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Article 1: Playing the flop in Texas Hold’em
Article 2: Texas Hold'em Preparations
Article 3: Bluffing in Poker Hold’em
Article 4: No Limit Holdem Strategy - Playing in Low Stakes Games
Article 5: Texas Holdem - Why So Popular?
Article 6: Fixed Limit Hold`em Strategy-Playing Middle Stakes Games
Article 7: Advanced Holdem Poker Strategies -Short Handed Games
Article 8: Books That Will Improve Your Holdem Game
Article 9: Playing Aces in No Limit Holdem
Aces. The boss hand in texas hold'em. You are sitting at home playing internet poker. Look down to see pocket rockets and your heart skips a beat. You have the nuts right now, but you remember that famous no limit holdem maxim, “with aces you are either going to win a small pot or lose a big one”; So what now? What's the best way to play your aces in no limit holdem?
Most people play aces in one of two ways. They make a small, often the minimum raise before the flop. If they are re-raised, they move all-in. If they are called, they move in on any flop that does not contain a big pair or three of a suit. This is a sure way to prove the maxim true. You are giving a bunch of people a chance to make their hand by making the flop cheap to see, and anyone lucky enough to flop two pair will call and often beat you. If no one flops two pair or better everyone will fold and you will just win the pre-flop action.
Other people actually open raise all in immediately, before the flop. This may be a good idea late in a tournament when blinds and antes are high, but in a ring game, where blinds are and remain relatively small for as long as you play, you are simply wasting the most powerful starting hand in holdem. In fact, you can go all-in to an unraised pot before the flop with any two cards. More than 90 percent of the time, no one will call you and you will pick up the blinds.
The reason people play this way is that they feel there is no way they can get away from their aces, so they want to end the hand as soon as possible so as to not have to make any decisions. Not wanting to make decisions is not the mark of a successful poker player. Your goal with aces should be to thin the field so that only hands that you dominate, such as AQ, will play with you. You should then hope they hit their flop so that you can extract more chips. If you feel the flop is very dangerous to you, then you need to decide whether you need to move in and shut out your opposition, or whether someone has hit a lucky flop and beaten you.
The likelihood is that you will not get away from your aces even when you are beaten most of the time. However scared money usually doesn't win, and you need to play your aces for what they are worth, and not necessarily view them as a hand you need to end as soon as possible. If the pot gets big enough, for example you raise before the flop and are re-raised a good amount, or you check, someone bets, and someone else raises, it's ok to move in and take what's out there. But being satisfied with winning a small pot just so you don't have to face any decisions down the road is simply not good poker.
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