This is a controversal call. When is it right to play an Ace high before the flop? Say you are dealt [A] [4] unsuited. When is it proper to play it? In my opinion it should be played if your call comes late in play. That way you see what the majority of the others do. If you are raised preflop, it is not a good idea to play the hand. If many people stay in the hand, it is not a good idea to stay in the hand. What are some other suggestions for this hand?

My suggestion is to give up on poker and take up finger painting.

I usually only play it from the button if no one has entered the pot. Oh, and in blind vs blind confrontations now and then.

you mean like a king or a queen?

When you hold ace-rag you are primarily hoping to hit your rag card as top pair. But with rags as low as 4 this is unlikely, and if this was to happen then the board would be more co-ordinated than you like. You have to accept that rag aces are only able to take down small pots because if you are getting much action when you do pair your ace, you can be sure that you are outkicked. Restrict ace-rag to blind play or short handed ( 4/5 max).

But then again if you catch two pair you are sitting more comfortably, but at most this will win you a medium size pot.

Ah, thanks for that strategy. I normally played the ace-rags to pair up the ace but you are right, if someone else happens to have an ace you can be sure to be out-kicked. I never thought of playing ace-rags that way.

no you play ace rag so you can hit your three outer on the river and feel all warm and gushy inside.

Suited, late position, and you only have to call the BB. If you see the flop, you're hoping for the nut flush draw or hitting trips with your undercard. Other than that I'd pitch it.

If you only have to call the big blind, I would be more likely to play it when there are more people in the pot and check/fold if you don't flop 2 pair, trips, or a straight. If you play with more people in as opposed to fewer, you are getting better pot odds to chase those hands on the flop.

if i had a webcam ide let you all watch, but since i dont ill describe it for you.

i am banging my head against my desk right now.

Why is that?

because its a ridiculous question and you are all giving him serious answers.

you want a serious answer.....


if you always folded every unsuited ace from a2 to a9 even from the sb you wouldn't be giving up much.

then you might as well play Q2. Aces never make open ended straight draws so if you want a straight draw (w/ the A) you need a broadway flop and a lot of players. but on these boards there is typically a lot of betting and raising making it really expensive to draw at 4 (at best) outs to maybe only get 1/2.

naw, i think i'd rather pitch it.

OP: play aces naked when the hand has showdown value. situations like late position and passive players in the blinds, tight table who respects your raises and you get A9 in MP2 or something, or in the blind against a possible steal, etc.

the situations to play it are not rote, they become an instinct to develop over time. my advice would be to stay tight, only play top 10% and wait until you naturally understand when you should play them.

this is the best advice in the thread so far.

in virtually all poker games, the best idea is to start out playing extremely tight until you develop the postflop feel that is necessary to play more marginal hands in more marginal spots. for now, OP, it's probably best if you don't play any aces worse than A10 or AJ. as you get better and start to be able to figure out what people hold based on how they're betting over the course of a hand, you can start playing lots of aces in lots of spots. but again, for now, just toss em out the window. good luck.

I play every hand.




What?

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm starting to restrict my hands to A 10 or higher. There are few exceptions to this. Some times when I have the big stack I'll play A (suited undercard). The last two times I've caught ace high flushes with A 9 and A 6. Both times when I had the big stack.

You need to have opponents with big stacks also if you're interested in showing it down for big money.