to play AA is to fold it, (because every time I've played it in a tournament they get cracked) but never put them all in preflop. Make sure you see if some two pair flop sleepers would take you out. I seriously have had better odds with 72 that I have had with AA.
shinjibe
Rising Star
Bronze Level
Hard to say, short stacked I would raise all in if i know I have a caller. If not I'll happily limp or min raise or whatever to get them to play, the logic being if I'm desperate for a double up I'm more interested in getting them to play regardless of what they have. Too good of a spot in general to not try and get it all in.
If deeper 15+ BB then I'll raise and play depending on the flop. Take range's into consideration etc.
I played A-A yesterday, for example.
BB-200, SB-100,
Hero A-A
Villain Kd-9d
I raised 3bb pre-flop in early position, villain called in middle, two late position's called as well.
pot = 3000
Flop came kh,10d, 5h.
turn jd
river 2d
I jammed it for 5000 hoping he had a king and protecting from hearts. If he had a set, or K-10 then fair enough but him having such a tiny range of hands that beat me I bet for protection, he called and turned and rivered a flush.
I was happy how I played it but wasn't my day (or week if i'm being honest).
If deeper 15+ BB then I'll raise and play depending on the flop. Take range's into consideration etc.
I played A-A yesterday, for example.
BB-200, SB-100,
Hero A-A
Villain Kd-9d
I raised 3bb pre-flop in early position, villain called in middle, two late position's called as well.
pot = 3000
Flop came kh,10d, 5h.
turn jd
river 2d
I jammed it for 5000 hoping he had a king and protecting from hearts. If he had a set, or K-10 then fair enough but him having such a tiny range of hands that beat me I bet for protection, he called and turned and rivered a flush.
I was happy how I played it but wasn't my day (or week if i'm being honest).
A
Amatsu_H
Rock Star
Silver Level
How much of a small raise are you talking about here? because a small one could end up getting many calls and no raises, then you get stuck with multiway flop and lowering your win % too much. How has that strat been working for you? or in what conditions (already read from players, 9 handed/6 handed? live poker?
Would like to hear more honestly
Thanks
Sergio_uy
Rock Star
Silver Level
Personally I try to never go all in preflop unless I'm already in advanced stages of a tournament. If it would be good to raise before the flop but after seeing the flop we must analyze if our AA is really the best of the table and also see how the other players play after the flop. Something that also happens is that the players try a bluff and there we can get a big pot, sometimes it is better to win a few chips than to lose everything for an all in with a strong starting hand and that on the flop happens to be a very bad hand
HennieP
Rock Star
Silver Level
If you open the pot (first to bet) then a standard raise of 3x to 5x to BB will do. But the trick is to always raise the same amount whatever you have so that you don't make it obvious when you get AA or KK. You don't need to push all-in unless you get re-raised and you preferably want only one opponent going to the flop. When there are more than two opponents AA becomes a dangerous hand because it's only good against one or at most two opponents. If more than two players are all-in before you act you might want to consider to fold unless you're not worried about losing your stack.
People will go all-in with a wide range of hands like:
AA/KK/QQ/JJ/TT/99/88/77 and maybe even lower pairs.
AK/AQ/AJ/AT/Ax/Kx and even Jx suited or unsuited.
Suited connectors or sometimes even any two cards with the same suit.
AA is only one pair and the more people in the hand the more the chances are that someone will connect with the flop in a much stronger way than your AA. Remember, you already have 2 Aces in your hand so there are only 2 cards on the decl left to give you a set. Against any suited hand that gets the right flop you're in big trouble. Against a smaller pair that gets a set you're in big trouble. Against two pair you're in big trouble unless the board pairs in a way that doesn't help them. And the more people there are in the hand the more chance that one of them will improve their hand while you still have only 1 pair.
In a tournament you never fold AA because you need chips to survive and you won't get many top hands so you have to gamble even when the odds are not in your favor. You only lose your buy-in so it's not such a big deal. In a cash game? You decide how much you're willing to lose on one pair if you can't reduce the number of opponents.
People will go all-in with a wide range of hands like:
AA/KK/QQ/JJ/TT/99/88/77 and maybe even lower pairs.
AK/AQ/AJ/AT/Ax/Kx and even Jx suited or unsuited.
Suited connectors or sometimes even any two cards with the same suit.
AA is only one pair and the more people in the hand the more the chances are that someone will connect with the flop in a much stronger way than your AA. Remember, you already have 2 Aces in your hand so there are only 2 cards on the decl left to give you a set. Against any suited hand that gets the right flop you're in big trouble. Against a smaller pair that gets a set you're in big trouble. Against two pair you're in big trouble unless the board pairs in a way that doesn't help them. And the more people there are in the hand the more chance that one of them will improve their hand while you still have only 1 pair.
In a tournament you never fold AA because you need chips to survive and you won't get many top hands so you have to gamble even when the odds are not in your favor. You only lose your buy-in so it's not such a big deal. In a cash game? You decide how much you're willing to lose on one pair if you can't reduce the number of opponents.
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S
Supmargy
Visionary
Silver Level
To add on what he said:
Isolating players can generally be done by following this rule:
Raise with 3BB + 1BB/limp (limp is people that called the BB). More will make them fold more easily, and so you might end up with a BB and SB. Which sucks when you have AA.
S
Supmargy
Visionary
Silver Level
The definition of a fish is that he has no discipline to fold. So how would you avoid fish by allining??
Sneaky_Ninja
Rising Star
Bronze Level
My take on this.......
Position is the number one factor in this....
You never want to slow play AA preflop. Slow playing AA makes it tough to know where you're at in the hand post flop. Tons of ranges will call small bets. You'll never have a good understanding of where you're at on pretty much any type of flop texture. If you at least raise, a good raise or re-raise you can much more safely eliminate dumb hands like suited one gappers and such. Don't let 86 come in cheap and bust you out of no where. This is especially true if you're post flop game isn't top notch.
Don't be scared to get it all in preflop, especially against one caller, unless you're very deep stacked and have other big stacks in the hand. The pure math is on your side in this situation. If there is a raise, re-raise, and a call in front of you. I'd still put in another raise to try and narrow it down, especially with position, but you don't want to get it all in against multiple players as you're other ace is likely in someone else's hand. Remember AA is still only one pair.
Post flop continue to bet your hand strongly, always slow it down and think if you get raised. Try to think of what hand would do this against your aggression. Don't be scared to just let it go if you come to the conclusion you're beat, chances are that you're right.
If you're in an iffy spot try to get to show down via blocker bets. Against a good player if you slow down too much they will raise you off the hand regardless of their holdings, this holds especially true if you're out of position.
I could go on more, but that is my foundation of playing AA. It's a good starting hand, and should be you're biggest winning hand in the long run....
Position is the number one factor in this....
You never want to slow play AA preflop. Slow playing AA makes it tough to know where you're at in the hand post flop. Tons of ranges will call small bets. You'll never have a good understanding of where you're at on pretty much any type of flop texture. If you at least raise, a good raise or re-raise you can much more safely eliminate dumb hands like suited one gappers and such. Don't let 86 come in cheap and bust you out of no where. This is especially true if you're post flop game isn't top notch.
Don't be scared to get it all in preflop, especially against one caller, unless you're very deep stacked and have other big stacks in the hand. The pure math is on your side in this situation. If there is a raise, re-raise, and a call in front of you. I'd still put in another raise to try and narrow it down, especially with position, but you don't want to get it all in against multiple players as you're other ace is likely in someone else's hand. Remember AA is still only one pair.
Post flop continue to bet your hand strongly, always slow it down and think if you get raised. Try to think of what hand would do this against your aggression. Don't be scared to just let it go if you come to the conclusion you're beat, chances are that you're right.
If you're in an iffy spot try to get to show down via blocker bets. Against a good player if you slow down too much they will raise you off the hand regardless of their holdings, this holds especially true if you're out of position.
I could go on more, but that is my foundation of playing AA. It's a good starting hand, and should be you're biggest winning hand in the long run....
Amanda A
Legend
Bronze Level
I think you have to raise strongly pre flop. Not necessarily all in because you don't want to drive everyone out. If it's near the end of the tournament and or you are short stacked and you might get a call if you shove then that's ok too.It is the strongest starting hand so you should be psyched to play it. If the flop comes non coordinated bet again and play your hand strongly, if you lose you lose. That's poker.
Navin Sarabjeet
Legend
Bronze Level
AA is the best starting hand in NLE. So i don't see why you are afraid of it
AA is played best with at the most 2-3 players going to a flop. Off course you can have bad beats, nut that is poker
You have to take some chances. And you have to try to get maximum value with these sort of hands.
I don't understand how people who have AA and go all-in pre-flop with an average stack get called with suited connectors or some other junk or even a pair smaller than 99
I don't see these callers as pokerplayers who know what they are doing.
So i wouldn't advise an all-in with AA
Try to minimize the felt and if you see you are getting a re-raise on the flop with a very slippery// paired board and although you have the best starting hand, you must also have the ability to fold when you think you are beaten.
But of course these are all IMO
So gl at the tables and may the cards be with you
koisug
Visionary
Silver Level
I do not know the ideal way to play on AA, but based on my personal experience, and I play AA almost in every session of the game, I will say that I play as aggressively as possible, trying to lose the maximum number of unpredictable hands of rivals. Well, of course the maximum attack rates, so if that and win more!
