How would you pay pocket ACES preflop?

Question

check or raise, and you were the first to bet.

Thanks, i meant first to act after the blinds...call or raise?

Dunhate, i wished i woulda read this before i limped in utg and let a 7-2 beat me on the flop with two pair....RATS!!!

pokercoach, my first thought was how to get more action, which was why i limped in, but now i see it was a rookie thought since i didn't have the nuts.

Answer 1

Lots of reading involved for you... espicially since i havent seen a decent question in this section for a while...... I also like to show everyone how smart i am ^^. Haha jk sorta.

Anyways,
If you have pocket aces and are first to act (under the gun) you only have two options: call or raise, you cant check. Checking is only possible when no one has bet/raised yet. However, the blinds are "bets" so you have to at least call to continue.. Im going to assume are playing in a standard 9 handed 1/2 game against average players (3 fish, 3 lags, 3 tags).
Lets discuss the merits in calling. You disguise your hand and if you hit a set people just cant put u on pocket aces. This move should be done 1 in 20 times. Do it when all 3 apply.
1. There is a very maniacal player that will always raise preflop.
2. You are playing against people that are regulars and know your style.
3. You are willing to laydown pocket aces if theres lots of action.
Lets say you use this "call" option. Then the maniac raises. If he gets rid of all the players after him until its your turn, a call would be fine. (You want at most 3 people in the pot) If people after him end up calling you have to reraise his raise unless you are playing aces just for set value in which case you can just cold call (you will check/fold if the board doesnt give u trips).

Now thats talk about the raise. Note: when i say raise you are basically opening. Preflop you cant "bet" as the blinds are the bets.You want to raise for several reasons. (Raise 3-4xbb) A perfect amount is 3/1/2xbb as you dont bloat the pot, but you make peopel draw.. You want to make hands like 46s have to pay to see a flop. If you just call then you are giving other people great odds to call. However, if you raise you are severely limiting their odds. Secondly, you are defining your hand. You want people to know you have a strong hand. That way you know that you should fold if you get too much action.
Let me give you 1 example. First example: You call utg. Maniac utg+1 raises to 7 and everyone folds to you. You decide to be tricky and just call. Everyone else folds. Flop comes KdQs2c. Pot is 16. You check intending to c/r. He bets 16 and now you c/r to 60. Now he raises to 240 putting you allin if you call. On one hand, he cant put you on pocket aces as you didnt define your hand preflop. On the other hand, he could easily have KK, KQ, or 22. (Maniacs pick up good hands too). As you can see you put yourself in a tough spot. If you had raised utg, then bet flop maniac has to know you have a big hand. However in example one he doesnt know you have a big hand effectively putting you on a tough spot.
Thirdly, you want to win a big pot.. You're almost never going to win a sizable pot unless your opponent hits the flop very hard, but you hit it harder. When you raise preflop, you're introducing another layer to the game: c-betting with air, double barrel-ing, the overvalueing of hands by your opponent, bluffing from your opponent, etc. That's NOT happening in a limped pot, or rarely. A raised pot is also better suited for stacking someone; the bet sizes are able to more easily facilitate an all-in.
Fourthly: You want to get the money when you have good equity. You are a 90% favorite against any hand that has an ace in it. You are also a 80% favorite against pocket pairs and suited connectors.

When i said limp in with aces 1/20 i think im being to leniant after thinking about it. Make it 1/75. I mean when you limp utg and then reraise a raiser its screams even more strength than just raising utg yourself. Plus all of the above reasons :)

PS: i advise you to reread this several times as theres lots of info. GL with the holdem thing.
Check this link out to why you should never limp /w any hand in the first place. (kinda advaced)

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=6192911&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

Edit: Haha best hand gets busted by worse hand possible. Would get me pretty pissed off. PS: thats alot of answers that you answered
Edit2: you did have the nuts, its just that the nuts can still be drawn out on..

Answer 2

First of all let me say, that in a cash game i will be more ready to limp in late postion with aces. But in any tournement i play in i will NEVER limp in with 2 aces in the hole. You are just giving weaker hands a free shot to break you. You want to limit the field as much as you can with aces in the hole. Against 3 other players you are only something like 30% to win the hand. The old saying its better to win a small pot, the to loss a big one is so true. I never give a cheap flop when i have the nuts pre flop, if there going to beat me, there going to have to pay to do it. Now the amount you bet should be the only question here, if im up front i like to make it 4 times the blind to thin the field, a weak raise up front means you are going to get at least the blinds to call, as well as anyone else holding K-Q, K-J, and hands like k-10 suited. If they all fold i know it is a missed chance to win a big pot, but i just go on to the next hand, i see it as a spot where if i got called i may have went broke as well. Aces are strong but they are still just 1 pair, and the average winning hand in no limit is two pair. Now on the button i will get more tricky, i may just make is 2 1/2 times the big blind, this may price the blinds into the pot, plus im going to have solid position on the table as well. Even in blind vs blind play i will still make a raise, but it may only be a weak raise. The issue with limping in the small blind is that you give up position on the hand, so any bet he makes on a bad flop may force you to fold. Now as i said in a cash game in late position i will limp from time to time, but i am also ready to fold my aces if the action gets hot, or if a bad flop hits the board. Also by limping in flops that look safe can be very dangerous. So i would say 95% of the time you should be coming in for a rasie for sure. If you have some very loose players who have been playing very aggresive and who are making plays on pots, then in a very specific situation i may make a limp in here, if he comes over the top, you can then drop the hammer on him with a nice re-raise. He may even get cute and come over top for all his chips, then you can call and take a huge pot off him.

Answer 3

I would bet 1/2 my stack unless I'm short stacked then i would go all in. If every 1 folds good u will win the blinds and make sure you never show the aces if every1 folds. u want to have 1 or 2 callers.
If you know that you have a loose player or 2 at the table call the blinds and let some1 bet, then make your big bet.

Answer 4

It's always good to look at your hole cards and see pocket of KK or AA. Two different thoughts come to your mind: 1. Get paid with it. And 2. Not getting burned with it. You never slow play big hands! By betting pre-flop you first narrow the field, and you want to make it expensive for your opponents. And even if you don't receive any or only small action, it's better than having your monster be cracked by a worst hand.

I agree with SINCITY, I don't mind slow play my AA's in cash games, depending an the situation, but in tournaments.....NO way.

Answer 5

AA holds up 16.5% of the time after the flop. You want to play it hard enough to get people to fold, but not hard enough so that everyone folds. Generally you want 1-2 people to see the flop with you. You have to be prepared to let it go if a flush or straight draw hits, or possibly even if the board pairs because someone might have caught trips against you.

Answer 6

It really depends on the table...The other players at the table will make my decision...I would check and then re-raise w/e bet was made by atleast 3 times the bet...or i would lead off w/ a pretty hefty raise....u don't want more then 1 or 2 callers

Answer 7

It really depends on several things, on how I play pocket aces. It depends on where you are sitting with regards to the dealer most of all. It depends on your stack. And it depends on how the people you are playing with are playing.

It never fails to surprise me though, how often pocket aces get blown out of the water!