Poker Strategy

Playing Aces
This is the ‘Daddy' of all poker hands. Call them what you like – ‘The Pocket Rockets', 'American Airlines' or ‘The Bullets', this a hand you are going to play from any position pre-flop. This is the hand that most poker players love the most and at the same time, hate the most. You are going to win a big pot or lose a big pot with this hand, sometimes you will have to be happy with just taking the blinds.

However, most players, especially new ones, do not maximise their winnings with this hand. So many people just move all in from whatever position they pick them up and often just end up winning the blinds. The other problem people have with Aces is not being able to let them go after the flop, even when they have a strong feeling they are beat.

So how do you get the most out of the most powerful hand in poker? There are many ways and many different opinions but here a few good ones to get you started.

Unless you are a short stack and therefore likely to get called by a wider range of hands, do not be the first to move all in.

In early position try limping every now and then, if you get a raiser you have an opportunity to re-raise, or even more deceptively just flat call and play a flop.

When raising do not over-bet. Why scare everyone off? 3* the blinds or the last bet should be more than enough.

Do not limp from late position, if you let the blinds see a flop un-raised you could find your Aces cracked by 7 2 off suit!

Minimum raising is also a dangerous play as you are giving the blinds odds to call you with almost any hand. Once again you could find yourself losing a big pot to a weak hand unless you are prepared to give them up after the flop.

Be aware of the flops/boards that contain danger for you. Any flop with 3 suited cards, 3 connected cards – 8 9 10 for example, any flop with 2 or more face cards and any flop with mid to high paired cards. These flops should be played conservatively. If you have position then put out a half size pot bet. If you are raised then release.

Conversely be aware of boards that if you are re-raised on you are likely to be ahead. Any all rag flop, any flop that has one high card and two low cards, any flop that has an Ace without two face cards or 3 to a flush and any flops with a low pair. These flops you should be betting heavy and if necessary committing all your chips. There will be times you run into a set but this will occur very rarely in the long run.

Ace high flops with scare cards can win you a big pot but can also lose you a lot too. Flops with an Ace plus two suited cards or two connecting cards should be bet very strong, do not give someone the odds to call with their draw. If they don't know about odds and call anyway you will lose about 35% of the time so forget the losses and carry on as it is profitable in the long run. Also don't forget to mark these players in your notes – this is one of the times the word ‘fish' can be used! If you give someone a free or cheap card on a flop like this and they clean you out then do not berate them – you are the sucker here.

When you are facing a flop that has an Ace but also might give someone a made straight or flush then tread very carefully. If given the opportunity to see a free card the take it. If the board pairs the sucker who is trying to trap you is about to give you a lot of chips. If facing a big bet on a board like this you must be getting the right odds to call otherwise release the hand unless you are very sure they are bluffing. The odds of you filling up on the turn or river are much the same as making a flush when you have four suited cards or an up and down straight draw. That means you should only be calling if the money in the middle is more than double the amount you have to put in to call. Remember also that if you miss on the turn then you may have to call another large bet on the river. You must take this into account when deciding whether to call or not. Most times it is not worth calling, wait for a better spot. The only times you may want to call is if you have a lot of chips and your opponent faces elimination if he loses. The other is if you and your opponent have big stacks of chips and the bet is small, say 10-15%, of your stack. You then have huge implied odds if you hit. That is, you can take most of his stack if you hit.

To sum it all up, do not be so afraid of a bad beat that you just move in all the time with this hand. You will lose 25% of the time you are called doing this. If you play a flop you can get way from the hand if necessary and still also bust someone on the right flop. Also do not go the other way and get clever with it, if you are up against a good player he may just bust you like you deserve!