Playing big pairs - AA

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Playing big pairs - AA

by timechen

Aces - the strongest starting hand in Texas Hold’em. Over time you will win a lot of money with this hand; there are, however, situations in which you will lose your entire stack or make less profit as you could have.

This article will cover various situations that you will run into time and again:

• The board is dry
• The board is draw heavy
• You are out of position

Note: You and your opponents will all have a full stack ($5 with $0.02/$0.04 blinds) in the example hands.

The board is dry

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with A, A
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.16, 2 folds, SB calls $0.16, BB folds

Flop: ($0.30) 2, 6, J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.20, SB raises $1.00

You made a standard 4 BB pre-flop raise. The flop is good; 22, 66 and JJ are the only dangerous hands the Small Blind could have. Your goal should to get all your chips in the pot. Since you raised before the flop, you make a standard continuation bet.

The SB raises and you have to ask yourself which hands he would call with before the flop and then check/raise with on the flop. You have to put your opponent on a hand like three-of-a-kind, 2, 6, J, QQ or even KK.

How should you proceed knowing your opponent could have any of these hands?

Your options:

• Option A: You go all-in since any further raise would cost you more than half of your stack.

  If you go all-in, hands like TT, JQ, JK and JT will usually fold. You will be ahead against QQ, KK and AJ and behind against the other three (22, 66, JJ). Going all-in on the flop would not be a good way of keeping the first four hands in the pot.

• Option B: You call the flop and go all-in on the turn, or you make a 1/2-1/3 pot size bet. This is a better option, since you give all the other hands another chance to invest more in the pot and get more money from weaker hands on the flop.

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with A, A
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.16, 2 folds, SB calls $0.16, BB folds

Flop: ($0.30) 2, 6, J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.25, SB calls

Turn: ($0.75) 3
SB checks, Hero bets $0.6, SB raises $2.5

Your aces are still strong, but the Small Blind is signaling a lot of strength himself. Such strong play is usually a sign that you will lose the hand. In order to determine the correct line, you need to ask yourself which hands your opponent could play in this manner.

This could be AJ, QQ, KK, in rare cases KJ; or 22, 66, JJ, or in rare cases, 33. You're ahead against four hands and behind against the other four.

You haven't invested that much money and your opponent is signaling that he is more willing to go all-in than to fold. If you think your opponent is the weaker type and you put him on a hand like QJ or TJ, going all-in would be the correct option.

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with A, A
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.16, 2 folds, SB calls $0.16, BB calls $0.16

Flop: ($0.50) 2, 6, J (2 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.35, SB calls, BB folds

Turn: ($1.15) 3
SB checks, Hero bets $1, SB raises $4.49 All-In

You are facing two opponents on the flop. The BB folds to your contibet; the SB calls. Then the SB checks the turn and re-raises all-in. Since two opponents saw the flop, it is much more likely that one of them hit three-of-a-kind. You should fold.

The board is draw heavy

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with A, A
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.16, 2 folds, SB calls $0.16, BB folds

Flop: ($0.30) 5, 6, J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.20, SB raises $1.00

One again you get called by the Small Blind. There are a lot of hands he could have in this spot. You have to play your aces differently than in the last section; you're not in a situation in which you are either still ahead or have fallen behind. The possible hands your opponent could be raising with are: 34, 45, 56, 67, 78, all flush draws, any J, any three-of-a-kind and pocket pairs from 77-KK.

Since there are so many hands your opponent could have, you would like to go all-in on the flop. Calling would put you in a tough spot if an ugly card shows up on the turn.

If the turn card doesn't complete the flush or a straight, you won't get any more money from opponents with drawing hands. If either/both draws complete, you won't get any more money from Jx or other pairs and could even have to fold your aces should your opponent make a large bet.

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with A, A
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.16, 2 folds, SB calls $0.16, BB folds

Flop: ($0.30) 5, 6, 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.20, SB raises $1.00

Going all-in in this spot is a must. You have a nut flush draw and will get called by almost every hand that your opponent raised with. You will run into three-of-a-kind, flushes and straights from time to time, but any gives you the best hand. The reasons not to call named in the previous example apply here as well.

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with A, A
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.16, 2 folds, SB calls $0.16, BB folds

Flop: ($0.30) 5, 6, 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.20, SB raises $1.00

Almost the same hand as in Example 2.2, but this time you don't have a flush draw. Going all-in is out of the question; even against a hand like KK, you're only ahead against a hand with any 57.6% of the time.

You can easily fold in this situation; your odds of winning are less than 50%. Alternatively, you could call and decide on the turn if you want to continue playing your hand or not.

The decision to make such a move depends heavily on your opponent - in NL 2- NL10 you should tend to fold in such spots, since you will often lose your entire stack if you make a mistake on the turn.

You are out of position

Pre-flop: Hero is MP2 with A, A
2 folds, MP1 calls $0.04, Hero raises to $0.20, MP3 folds, CO calls $0.20, 4 folds.

Flop: ($0.50) 6, Q, 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.45, CO calls $0.45.

Turn: ($1.40) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.00, CO calls $1.00.

River: ($3.40) 9 (2 players)

Is there anything you should be worried about on the river? The short answer is: NO! The second nine shouldn't interest you at all, since your opponent won't have it 99.9% of the time. The only question is, how much should you bet?

Your opponent has shown that he likes to call; your goal should be to get all your chips in the pot. The 9 on the river is more of a blessing than a curse, as it puts you ahead against two pairs like Q5, Q6, and 65. You should definitely go all-in on the river.

Pre-flop: Hero is SB with A, A
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $0.16, 6 folds, Hero raises to $0.48, BB folds, UTG+1 calls $0.32.

Flop: ($1.00) 9, 4, 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.92, UTG+1 raises to $2.00

In this hand, the pre-flop action is very important. Your opponent raised UTG, which is a sign of a strong hand. You made a standard re-raise with AA from the BB and UTG called your 3-bet.

The flop isn't the greatest; your opponent could have overcards/overpair with a and a chance to catch up with a fourth . Since he will almost always be willing to go all-in with such a hand and you will usually be ahead with your aces (you will run into AK from time to time, but that's just bad luck), you should go all-in.

Pre-flop: Hero is BB with A, A
MP1 calls $0.02, MP2 folds, MP3 calls $0.02, CO folds, BU calls $0.02, SB calls $0.01, Hero raises to $0.16, MP1 folds, MP3 calls $0.14, BU calls $0.14, SB folds.

Flop: ($0.52) T, K, T (3 players)
Hero bets $0.38, MP3 calls $0.38, BU calls $0.38.

Turn: ($1.66) 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets $0.56, BU calls $0.56

You are playing against two limpers that called your pre-flop bet. Then they both call again on the flop. They will usually have a flush draw, a T or a K in such a situation.

Then the turn completes the flush draw. There is only one hand you have beat; time to switch to check/fold.

Review

We will conclude with a quick review. Test how well you've understood the points covered in this column. You can find the answers on the next page.

As in the previous example hands, you and your opponents all have a full stack in NL $0.02/$0.04. Look at each assignment carefully and think about how you would react.

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with A, A
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.16, 2 folds, SB calls $0.16, BB folds

Flop: ($0.30) 2, 6, J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.20, SB raises $1.00

a) How do you evaluate the situation on the flop?

b) What should you do?

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with A, A
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.16, 2 folds, SB calls $0.16, BB calls $0.16

Flop: ($0.50) 2, 6, J (2 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $0.35, SB calls, BB folds

Turn: ($1.15) 3
SB checks

a) How should you play the turn? Bet or check?

b) If you bet, how will you react if your opponent re-raises?

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with A, A
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.16, 2 folds, SB calls $0.16, BB folds

Flop: ($0.30) 5, 6, 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.20, SB raises $1.00

a) How do you evaluate the situation on the flop?

b) Which hands could your opponent be raising with?

c) How should you play after your opponent's raise?

a) What should you think about when you consider an all-in with AA?

b) What are your odds of winning with AA against KK + flush draw?

c) Did you like this column? Leave a comment!

a) The flop is dry; a good board for your aces.

b) see Example Hand 1.1

a) You definitely bet.

b) see Example Hand 1.2

a) The flop is very draw heavy, but you have the nut flush draw. All in all, a good flop for your aces.

b) 55, 66, 77, 34, 45, 56, 67, 78, 89, all flush draws and completed flushes

c) see Example Hand 2.2

a) The important factors to pay attention to with AA are:

• the flop, turn and river
• your opponent's actions
• the hands your opponent could have
• the size of your opponent's remaining stack
• the number of opponents in the hand

b) 57.6% (see Example Hand 2.3)