How to Play Pocket Aces: Slowplaying, Value Betting, and When They Get Cracked

If you take away one concept for your poker game from this site, this should be it. Never slowplay your pocket Aces! Sure, it might work to trap your opponents into catching up with a lesser pair once in a while, but you’re taking a huge risk that will often lead to disaster.

In the wild world of online poker, you’ll often be baffled at some of the holdings of your opponents, even at the higher limits. They’ll play seemingly any two cards from any position, and they can scoop enormous pots when they hit the right flop. Do you want to make it easier for them?

How can you make sure that you don’t lose the big pot?

Well, the first step is to raise, raise, raise before the flop. By raising with your pocket Aces, you’re making it that much more difficult for your fishy opponents to call with their weak holdings. Occasionally they’ll still do it anyway, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing because most of the time they’re not going to hit.

You raise to thin the field. Your Aces play beautifully against one or two opponents, but severely decrease in value when 5 or 6 players see the flop.

The chances are just too great that one of them flopped something better than your single pair of Aces. Don’t let your opponents see a cheap flop that could beat you.

Pocket Aces in example action

Suppose that you are in first position with your red pocket Aces. “Finally,” you think to yourself, “I haven’t had a decent hand all day.” So you decide to just call and wait for someone behind you to raise.

Unfortunately, 5 other players just call and see the flop, which shows up: 6-6-K with 2 clubs. You’re in a very tough situation at this point. You might try to bet out, but what do you do if you get raised? Does he have K-Q, or 6-7? Is he on a flush draw? Why are 3 other players calling your bet on the flop?

With a flop like that, you’re likely to be beat already. Since the pot wasn’t raised preflop, one of your opponents is likely to have played some trash hand like A-6 and now has your 2 Aces, the best starting hand in hold ’em, beat.

Even if someone doesn’t have the 6, with 5 other players, you can count on at least one of them staying in with the flush draw. Your Aces aren’t going to hold up very well against either of these hands.

You raise preflop to make it easier for yourself on the flop

If you’re in late position and 5 players have already called the minimum in front of you, raise even more than the standard raise of 3 or 4 times the big blind. Try making it 5 or 6 times the big blind to go. With 5 other players, you’ll probably still get one or two to call your raise.

Playing against fewer opponents is the best situation for your Aces. Players who call big raises usually have a couple of big cards, and you have those hands completely dominated. You don’t want to slowplay aces when there are already several limpers in front of you.

Winning the blinds isn’t a loss

Since you’re raising a sizeable amount preflop, you’re often going to end up winning just the blinds or a couple of other bets when everyone else folds. Why be disappointed? You won the pot, right? And you didn’t get drawn out on! Don’t get greedy and try to slowplay, or you’ll be just asking for trouble.

After you’ve raised preflop, you want to keep putting on the pressure and betting on the flop. Pocket Aces are difficult to play. Make it easier on yourself and play them strong.

Don’t over-complicate things with pocket Aces

I’ve also seen many hands, especially in online tournaments, where a player is busted out from slowplaying his Aces in a very bizarre way.

The player holding the Aces will completely slowplay the hand, especially heads-up. He’ll keep checking and let his opponent check behind him. Then on the river, his opponent suddenly bets a sizeable amount.

Our buddy playing his Aces will raise and reraise, willing to put in his whole stack while his opponent is smiling to himself because he’s just made a straight with his 2-4 dealt from the big blind. Don’t play Aces like this!

The time for the raise should be preflop or on the flop. If you just keep checking, you’re giving your opponent free cards that can beat you. You should know something is up when he starts betting all of a sudden on the river.

If you’ve incorrectly decided to slowplay aces up until that point, don’t be so willing to push your whole stack in.

Just play pocket Aces straightforward and save yourself trouble

Play your pocket Aces the right way and make it easier on yourself. Online players will play all sorts of trash hands at all limits, and you shouldn’t make it easier for them to hit a monster with it.

Raise preflop, filter out some of the worst hands, and keep pushing your Aces. Don’t make it cheap for your opponents to draw out on you.

Once every 221 hands, something wonderful happens – you lift up the corner of your cards to reveal two beautiful, shiny Aces. But, how do you play pocket aces effectively in a game of Texas Hold’em?

It’s not as easy as some people might think, simply sailing through to the river to scoop the pot; there’s a lot to think about on your way there. So, keep on reading this article for our top poker strategy for playing aces perfectly in any hand.

First Things First – Why Are Pocket Aces Considered the Nuts?

It’s true that pocket aces are the best starting hand in Texas Hold’em, and they will win at showdown the majority of the time in games and tournaments. As the board runs out, though, other players’ hands will have the potential to improve – so you want to weed them out early in a poker game. In the same breath, you still want to be able to make money from the hand and build a decent pot. This balance allows you to play the ideal pocket aces poker strategy.

Where did the term “pocket aces” come from?

The term “pocket aces” refers to the fact that you’re holding a pair of aces as your hole cards – similar to any other “pocket pairs”. They can also be referred to as pocket rockets. Outside of poker, “pocket aces” can also be used to describe a situation in which a person has a great opportunity for success.

Don’t Slow-Play Preflop, But Don’t Overdo It

When you have pocket aces in your hand, it’s important that you try to build the pot quickly. So, you’ll want to:

• Be the first to raise
• 3-bet if another player has raised
• 4-bet is someone else 3-bets

You want to build the pot, but you shouldn’t bet too big and step outside of your range. Your raises should stay within other hands that could be in your range, so take into account the stakes you’re playing at before deciding exactly how much to wager. Let’s say:

• You’ve been raising 3 big blinds all night
• Partway through the session, you get dealt pocket rockets
• You decide to bet 5 big blinds, thinking this is the best way to build the pot

In this instance, poker players who notice this are likely to fold. They will see that you’ve got a stronger hand that you seem to be pretty excited about and, in a spot where they might normally call or re-raise, they’ll exit the hand.

Take Some Time to Think If You Get Re-Raised with Pocket Aces

When you’ve already raised preflop, you’re thinking players are likely to call or fold. Being re-raised is either an indication of a more aggressive player or someone who really thinks they’ve got the nuts. Against an aggressive player, it’s okay to call to see it through to the flop in this situation. However, if the player is more of a nit, you should just call the re-raise to control pot size — but never fold pocket aces preflop, especially if their raise is particularly large – but, most players will say that they have never folded a pair of aces preflop.

Don’t Jump at the Opportunity

Calling to see them through to the flop will give you a bit more information on the hand of the player who re-raised you. However, it’s important to remember that marginal hands can greatly improve once the first three community cards are handed down. So, you shouldn’t get too excited to call someone down all the way to the river.

Suppose you’re re-raised by a player with a range of -J-10 upwards, on the flop, they have the potential to make two pair, straight draws, flushes and other strong hands that will beat pocket rockets at showdown. So, whether you’re playing in a casino or at a home game, pay close attention to the texture of the board – and, don’t try to out-raise your opponent simply because you were dealt pocket aces. Consider that there could be the possibility of a flush draw or straight draw, and act accordingly.

Be Prepared to Make Some Hero Folds Post-Flop

Carrying on from my last point, I would like to stress that you really cannot get too attached to pocket aces. I see all of the advice from strategy articles saying that you should never fold aces preflop and, while that is mostly true, it’s also important that you remember that it is okay to fold them especially later on in the hand. There are times when, sadly, that is the best pocket aces poker strategy.

You will be relieved when your opponent turns over a flush draw or a straight draw. You might have 3-bet or 4-bet preflop, but it’s best to eat those losses just in case an opponent ends up with the nuts on the turn or river. Otherwise, it results in you losing a lot more by calling your opponent down the river and losing to a straight or a player who flops a set that manages to turn it into a full house.

✅ What is the probability of being dealt pocket aces?

Pocket Aces are dealt every 1 in 221 hands, and the odds of being dealt a pocket pair of aces twice in a row are 49,000 to 1. This is why it’s so important to learn how to play pocket aces and take advantage of the opportunity.

✅Should I play pocket aces in a similar way to other high pairs like pocket queens or pocket kings?

There are a lot of similarities between how you would play pocket rockets, in comparison to pocket queens or pocket kings. It’s always advised that you don’t slow-play any of these hands preflop and you should almost always see these hands through to the flop.

✅What is the probability of flopping a set with pocket aces?

The probability of flopping a set with any pocket pair is about 12.5%. This is because there are six ways to flop a set (three of a kind) and there are only 2 remaining aces in the deck.

✅What is the probability of winning with pocket aces?

There are a lot of factors that go into calculating the probability of winning with pocket aces, and it really depends on the situation. If you’re heads up against one other player, your odds of winning are about 84%. If you’re in a 9-handed game, your odds of winning are about 31-35%.

✅Should you go-all in with pocket rockets?

Generally, it’s not the best idea to blindly shove with pocket aces. Every poker hand is very complex, of course, and you will have to take into consideration the type of opponents at your table and, if you end up in post-flop play, the texture of the board will be crucial. So, don’t be so quick to go all-in when you’ve got pocket rockets.

Continuing in the spirit of giving people what they want, I thought that I’d select a user-submitted e-mail for the subject of this article, which specifically deals with pocket Aces getting cracked.

Are your pocket aces cracked more often than they should be?

“I have been playing online for three years with success in NL and Limit $6 and $11 Sit & Go’s. I also play in the 1K added $6 NL / Limit and the 20K Guaranteed Tournaments. I usually finish in the money, however, it took me quite a while to finally begin finishing in the top 50 or lower.

I have finished in the top four a few times with good pay outs. I also play the $1, $2 and $3 NL games and below is what I have been facing.

I have been frustrated lately getting my UTG or Early AA cracked with 76 ss with only one or two other players in the hand. I make a pot sized bet, get reraised, and then I end up all in because the other player forces the issue.

It seems that they draw out on me more than normal and I find this disturbing yet I laugh it off and let it go because I want to play them again. It just seems that I am beaten more than the one out of four or one out of five times as I take the Pot Odds and Implied Odds into consideration.

Until now, I have chosen to go all in preflop so that I could not be outplayed after the flop when I have AA, KK, or QQ. Your Thoughts?”

Online games are ripe for cracking your monster hands

First of all, you should know that you aren’t alone in your sentiments. Online games are notorious for making good players frustrated and cracking those big hands. It’s an inherent aspect to online poker.

You see more hands per hour, you’re dealing with many inexperienced players, and your opponents are generally more willing to play looser when it’s simply a click of the mouse rather than shoving chips into the pot. Now, onto your actual question…

Regarding your pocket Aces, you are right to firstly make a pot-sized raise. In early position sitting in at a generally loose online game, I’ll raise between 3-5 times the big blind and sometimes 6 or 7 if players have been calling large raises preflop.

How to play pocket Aces correctly

With pocket Aces, your two main goals should be to thin the field and build a big pot.

If you’re constantly get outdrawn, consider the high end of a raise (5-6 big blinds) more often. If you win a small pot uncontested that’s fine. At least you didn’t lose a big one by letting in a weak hand on the cheap.

In looser games you might consider limping in early position

The alternative would be to smooth call with Aces or Kings from early position with the intention of re-raising if someone raises behind you.

I like this play for its deceptive nature, but I rarely use it. With this play you run the risk of no one raising you or, worse yet, 4 or 5 other players limping in behind you. With this many players, you’re far from a dominating favorite anymore.

Also, when you are raised and you re-raise your hand becomes fairly transparent. Your opponent(s) will likely put you on a big hand and fold right away or on the flop unless they spike a better hand than your Aces. So, in short, yes – you’re doing the right thing.

Just make that pot-sized raise 80+% of the time

I almost always make a pot-sized bet with Aces from up front. Since you’ll occasionally mix up your play and do the same thing with a small pocket pair, A-K, or even rags from time to time, you aren’t playing too predictably.

Plus, most online players won’t even realize that you haven’t played a hand in 45 minutes.

Don’t worry about pocket Aces getting cracked if you get it in pre-flop

Regarding ending up all in preflop with your Aces, that’s the best thing you can hope for!

One of the best feelings in poker is being able to call an all-in bet preflop with Aces. You’re a big favorite against any other hand and all you can ever try to do in poker is get your money in when you have the best of it.

Of course, you will get outdrawn occasionally. Sometimes much more than occasionally. On average, you’ll get outdrawn 1 out of every 5 tries with Aces against undercards or a lower pair. If you’re an 80% favorite (which you at least usually are with pocket Aces) you should lose the hand on average 20% of the time.

Short-run variance can defy the odds

Unfortunately, sometimes you’ll lose much more than 20% of the time in the short run. You might get pocket Aces cracked 4 times in a row or more. While frustrating, it is an aberration that should correct itself over the long run.

Quarters might land on Heads 10 times in a row even though the odds are way against in. However, if it is flipped 1,000,000 times or more you’re very likely to see the Heads and Tails outcomes virtually dead even.

Working through the bad beats

One of the most trying times in poker is when you’re running into constant bad beats. Average players might let this cripple their games until they finally give up, but excellent players work through it because they know that they didn’t make a mistake.

While that’s much easier said than done, try to realize that you played the hand right and just got unlucky.

Regarding moving all-in to protect big pocket pairs, I’ve seen that happen so much in these games that I think that’s a topic that deserves an entire article of its own.

Key Takeaways