Ace in Your Hand = Caution Required

When you are playing any variety of Texas Hold´em, being dealt an ace in your hand always gives you a bit of a buzz. However, there are circumstances when it leads players into a false sense of security and they bet without thought to their second card and the pitfalls it presents – Even AA can be a liability!

There are hundreds of opinions on how AA should be played depending on the position in which you are seated and the type of game you are involved in.

Many ring game players feel that irrespective of position, you should bet 3x – 5x the blinds to eliminate as many other players as possible and leave yourself as favourite against a smaller pair or somebody hoping for a draw. In multi table poker tournaments, limping into a pot gives you more options and the opportunity for a three-bet pre-flop or slowplay in later rounds to build the size of the pot.

AK is the next best pre-flop combination you can hope to be dealt with an ace, and although AK gives you the strongest kicker if another ace comes out on the flop, it is vulnerable to a player making a set with lower ranking cards – i.e.

Player 1 – AK        Player 2 – 99
Flop shows A94

The odds of being dealt any pair in Texas Hold´em poker are 16/1 so, if there are eight other players around the table, the odds that somebody will be holding a pair are only 2/1. Thereafter, that player has an 8/1 chance of hitting the set on the flop and a 4/1 chance of acquiring the third card they need by the river.

Although these odds do not represent value for the player with a pocket pair, it does not necessarily mean that they are going to fold to your pre-flop bet!

Any suited Ax combinations are valuable to a point. The hope is that you will flop a flush, but this only happens once in every 120 hands. More reasonable is that you will make your flush by the river, but this is still only likely to happen once in fifteen attempts.

The higher the suited second card, the better kicker you have if an ace comes out in the flop and there is also the possibility of making trips with your kicker, which is then supported by your ace. Although it is more preferable to be dealt Ah Th than a pair of 4´s, it is not a hand you should commit to too early in a game.

Any off-suit combination other than AK should be treated with extreme caution. AQ/AJ/AT are a mile away from AK in terms of the betting possibilities and, although the second card is a valuable kicker, betting two heavily on a top pair will see you get buried by anybody holding AK.

The odds of making the top straight by the river (60/1) do not justify betting on these hands for the straight and some top poker players will not even play these cards in short-handed Texas Hold´em.  The best solution with a hand like this is to try to limp into the flop or semi-bluff your hand when in late position.

Aces, when played correctly, can be a very valuable card to be dealt, but in many circumstances an ace in your hand = caution required!