10 essential strategies for extracting maximum value and protecting your hand with AA

Strategy #1:
Always raise pre-flop.

Don't try to be creative or “hide” your hand. Raise to extract value and eliminate speculative hands that could beat your AA with two pair, straights or threes.
It's very common to see this at cheap buy-in tables.

christovam said:

Завжди рейзіть на префлопі.

Не намагайтеся бути креативним або «ховати» руку. Зробіть рейз, щоб отримати велью та усунути спекулятивні руки, які можуть перемогти ваш АА з двома парами, стрітами чи трійками.
Це дуже часто можна побачити за столами з дешевим бай-іном.

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AA constantly wants to break the bank on the preflop, and he needs to constantly do 3-betas or squiz.

Strategy #2:
Avoid slow-play at crowded tables

In games with a lot of players, slow-play (just paying pre-flop) is dangerous. The more opponents in the pot, the greater the chance of someone hitting something on the flop.

Always raise the flop, so the donkey cards fall out

The tactic is good, but it doesn't work on all rooms, if you take micro-limits and the 888poker room. When 7 people log in to a 1 bb smash and you raise, you get a multipot with a bloated pot. Here you either go all-in with a good hand or make a very high raise. The standard three-way won't work there

Strategy #3:
Use raise size intelligently

A standard pre-flop raise (2.5x to 4x the big blind) is fine. If there are limpers before you, raise proportionally (e.g. 3x the total amount of previous bets).

Strategy #4:
Beware of pre-flop all-in in deep tournaments

In the early stages of tournaments with a lot of blinds, going all-in with AA can put opponents off. Rather build the pot and let them make mistakes post-flop.

Strategy #5:
Observe the texture of the flop

Connected flops (such as J-10-9 or 8♠ 9♠ T♥) are dangerous. If there are many straight or flush possibilities, play with caution.

when ppl get AA they think its a 100% win and they go crazy betting. i love it when those ppl loose it all playing silly

i usually just call or min raise to get everyone betting and make the pot bigger and on the river go aggressive

Strategy #6:
Reduce the number of opponents

Ideally, you want to go to the flop with 1 or 2 opponents at most. The more players in the pot, the greater the risk of losing.

christovam said:

Reduce the number of opponents

Ideally, you want to go to the flop with 1 or 2 opponents at most. The more players in the pot, the greater the risk of losing.

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Many people think the opposite, the more people in the hand they will lose when in fact they will only lose more ev

Strategy #7:
Keep betting on the flop and turn

If the flop isn't dangerous, keep betting for value. Weaker players often pay with worse hands like top pair or overcards.

i agree with this thread, i like playing fast.

every hand is bad for me, i like AA tho

Strategy #8:
Beware of unexpected resistance

If the villain raises or re-raises post-flop on a dangerous board, think carefully before pushing all in. You could be facing two pair, straight or set.

True

Play more conservatively in early position and more aggressively in late position to maximize value.

I almost or always shove AA pre flop so i would not mind my opponents hands XD
Heard is the best aces play
God bless

Strategy #9:
Avoid overplaying on the river

If the board is very connected (completing a straight or flush) and the opponent shows strength, don't hesitate to fold AA. Knowing how to fold a strong hand is a sign of poker maturity.

True but your statement needs additional context to it:
- Was the flop connected or no? If it wasn't, and we bet and got called, and the board becomes connected later, can we be sure that our opponent hit their straight or flush?
- Have we folded to strength on the river before? Is this now a tell that our opponents are picking up on?
- Did we connect to the board? Do we have a set of aces for example?

How you get to the river is as important, if not more, when determing our plan for the river - after all, if you are figuring out your plan for the hand at that point, you're already sunk

Personally - i have over a lengthy period of time (and time out) compiled a set of notes on pretty much every player in CC, especially those who play a lot of games and those who tend to deep run more so than others.
Why? well because of situations like above where im holding AA - there are certain players im happy to go to the river against with this monster pair and others that i will look to extract the max value from leading up to - by now you tend to know the ones who chase flushes or open enders or set mine.
Its not an exact science, you will fall foul now and again but generally speaking its one of the reasons why my heads up game is so strong.
CRStals makes a very important point - if you are going to go all the way, have a plan or at least, the journey is as important as the end result, i have folded big hands many times when i have suspected someone has got there - its led to being bluffed and its led to me winning tournaments, the balance for me is more positive than negative and i stick to that.

There are several ways i play AA and i am not going to give that information away on here but its very situational, it can be also dependent on who is in the pot with me, the value and much more. I will say this though, isolating players is one key strategy i use, it is not just about position on the table for me, if I am going to play, then i am going to often make my opponents PAY to tag along and i will commit them to the pot.

Strategy #10:
Avoid overplaying on the river

If the board is very connected (completing a straight or flush) and the opponent shows strength, don't hesitate to fold AA. Knowing how to fold a strong hand is a sign of poker maturity.