help playing Ace little suited

[mit]

I have trouble playing A /images/graemlins/heart.gif6 /images/graemlins/heart.gif or any suited cards from ep to mp pflop. Should I limp and hope it doesn't get raised? Should I bring it in for a raise? assume its early in the tourney and we are all about equal in chips. Also what if its later and I'm an average to short stack. What Should I do if I miss the flop or just pair my ace? What should I do when I flop a 4 flush? Check or Bet? BTW this is my first real post so please bare with me.

Thanks,



Tim

[Peter Harris]

this is the trouble playing Axs early on; you have a finite amount of chips, unlike ring game, and it's better NOT to play low Axs without a healthy stack for the reasons you're worrying.

Someone with more time may advocate a good approach to playing Axs in EP or MP, but you're not giving up much by folding them PF in the earliest positions. You're asking for a lot on the flop for a portion of your stack.

Regards,
Pete Harris

[BrettK]

[ QUOTE ]
I have trouble playing A /images/graemlins/heart.gif6 /images/graemlins/heart.gif or any suited cards from ep to mp pflop. Should I limp and hope it doesn't get raised? Should I bring it in for a raise? assume its early in the tourney and we are all about equal in chips. Also what if its later and I'm an average to short stack. What Should I do if I miss the flop or just pair my ace? What should I do when I flop a 4 flush? Check or Bet? BTW this is my first real post so please bare with me.

Thanks,
Tim

[/ QUOTE ]

Tim,

Are you playing the low buy-in SNGs at Party? I have been for a month or so now, and I'm experimenting with limping with Axs from all positions, mainly because with the smaller stacks and bigger and faster blinds, not getting involved except with premium hands early usually leaves you with shortest stack going into bubble play. Additionally, you'll likely get paid off on flushes, as the players are terrible.

It's probably best never to raise with these hands preflop. If an ace flops, you can't count on your hand at all and should play it as if you hadn't hit anything, in my opinion. With four to a flush at the lower buy-ins, I wouldn't bet the flop, since most of the reason you would consider doing this is folding equity. With a large portion of the players calling a flop bet with almost anything, all you're doing by betting is putting money in while behind.

Good luck,
Brett

[Eder]

I drop this hand preflop...what will you do if there's an ace on the flop...out of position means either you win small or lose big...4 flush on the flop might mean you lose 60% of your stack chasing the flush...

Play Axs late position only for cheap and be ready to fold if you pair your ace...later when its bubble time this hand becomes very powerful...use it then

jmo

[MikeGuz]

Depends on the texture of the table - if it's the sore of table where several take a flop with little raising I might just call hoping to have a big eneough group of players to make my hand worth playing.

This is the sort of hand I want callers cuz if I make my hand the pay off ought to be a big one.

Now if the table is a raising one and I know my limp will just encourage players to raise me I might just wait to play AXs in the later position.

[dethgrind]

Early in a tournament AXs is almost always worth a fold. I believe this for a few reasons. 1) If you hit your ace you will be tempted to get involved in a pot where you are dominated against a better ace. 2) If you are lucky enough to hit a four flush on the flop you may have to pay dearly to see the river, costing you valuable chips(reducing your ability to survive), requiring you to commit alot of chips on the turn.
The problem with ace no kicker (suited or not) is it is hard to see where you stand unless you have alot of table experience. This poses a problem for many players. If you hit your ace you dont know if your kicker is good leading you to plat to pasivelt or to call a better ace. If you hit your draw, how much are you willing to pay for it? And by the turn is that draw still to the nuts? Furthermore, early in a tournament you have alot of player to deal with, all of whom make it harder to know where you stand.

This all assumes you are playing early in a tournament. Late in a tournament where blinds are 1/15th or so of your stack and the feild is limited to between 1-4 players I advocate playing Ax agressively. But multi-way in a tourny where survival is so important, playing Axs is a gamble that rarely pays off.

[patrick dicaprio]

i usually fold here with small blinds without a second glance in EP. IN MP i will sometimes call but only if there is a lot of checking on the flop. if there are one of two good players in the pot you can get knocked out very easily with hands like these, or will have to fold on the flop or turn no matter if you catch an A or a draw.

Pat

[patrick dicaprio]

interesting because i take the opposite view. i am more likely to play it in a short handed pot where i might be able to take the pot on the flop if it is a poor flop and it is checked to me. there are few occasions where I want to call a flop bet with this hand.

Pat

[parappa]

Early on, I play it like I'd play a pair of 2's--for big hand value only. I fold it in early position. I'll play it in middle or late position, only if I can limp and there are lots of other limpers (let's say 2 or 3 minimum) and passive players behind me.

I also want to do this at the kind of table where I can get odds to draw to the flush. The kind where there's a 90ish pot and people are betting 15 into it. If I'm seeing pot-sized bets on the flop, I fold this pre-flop.

I'm looking to flop a flush draw with this hand or get out. I usually don't consider the paired ace to be playable, even if it's checked all the way around, unless I've got some really solid reason. 15-30 chips on a reasonable gamble to get paid off on the nuts.

Later, with fewer people in the tournament, I have fewer solid ideas about how to play it.

[BradleyT]

Lots of players raise with these hands early on and even call big raises with them. <font color="white">They don't win long term.</font>

[CADub49er]

EP to MP, this is almost always good for a pass. If you hit an ace on the flop and you have people behind you, what do you do now? You can make a stab at it but if you get raised 2-3x your bet or more, what are you going to do then? You'll probably drop it and it is chips wasted.

As another poster pointed out, if you flop a nut flush draw, you are going to pay a lot of chips to see if it comes and you might not have the odds to do it either.

If you are going to play it in MP, you have to be willing to drop it even though part of it hits you. Most players give this starting hand too much credit and it gets them in big trouble. Later in a tournament you can obviously play it more aggressively when you are short-handed.