Joined: Feb '12
Location: Canada
Age: 64 (M)
Posts: 6036
When I first started to play poker a few years ago,...I kept seeing folks slammin' their aces in pre-flop and win more than half the time... So I did that too for a while...
...but if a Big Stacker called ya and won,....it's a very fast GAME OVER,....which, let's face it is NO fun at all...
...No matter what kind of shape I'm,...I now prefer to slow play them,.... Just ease in your call or bet, and see what comes on the flop,.... THEN, at that point make a decision to either shove or continue to simmer...
Sure, you'll occassionally get unsatisfactory results,...but in the long run you'll rake in just as much or more....and usually more...
Posted by demodawggy: When I first started to play poker a few years ago,...I kept seeing folks slammin' their aces in pre-flop and win more than half the time... So I did that too for a while...
...but if a Big Stacker called ya and won,....it's a very fast GAME OVER,....which, let's face it is NO fun at all...
...No matter what kind of shape I'm,...I now prefer to slow play them,.... Just ease in your call or bet, and see what comes on the flop,.... THEN, at that point make a decision to either shove or continue to simmer...
Sure, you'll occassionally get unsatisfactory results,...but in the long run you'll rake in just as much or more....and usually more...
...and NO sudden deaths....
How do YOU guys prefer to play your aces...?
Unless your extremely short stacked it's not a good idea to shove with AA. however you don't want to limp with them either. AA plays best with only one or at the most two callers. It's better to put an a raise of 3 to 5 big blinds to try to keep the number of callers down.
The problem is that in freerolls and low stacks the donks and bingo queens don't respect raises so you will often find yourself all-in pre-flop anyway. The good news is you will be ahead of the donks and bingo queens when that happens. The bad news is sometimes they will get their miracle cards and win but it's still a +EV situation to be in.
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
Let me tell you one thing, you go all in preflop with aces or pocket kings on specific situations, not all the time...
For example if just one player opens the game you simply have to do a re-raise and not shave. The only situation when you could go all in would be if it's a raise and re-raise.
Joined: Jan '13
Location: Ukraine
Age: 34 (M)
Posts: 115
yesterday played sng on full tilt with buy in 2.50$.I had the biggest stack 5200 chips,some donkey went all in with 10 4 ,I had to call with KK.And I lost f**k.he had 2200 chips,and I didn't get any awarding place,blinds at that moment were 250/500
Joined: May '08
Location: Lithuania
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 10090
i think it depends on the situation- there is no recipe for guaranteed success & to be honest if you want to compare what is better: to shove preflop or slowplay- you should have some stats behind your decision...only then you can back your statement with logical evidence. gl
Joined: Aug '11
Location: Portugal
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 232
It definitly depends on alot of factors.. but most of the times going all inis bad.
It depends on our table positions, on the format you are playing, the opponents etc etc. I hardly shove or limp with AA.. i would only shove with AA probably on a soft field of a turbo or Hyper turbo MTT specially if i'm EP because i'm pretty sure someone is going to call because min raising on this type of games is not respected and i will get called by alot of people and then i will be forced to shove/fold and i will be in an harder situation. Limping only if i'm on the SB or something and BB is super nit and would most likely fold to a raise and i obv want the action. Hopefully most of the times the field is not retarded and i can play it like any big hand.. and just play postflop which is the best thing for me. I have folded AA post flop a few times.. but most of the times you want them to get all their money in so whatever makes them do that. But ye anyone who is working to become a good player must be able to adopt many lines according to the situation.. and be able to adapt to the different situations.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Australia
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 6483
I always try to get as much in preflop as I think I can still get called for, if I think I can shove allin (even for 500bb) and get a call then damn straight I'm shoving allin.. So what if you get busted 20% of the time, the other 80% of the time you've got a giant stack..
VS
Small bets and more callers - you lose a higher % of the time and the % of the time you don't get busted you don't even have a giant stack because you're not getting all your chips in.
Joined: Nov '10
Location: Romania
Age: 41 (M)
Posts: 30
well... i did the same many times and get busted.i dont know i am starting to thing depends on what poker platform u play and how the soft"think".on partypoker i concluded the soft punish me for slowplay most of the time.dont want to argue is just my point of view
Joined: Aug '12
Location: Slovakia
Age: 36 (M)
Posts: 688
lol it depends on so many factors I guess...(position, preflop action, against how many players you play it, what kind of players they are...) There is no universal way how to play aces and be succesfull. And you cant play aces still same way in different situations...
The most important thing is, how many players you faced postflop. Be very careful when you play aces against 3 or more players. There is really big probability that someone will be better in showdown.. Even if you are playing against 2 players, I think your chances to win it in showdown is around 65% (not big insurance )
You just must to realize that aces are still only 1 pair.. Do not overrate it. Its best combination preflop, but not best possible postflop anymore...
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 4675
Posted by demodawggy: When I first started to play poker a few years ago,...I kept seeing folks slammin' their aces in pre-flop and win more than half the time... So I did that too for a while...
...but if a Big Stacker called ya and won,....it's a very fast GAME OVER,....which, let's face it is NO fun at all...
...No matter what kind of shape I'm,...I now prefer to slow play them,.... Just ease in your call or bet, and see what comes on the flop,.... THEN, at that point make a decision to either shove or continue to simmer...
Sure, you'll occassionally get unsatisfactory results,...but in the long run you'll rake in just as much or more....and usually more...
...and NO sudden deaths....
How do YOU guys prefer to play your aces...?
G'day Mate
I do NOT slow play my Aces. I always raise 4 times the big blind because I want to limit the number of callers. If it is a freeroll then a donk is going to shove all in over top of my raise anyhow and I will call them knowing i am getting in with the best of it. Be cool Ronin
Joined: Feb '13
Location: Canada
Age: 56 (M)
Posts: 32
Hi ,
I prefer raising 3 of 4 times the BB , depends on my stack.This way u probably have 1 or 2 players left and sure to have a big pots. If players goes All-in then it's 50/50 . But you will win the major of hands. Last night just lost AA vs KK on the river ..s**t happen .
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
At the beginning I used to play them slow, but I got several “unsatisfactory results”, like you said, and so from then on I started playing them a bit different. If I have someone betting before me, I will just call him, but if no one does it, I will bet some instead of just calling the blinds, that would usually give bad results. But there’s nothing like changing from time to time.
Joined: Mar '11
Location: Croatia
Age: 43 (M)
Posts: 1738
Depends on what kind of table am i sitting... Loose calling stations is a all-in pre-flop for sure... i mean, if they are getting a flush on the river calling with 73os at least let them show their hand in the beginning so they show how stupid donkey bingo queens they are. In the other hand playing on a tighter table a 3 or 4x raise, depending on position an the amount of ppl involved to get as many chips in the middle as possible.
It's not a fail free tactic but neither is always shoving or always slow playing imo.
Joined: May '12
Location: Belgium
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 275
With Aces I'd love to go all in preflop, if I know I get a call from another player. It's so powerful, you're at least 80% in favor to win the pot. This is a huge percentage when u play poker. It means out of 10 times u'll win 8. Anytime, anyday I go all in with that kind of percentage. Don't be afraid u lost, it doesn't mean you played the hand bad, just ment you were unlucky. Change your game according to chances, not to bad beats.
Joined: Mar '11
Location: Croatia
Age: 43 (M)
Posts: 1738
I think OP is not worried about losing or winning with Aces. The point is to try to get the most value out of your hand so shoving all the time might not bring as much return as you might want. this is specially true when in cash game or late stages mtts.
Joined: Mar '12
Location: Romania
Age: 34 (M)
Posts: 640
Posted by demodawggy: When I first started to play poker a few years ago,...I kept seeing folks slammin' their aces in pre-flop and win more than half the time... So I did that too for a while...
...but if a Big Stacker called ya and won,....it's a very fast GAME OVER,....which, let's face it is NO fun at all...
...No matter what kind of shape I'm,...I now prefer to slow play them,.... Just ease in your call or bet, and see what comes on the flop,.... THEN, at that point make a decision to either shove or continue to simmer...
Sure, you'll occassionally get unsatisfactory results,...but in the long run you'll rake in just as much or more....and usually more...
...and NO sudden deaths....
How do YOU guys prefer to play your aces...?
If you prefer to slow play them and get beaten by every , 9 10 , 7 2 , 7 8 hand , sure , it's a great idea
Joined: Nov '11
Location: Lithuania
Age: 31 (M)
Posts: 166
I prefer play it very agresive,its like big raise with small pair,when you dont want have a lot of callers,or just steal blind,limpers. If someone call,i have some information,they called it with AK ''AQ suited'' or KK QQ - same on raises pre flop. And i can easily win pot after flop if nothing comes for them,and if they got KK or QQ they call after flop my all in.''Low stakes''
Joined: Feb '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 5712
There are plenty of ways to play AA and it depends on the position and the stage of the game and your opponents position or stack relative to you. It ma even be that you choose to fold AA when your tourney is on the line early on and there are several players all in already. Need to be brave.
Joined: Feb '12
Location: Canada
Age: 64 (M)
Posts: 6036
Posted by lukasb: I think OP is not worried about losing or winning with Aces. The point is to try to get the most value out of your hand so shoving all the time might not bring as much return as you might want. this is specially true when in cash game or late stages mtts.
Lots of good and varied opinions there gents!
I most agree with the above statement... T o me it's not JUST about winning the hand, but rather extracting as much as you can from the table...
Sure it all depends on what's going on,....but in the longrun,...it's more profitable to slow play 'em...
We all know what it's like when you have AA and get no value from them because everybody folds...
***Little story about a BrM freeroll earlier today...
Earlier today in a BrM freeroll, I managed to get past all the Bingo Queens and various idiots and got close to the bubble,....130th. It was a roller coaster ride getting there, but when the cards were dealt I got AA with a stack of about $57,000. Sitting fairly good approaching the bubble.
Buddy 2 to my left shoved with about $30,000 and around the table it went to a guy 2 to my right. He had about $250,000 in chips. So it was just us three. I figured if I lost to the short-stacker,...I'd still survive to get into the $$$. So the decision came to basically a heads up situation with the big-stacker.... Odds in my favour,...but I went against my better judgement and instinct to just fold them,....get into the money (and leaderboard points) THEN go for it...
Mr big stack throws in about $75,000,....more than my whole stack,.....my brain was saying FOLD FOLD FOLD,....but my imagination kept seeing a HUGE stack to enter the money with. So I decided to fold, but at the last second, the cursor magically moved over to call like it was a OUIJA board.... lol....
Okay then...here we go.....
....short stack buddy had 77,...big stack had JJ,....so I'm sittin' pretty....
When it was all said and done,....big stack pulls off a straight on the river card killing us BOTH... :O
So even FOLDING aces is an option to me,....but THIS time greed got the better of me....
)
