Learn How To Play Aces Pre-Flop

Aces will always be a winning hand for you in the long run as it is obviously the best starting hand you can have, but how do you maximize your winnings?

Pre-Flop

The general rule of thumb is to raise your aces in every situation pre-flop. Whether you are first in the pot or are facing a 3Bet or even a 4Bet as getting tricky with this hand can only get you in plenty of trouble. By limping or calling a raise you are letting in random hands and could lose total control of the hand.

First To Raise

If you are the first player in the pot you should raise your A-A 100% of the time with no questions asked! You don't really want to be in a pot with more than 2 other players so making a standard 3BB or more raise will often fold out enough players.

Your raise size should differ slightly depending on your position. If you are in early position then raising 4BBs would be a better idea as you have more players to act behind you. The later the position the smaller you can raise as you have fewer players still to act. For example, in the cut-off a 3BB raise is fine. Some people even go 2BBs or 2.5BBs.

Facing A Raise

If you are facing a raise then you should always look to re-raise as standard. The typical opening raise would be to 3BBs so you should look to make the re-raise three times the original raise in position or four times the original raise out of position.

An example...

iPoker - $0.50 NL (6 max) FAST - Holdem - 6 players

BB: $50.07UTG: $15.00MP: $104.69CO: $50.75Hero (BTN): $61.58SB: $50.90

SB posts SB $0.25, BB posts BB $0.50

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.75) Hero has Ad Ah

fold, MP raises to $1.50, fold, Hero raises to $4.50, fold, fold, fold

This ensures that players still to act don't get priced in with random hands. It also helps you to build a pot pre-flop with the best hand. The only reason we make it an extra BB out of position is because we need to try to make it as hard as possible for our opponent to play comfortably.

Facing A Re-Raise

If we are facing a re-raise then our hand is very easy to play. It's likely your opponent has a hand big enough to commit with so we can re-raise all-in and be very happy about it.

Cliffs (Pre-Flop)

Never open limp with A-A.

Make a 4BB open raise in early position and a 3BB raise in late position.

When facing a raise you should always re-raise. 3 times the raise if you are in position, 4 times if you are out of position.

If we are facing a re-raise you should look to get your chips in there and then and feel happy about it.

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