Playing Pocket Aces in No Limit Hold’em

Written By: CoinFlipPoker.com

When it comes to No Limit Texas Hold’em, pocket aces are the best possible preflop hand. However, many amateur players tend to overplay them in the wrong situations, and underplay them when they should be getting their money in quickly. This article will detail how to play aces preflop, and on the flop, to maximize your profits and minimize your losses when you’re behind.

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Preflop Play

When you have aces preflop you are going to want to jam the pot in most situations. What this means is that you should put in a raise, or even a re-raise if possible, regardless of the action before you. You have the best possible hand at this point, so you have literally nothing to be afraid of, even if other players are playing big pocket pairs.

Once in a while you will potentially want to slow play pocket aces. One such situation is if there is a maniac at your table, or if you are deep in a tournament and everyone has short stacks. In the maniac situation, often times the best way to extract maximum value is by slow playing. If the maniac comes in for a raise, and you are the last player to act preflop, just smooth call it. This will encourage him to bet again on the flop, the turn, and potentially the river, when you can put out a large raise.

In tournament poker, at the end of the tournament everyone will have short stacks because of the steadily increasing blinds and antes. This leads to heavy aggression because players don’t have time to wait around for a big hand. If you have pocket aces late in a tournament, make your standard raise, and if someone re-raises you, just call. They are almost guaranteed to shove the flop because the majority of their stack is already in the pot.

Playing the Flop

On most flops you will be trying to protect your hand, and the simple way to do that is by betting and raising your opponents. However, the tough part with playing Aces is knowing when to release them when you’re behind. Here are a few tips for knowing when your hand is beat:

First, if the flop is scary, and your opponent is playing the hand fast, you may need to re-evaluate your situation. For example, if the flop is JJ4, and your opponent bets into you, you raise, and he/she re-raises all in, you are probably beat in that situation. Also, if the flop is something like KQ4 with two suited cards, and your opponent gets it all in, it is likely he/she may have a big draw like 10J suited, and you will have to decide if you want to get all your chips in knowing you could be drawn out on easily.

Another scary situation is if you raise preflop, and a few players smooth call. Say the flop comes 942 offsuit– looks pretty harmless right? Well, based on the flop action, you may be in trouble here. Since multiple opponents came in the hand cheaply, it’s likely that someone had a low pocket pair, and may have made a set. Be wary of players who are just check-calling you, and all of a sudden put in a large raise on the turn or river. That is another situation where you will most likely be better off releasing your hand.