You've been waiting all night for a decent hand to come along, and, lo and behold, you take a peek at your hole cards and see that you've been dealt the best hand in Texas Hold 'em poker... Pocket Rockets or AA.

The chances of being dealt this hand is 220-to-1, or about 0.45%. That's not as often as getting dealt Big Slick (AK), which is 1.2%. There are many things to consider when playing AA preflop, but we advocate that you try to avoid getting cute or slowplaying this hand for the following reasons:

Letting bad hands see a cheap flop:
When you slowplay your pocket aces, you give the chance for poor hands to see the flop cheaply. For that reason, you really have no idea where you stand with your aces postflop. Someone holding 72o in the BB can just check, and you see a flop of J72 and you'd think you're safe. And generally you are, but in cases like these you're going to lose a lot of chips if you can't get away from your hand postflop. Since whenever you allow your opponents to see a cheap flop, it is very hard to put them down to any specific range of hands. At the same time, you're very reluctant to let go of your nice-looking hand. The majprity of people, holding AA in their hand, will be betting quite aggressively and calling raises also. And that's where the trouble begins, because you're putting chips / money into the pot, building up a nice big pot without knowing how far ahead or behind you are. For all you know, someone has limped in with a weak hand, like 85o and the flop comes 467 rainbow and you're dead without knowing it.

Narrow the field:
Pocket aces are a big favorite to win a pot against any number of opponents preflop, but the more players there are in the pot with you coming in to see a flop, the more weaker your hand becomes. This is why AA is best played when up against a few opponents -- ideally 1 or 2 players, and we recommened no more than 3 other players seeing the flop with you. Beyond that and it becomes massively dangerous, since you risk being outflopped by any combination of poorer starting hands. Should you have 4 or more players in the pot with you to see the flop, your pocket aces are no longer a big favorite anymore. You're likely to win a smallish pot or lose a big pot if you cannot get away from your hand. The case for raising with AA preflop is that doing so will preserve your starting hand's edge going into the flop when you have narrowed the field down to a handful of players (suggest 1-2 opponents is optimal).

Build the pot when you're ahead:
Getting as much chips or money into the pot initially by raising with your pocket aces is the recommended way to start building up the pot a bit before seeing the flop. After all, the more money you put into the pot the more your opponents have to pay to see the flop too, thus you are building up the pot when you're a strong favorite. There are few credible reasons for not building up the pot when you have a strong hand. It always surpises us to see all these low stakes novice players trying to "slowplay" their pocket aces and they get angry when their trap doesn't work because their opponents hit nothing or hit weakly, and fold to a medium or big bet, or they lose a big pot (often when they're all-in) when someone hits two pairs or better to crack their pocket aces.

We believe that the #1 reason why most inexperienced players slowplay their pocket aces is because they get let their emotions control their poker game. Pocket aces come around so rarely that when they get dealt to these players, these guys fear that if they raise the pot preflop then that would scare away their opponents and they will just win the blinds. But always bear in mind that it is always much better to be just stealing the blinds with your AA, than for you to allow a gambling hand such as 97 suited to see the flop for one big blind, only to hit big on the flop and take your whole stack!

If you are concerned that whenever you raise with your good hands preflop, everyone folds so you win just the blinds, then you're obviously playing too tight. You need to loosen up your preflop raising requirements so that when you do get your premium hands, you have a better chance of getting one or two callers to see a flop with you. We suggest raising with some other hands such as suited connectors, any two broadway cards and smaller pocket pairs to mix up your game a bit... especially in mid to late position.

Remember, with pocket aces, it is always better to win a small pot than to lose a big pot! Over the long run, you will find that this is the hand that will make you the most money, so it makes sense to not lose money unnecessarily with you get dealt these beauties!

Coming Soon! Part 2 on Playing Aces Preflop.

Steve @ Power Poker Course.




Back to Beginners Texas Holdem Articles List.

Play Texas Holdem Poker At Full Tilt Poker And Get Up To $600 Worth Of Bonuses - Click To Claim Now!

Click Here To Learn About What Poker Sign-up Bonuses Are & Why You Should Use Them.