AA, American Airlines
The best possible starting hand in Texas Hold'em. 94.1% chance of winning against AK, 89% against two inferior cards, 82% against another pair and finally 77% chance of winning against two small suited connectors! The numbers speak for themselves, pair of Aces are the overwhelming favorite in any confrontation. And if she can support an additional rival, things get seriously complicated in a four-player match, and the chances of pair of Aces drop noticeably. This is why, however great the temptation is to attract as many customers as possible and make a slow play with your pair of Aces, do not succumb to it: raise before the flop. Because an accident quickly happened…
For example, by not putting the big blind out of the race which, with offsuits and a flop without a flush draw, you expose yourself to letting your entire stack slip away or almost without warning. So raising pre-flop allows you to chase away average and drawing hands, which can hurt you badly when they hit, while ensuring you maintain the original advantage of your Aces.
In addition to these “preventive” aspects, a pre-flop raise worthy of the name (3 to 4 times the overblind) also aims to increase the pot that you are about to win. Because logically, if your raise is substantial, you should only be paid by strong hands, a nice pair of Tens and beyond, or by big suited connectors of the suited type. In the majority of cases, you will face one or two opponents, rarely more; against which you are favorite with the type of hands mentioned, and which are likely to pay all your bets if the board is harmless for the holder of the pair, or if the big connectors have found their top pair.
The best possible starting hand in Texas Hold'em. 94.1% chance of winning against AK, 89% against two inferior cards, 82% against another pair and finally 77% chance of winning against two small suited connectors! The numbers speak for themselves, pair of Aces are the overwhelming favorite in any confrontation. And if she can support an additional rival, things get seriously complicated in a four-player match, and the chances of pair of Aces drop noticeably. This is why, however great the temptation is to attract as many customers as possible and make a slow play with your pair of Aces, do not succumb to it: raise before the flop. Because an accident quickly happened…
For example, by not putting the big blind out of the race which, with offsuits and a flop without a flush draw, you expose yourself to letting your entire stack slip away or almost without warning. So raising pre-flop allows you to chase away average and drawing hands, which can hurt you badly when they hit, while ensuring you maintain the original advantage of your Aces.
In addition to these “preventive” aspects, a pre-flop raise worthy of the name (3 to 4 times the overblind) also aims to increase the pot that you are about to win. Because logically, if your raise is substantial, you should only be paid by strong hands, a nice pair of Tens and beyond, or by big suited connectors of the suited type. In the majority of cases, you will face one or two opponents, rarely more; against which you are favorite with the type of hands mentioned, and which are likely to pay all your bets if the board is harmless for the holder of the pair, or if the big connectors have found their top pair.
I never do anything in poker the same way. This is a fundamentally wrong approach. In different situations, my decisions will depend on many factors, and therefore I never always do something the same way.ChemfromUKR said:
Aces are definitely not a hand you should slowplay with. Many amateur players fall into this bad habit simply because AA is the #1 starting hand. But this is only preflop. Postflop everything changes and if you miss a set you will only have one pair.
I also liked to play these hands by slow play, but now I realized that AA is not a guarantee of winning and if there are 3 or more people in the deal with you, then your chances are significantly reduced, so I usually raise in 2 or 3 times.
You must not allow bad beats to cause you to play hands sub-optimally. Yes, it sucks when AA or KK gets outdrawn, but that is poker; no hand is completely unbeatable pre-flop.
Shoving all-in with AA pre-flop just to avoid getting beat by someone who defended their big blind with 86s (which would be correct in most cases) is a truly terrible tactic.
I will try to explain with some round figures to keep the maths straight forward.
AA will win approximately 80% of the time, or 4 out of 5 times we are dealt them.
Say we are dealt AA 5 times in one session. We can expect on average to win 4 times,
Say in those 5 hands the pot averages 50bb = 250bb total. We can expect to win on average 200bb from those 5 hands.
Now say in those 5 hands, we shove pre-flop every time and everyone folds. We win 1.5bb from the blinds every time and collect a total of 7.5bb from those 5 hands.
I don't know about you, but 200bb sounds a hell of a lot better than 7.5bb to me!
Shoving all-in with AA pre-flop just to avoid getting beat by someone who defended their big blind with 86s (which would be correct in most cases) is a truly terrible tactic.
I will try to explain with some round figures to keep the maths straight forward.
AA will win approximately 80% of the time, or 4 out of 5 times we are dealt them.
Say we are dealt AA 5 times in one session. We can expect on average to win 4 times,
Say in those 5 hands the pot averages 50bb = 250bb total. We can expect to win on average 200bb from those 5 hands.
Now say in those 5 hands, we shove pre-flop every time and everyone folds. We win 1.5bb from the blinds every time and collect a total of 7.5bb from those 5 hands.
I don't know about you, but 200bb sounds a hell of a lot better than 7.5bb to me!
if it's a free tournament then you can play like this, but if you're playing with even $1, it's best to play these 3 or 3.5 bb discoveries so that only strong hands play with you and throw off all the small 22 33 because they create a problem when the flop comes out 2 then he will win you with set 222 and you will pay a lot
I always try to go all-in on one opponent if possible. If I don't manage to go all-in right away and I only have a call to my bet or 3bet, then I make decisions on the flop. If the flop gives a lot of flush or straight draws, or there is already a pair on the board, then I play very carefully, and if I get a strong response, I fold.
This is a simpler explanation. You can play aces fast or you can slowplay them. If you slowplay you have to be prepared to let them go. Whatever you choose, when you lose with aces, you lose big unless you are prepared to make a painful fold at times.