Pocket Aces - Aren't what the Use to Be

[silverslugger33]

I am glad to see this post simulating some great thought and conversations. I was just in a tournament and had AA in 1st (early) position. I made a minium raise hoping to get some takers. Only two stayed in the hand. Out came the flop and now have QUADS with straight and flush draws possible. I check and both players check until the river. I make the minimum bet and get one fold and one all in. Increase my chips by 150%.................YES!!

!:deal:

I look forward to hearing more from the community on the subject.

You want my honest thoughts? You made a bad play and got lucky. With aces you want to be in against one and only one other player. The odds of aces holding up goes down exponentially if there's more than 1 other person in the hand. You don't want some takers, you want ONE taker. Next, you slowplayed, which you did fine until the river. Then, you made a ridiculous underbet (about 1/6-1/8 of the pot) and got ridiculously lucky that someone who hit their draw went all in.

Next time, you should either limp and hope for a raise that you can rereaise, or preferably, make the standard play of raising to 3-4 times the BB. If you want to check the flop and turn, that's okay I guess, but you need to get some chips in the pot. What if someone just had a pair or 2 pair on the river? They easily could just flat call your min bet when they would probably have called a much bigger bet as well. Don't be afraid that people will fold. Get your chips in the pot and force the action.

 

[RA2000]

AA is not so easy to play as many players think...
If you get them you want to double up. And that is the problem.
If you slowplay them and get many callers you are alredy in trouble...
If you raise sometimes everyone lays there hand down and you just get the blinds....
Try to play them correct and you will get many chips often....
And the correct way depends on many circumstances!

 

[amclb]

You also have to know when to fold them, and that is not easy to do!

 

[imredee]

So today I was the AA buster. I held poket KK and got a BIG re-raise from a big stack that was folding his way to the final table. I was positive he had AA. Almost folded but decided to see a flop. Out comes K 10 6 rainbow. I raised small and he pushed all in. I didn't have him nearly covered but it got me a nice stack and helped my qualify for a tournament this weekend.


Now he's wondering about playing AA

 

[TPC]

Wow... you should never have trouble with AA. Ever!!! If you are, you need to read more in the strategy section!!! Never and I repeat Never limp with AA, ever!!! I don't care if your mom said never say never. I'M SAYING NEVER!!! all you are doing by limping is asking for trouble. If you play AA the way you should, you're going to get one maybe two callers.

just a quick run down:

AA in EP: Raise 3 to 4 x if you have someone push you all in preflop, fine, that's what you want with AA, if you get sucked out on, oh well. If you get called and there is a flush draw or a straight draw you want to make a big bet, pot sized or a little more. If noone calls you pre flop, oh well, just take the blinds. The only time I would slow play this is if you hit your set on the flop and you don't have a drawey board.

AA in position: if you have a bunch of limpers, just a standard raise here 3x + 1 for every limper. if someone has raised and it's to you, I suggest a reraise to isolate. in some situations you might want to smooth call with AA. On the flop with a low board, I would value bet on all streets. Again, if there is a drawey board jam the pot, take it down early, don't let them draw or make em pay if they do. Again, if you hit the flop it's ok to slow play here. However, I'm not a big fan of slow playing. If you are playing micro stakes and freerolls, noone will know the difference. Remember if you are playing in position you control the size of the pot. use the information you have on villian to get a good idea of his range.

Just a quick run down, it's late and I'm tired.

 

[CrossCrucificio]

We love seeing aces when we look at our hole cards. I will always love to see them no matter how much heartache i get form them sometimes. Best thing to do with Aces is just increase your odds of winning with them. Don't limp with them. Don't minimal raise with them. The more players up against your aces, well puts your aces in a vulnerable spot. We got to be discipline on playing them. If theboard is scary for aces, then fold or minimize your possible loss.

 

[evildoesit2003]

AA if you want to just call then if you dont hit play it like any other pocket pair otherwise I recommend raising big and cut your losses if they fold you dont make much but your still alive if they call pray a lot but dont throw the rest away just cause your in love with your hand.

 

[nevadanick]

AA is still always the same Pocket Rockets they have always been.

The difference is playing online and the much wider range of hands people will play. The term 'isolate' usually fits right in with AA, but online players just aren't being 'isolated'. They are adrenalin junkies that need, must have, the rush of the win.

Besides that, 'Cracking Aces' has become almost a World Class 'sport'.

 

[Tygran]

AA is still the same hand it's always been.


One pair.

Which is beaten by almost every other type of hand in the game.


Just remember..one pair is usually no good if all the money goes in!

People who lose often with AA forget this.

 

[LuckyChippy]

If you could have AA every hand, then you'd take it, but personally my favourite hand depends on the flop

 

[Bobmurphy07]

I just raise AA pre to narrow down the hand ranges, and I try to make sure I get it in either pre or on the flop since I'm normally ahead at those times, but it'll still lose that's very true. Just part of the game

 

[Takosh]

I normally treat AA as follows:

Short-stack - raise to about 4X big blind, unless someone else has already raised, in which case I go all-in

Mid-stack - about 2X big-blind, and watch the flop for odds of being beaten.

Top-stack - raise to 2-3X, and play aggressively. Unless I think it's likely someone is going to get a flush or straight, I'll usually bet very strongly at this point.

 

[absoluthamm]

Just goes to show you that no hand is guaranteed to win. Too many new players get hands like AK(suited or unsuited), AA, KK... and couldn't put them down if they were punched in the face. Any hand could beat your Aces, that's poker for you.

 

[aznman08]

and if you decide every time to limp or make the minimum raise and try to trap other players. you will lose hands with A-A much faster

 

[orangepeeleo]

Mid-stack - about 2X big-blind, and watch the flop for odds of being beaten.

Never min-raise with AA, your just going to invite calls from the whole table, suited connectors, gapped suited connectors, 2 high cards, any pocket pair, they all should be calling your min-raise and when they hit the flop your going to get stacked.

Play them like any big hand, hard and aggressively, but know when to lay them down if your facing a lot of resistance on a bad board, people see aces and immediately think they've won the hand pf.

 

[Donkus Maximus]

No starting hand is unbeatable, but a decent raise to narrow the field certainly imporves your chances. Personally, I love calling people I put on AA with a small pair and seeing if I flop a set.
People lose with AA all the time, but I cannot help thinking ones losses would be limited with some pot control. If you make a big raise with AA, make a big bet on an unthreatening flop, and still find the other guy playing back at you, it should cause you some concern. If the same thing happens with a very draw heavy flop, you should be even more concerned. Of course, all of this is situational- if you the above happens against a calling station or an uber-aggressive opponent, it is much less of a worry; but if the same happens against an obvious nit, then there is no shame in laying them down.

 

[deumsac]

I get beat with AA sometimes, but it is still my all-time favorite hand

I usually bet at least 4xBB pre-flop or more, depending on the situation.

 

[Michelle5000]

AA and KK are absolute monsters in MTT and SNG where you have smaller SPR ratios - like Harrington siad never fold KK PF, i sometimes fold it preflop on cash tables if i know a player will only stack with AA/KK. In cash games, once the flop comes down i proceed with caution and i'm happy to tabke 2-3streets of value with them.

Well i am playing in for 125bb and most of the money is won in big pots with sets, flushes, straights etc. I had a prime e.g of how you don't play AA yesterday.

I raise 88 from the CO, SB 3bets and BB calls..due to the implied odds i'm calling to hit set. Flop comes down 248 and they both stacked off 125 and 150bb to me with AA and KK.

The BB got trappy when if he'd 4bet PF he would have forced me to fold and have got it all in with KK. That was one HUGE leak by the BB. Basicaly cost him 275BB. Well he should and could have got away from it post. A good hand for me , as my 8's held up xd

 

[absoluthamm]

AA and KK are absolute monsters in MTT and SNG where you have smaller SPR ratios - like Harrington siad never fold KK PF, i sometimes fold it preflop on cash tables if i know a player will only stack with AA/KK. In cash games, once the flop comes down i proceed with caution and i'm happy to tabke 2-3streets of value with them.

Well i am playing in for 125bb and most of the money is won in big pots with sets, flushes, straights etc. I had a prime e.g of how you don't play AA yesterday.

I raise 88 from the CO, SB 3bets and BB calls..due to the implied odds i'm calling to hit set. Flop comes down 248 and they both stacked off 125 and 150bb to me with AA and KK.

The BB got trappy when if he'd 4bet PF he would have forced me to fold and have got it all in with KK. That was one HUGE leak by the BB. Basicaly cost him 275BB. Well he should and could have got away from it post. A good hand for me , as my 8's held up xd

So you will never fold KK pre-flop eh? There are definitely times when you should fold KK preflop.
You are going to call two allins in front of you that have you covered with KK when you are on the bubble?
How about against the tightest player you have ever seen making a huge raise at you?

KK is a good hand, but it has one huge flaw....it can be beat by any hand with an Ace, should one show up on the board. KK is just another one of those hands that I love getting, but you must play cautiously with it, and by no means think that you cannot fold it.

 

[Reducto]

It's not true that AA is always 80+% to win a hand. The number goes down quickly the more people see a flop. I just punched a 5-handed game into a card calculator - AA vs KQs, JTs, 55, 33. AA had by far the best odds, but it was still only 43%.

All you can do is narrow the field and try to get chips into the pot while you're ahead. Then re-evaluate after the cards come out and remember it's just a pair.

 

[TheseNutsWin]

According to the odds you will win 80% of the time.
:deal:

PEOPLE are so mistaken..First of all pocket aces win 85% of the time against 1 OPPONENT with a random hand. Adding just one opponent to the equation makes it 70%.. DO YOU SEE WHERE I`M GOING? . also those numbers are based on HUGE samples. You cant play pocket aces 10 times and expect them to win 8 out of 10. If you play them 10,000 then you can expect to win about 8,000 times( and even that sample may not be exactly 8000, but may be 7000 or even 9000). The smaller the sample the more chance the numbers wont be correct. I`ll give you an example, when i started to track my hands, i noticed that it took me 22 pocket AAs for me to get my first loss..

POCKET ACES ARE WHAT THEY USED TO BE and always will stay the same..

 

[Mother_Flopper]

I agree with zachvac not possible to be beat by a boat if your holding aa and hit one on the board. I also don't agree with your analysis of aces if your playing no limit then you should be able to get any decent players off of draws if your betting correctly. Sure they're gonna get beat but i'll take them every time.

I also agree, no way you can get beat by a boat if you have AA and the third A comes up on the board.

 

[Poof]

Aces are a sure win in you try this:

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/general-poker-13/variance-insurance-130596/

 

[Exit141RTe1]

If you don't want them I will take them....every time.

I to have been busted with the rockets, but after the hand I can't see how I would have played it any different with the best hand. I chalk it up to poker, move to the next hand and pray it the A's to give it another shot.

 

[Machidon7]

i usually avoid to go all in in cash games unless i have AA,or KK, but yesterday i hit AA three times on carbon poker and i lost every one of them.....one i lost against KK ; i raise 4 BB he went all in,i called (flop K 6 6...turn,river no A).....another 1 i raise 4BB 2 callers one had 2 diamonds KQ (flop 1 diamond and one K, i raise 1/3 pot one of them folded ,the other with the KQ diamonds called( had top pair), turn another diamond(now he has top pair and flush draw,i raise 1/2 pot he went all in ,flush on the river)....third time he went all in i called (me AA he 33 flop 6 3 10.turn ,river no A) :eviltongu carbon