As you are checking your hole cards and you see that glorious AA staring back at you a number of things may slip through your mind as you struggle to hide your delight. You may be thinking “At Last. I’ve folded all these hands here’s my pay-off” or “I’ll win this hand no matter what”, but take a note of caution. Whilst a lovely starting hand, it is only one pair and things can, and often do, go wrong.

Aces are the best starting hand in No Limit Hold’em, so I would say you always need to bring it in for a raise. If you start getting too trappy with Aces you start to risk the fishy technique of “Bet when weak check when strong”. If you are playing the correct tight aggressive style then you will be raising with a lot of hands. If you are tempting to limp in and check call with Aces, ask yourself what other type of hands would a tight player like you be doing this with? You are probably not bleeding chips calling pot sized bets with speculative hands so a savvy opponent will note this and realise that if you are not doing that normally, suddenly looking weak but still be putting chips in the pot is suspicious and you are probably strong.

Sometimes you will make your standard raise and a call, and then make your continuation bet causing an immediate fold from your opponent. Do not feel tilted if this happens because you will be doing this with other weaker hands and this sequence is important to maintaining your chip stack. Be careful not to fall into the new player trap of wanting to win small pots quickly but wanting to win every chip from your opponent on strong hands therefore playing strangely and weakly hoping they bet it all. Be consistent as that is your deception against giving out bet pattern tells and information.

The flop texture is critical in judging the strength of your Aces after the flop. A flop of 8h 9h 10h is a disaster for your pocket Aces. Most draws will stay in facing a continuation bet and if the draw hits either with a one gapped numbered card or a heart in this spot you are going to be facing a tough decision with Aces if faced with a large re-raise if you fire on the turn or face a bet when you check. Aces are great hands but in a cash game as the hand progresses its strength diminishes. In cash games be careful in deep stack situations becoming married to this hand.

In poker tournaments, if your stack is short then Aces should be pushed into opponents with short stacks. If they call you are in the best position going into a race for a pot. Remember that Aces are not a lock to win a pot just because you have them. People always have lots of stories about when their Aces got cracked but they are like any other starting hand in that it can be beaten. Unfortunately we must play them hard because despite the risks if we play Aces incorrectly we are losing potential equity and you should show a profit with Aces in the long run if you stick with them and play them correctly.

The best advice for players holding Aces in the hole is to stay calm and do not get carried away. Players generally make mistakes holding strong hands because they refuse to fold even when the flop, turn and river give them all the information they need to suggest they are beat. When holding Aces remember to bet as you would with other hands and do not prematurely give away the strength of the hand by betting in bizarre ways to maximise value. Bet solid, keep your opponent guessing and be prepared to fold the rockets given the right conditions. Doing this should keep you in the black when playing the pocket rockets.

By Malcolm Clarke