One of the most exciting moments in everyone’s UB poker.com session is peaking at your hole cards, and seeing pocket rockets staring back at you. Pocket Aces are by far the most powerful hand preflop in poker. Moreover, while they are tops on the power grid, the AA is often misplayed. Aces can be beaten, and must be played profitably.
Maximize Profit with Aces
Many a pacific poker player gets excited when they have Aces preflop. Far too often, they raise in such a manner as to announce to the world “Hey, I have Aces!” As a result, they fail to get action. On the other end of the spectrum, players fear making such an announcement, so they go into the hand incorrectly, trying to sneak in with aces. Both of which are strategies that can get you quickly and badly burned.
Generally, you should usually raise preflop when you have aces. Putting in a raise within your usual standards that is comfortable to the table is appropriate. Should you find yourself short stacked, you may wish to move all-in preflop. This is useful when you do not have enough chips to protect your hand after the flop, or are sitting at a loose wild table full of players who would easily call an all-in with a wide variety of hands.
Your goal, preflop is to get as many chips as possible into the center of the pot preflop without tipping your exact holdings. You want to raise, announcing you have a hand without communicating to the table the exact nature of your hand‘s strength.
Slow-playing Aces
Additionally, sometimes it is correct to limp with aces. However, be aware that if you limp on pokerstar, you are starting off by playing the hand incorrectly. As a result, you should not be married to the hand. Be prepared to fold the hand on the flop if you encounter pressure that might seem a bit suspect. Also, be aware that the PokerStars pot is starting out smaller than normal if you limp. As a result, you will not find yourself pot committed. With pocket aces, you wish to gain commitment to the pot as early as possible.
Overall, more often than not – you will look to raise aces preflop in an amount that is natural for you and within the realm of normal to the table. By raising preflop, you begin to tell the story that you have a good hand, and can continue to mold that story as the hand progresses. Additionally, by raising aces preflop on Full Tilt Poker you will begin the pot building process, which will allow you to gain commitment to the pot in less time.