Stopping Aces from Getting Cracked

[phillydilly]

The game is 3/6 Holdem at the Soaring Eagle Casino, Mt. Pleasant, MI. Friday night game fairly loose. Usually 2 other good players at the table, most everyone else would lose their stack after a couple hours. My problem at this table was in the 6 times I caught Aces, I won once. It seemed I generally caught them in late position or in the blinds. By the time It came to me there were already 3-5 people in the hand. I would raise, everyone calls. Every hand it would check to me, I bet every street, and at least a one or two people would stay in, and eventually the turn or the river would crack my aces. At a table like this, is it better to just call preflop and hopefully put in a raise on the flop to chase people out? Is there a better way to play Aces? Or do I just come to terms with the fact that with this type of table my Aces will be cracked more often than not? I'm sure this is something a lot of people run into to, so I'm curious on opinions.

[BigEndian]

Hi Philly, what you have to understand is that, even if the pot is laying odds for playes to draw out on you, your aces have a huge amount of pot equity the vast majority of the time. By Pot Equity, I mean for every bet that goes in, your share of those bets.

Before the flop, regardless of your position, your raise with AA is for value - not to protect them. You want everyone at the table calling to see the flop, you have them over the barrel.

Now, in a loose table, after your raise, the flop often lays odds to large variety of drawing situations. Even if the player isn't quite getting odds, their mistakes are often very small with respect to the size of the pot. That doesn't change your PF strategy. You want 3-5 players calling you down with 5-1 to 11-1 odds on every street. Combined, they take a chunk out of your equity, but you are still way ahead.

So the simple answer is keep playing your Aces like you've been doing. Over time, they'll win around 60% of the time. There are other things to work on that can help post-flop, but posting hands is the best way to delve into those.

- Jim

[bdk3clash]

Flop quads.

[crockett]

Hey there. I'm from Michigan and I am very familiar with that Casino but have never checked out the cards.

Do they have table stakes lower than 3/6 and how long is the average wait to get a seat on say a Friday night like your talking about.

For a 3/6 game that sounds pretty loose. Is this typical?

Thanks for any feedback.

[MarkL444]

Crockett-

3/6 is the lowest stakes that they have. I have never had to wait more than 10 minutes to get a table there, but Im not sure if I have been there on a friday night or not. And yes the 3/6 game is always this loose. The 6/12 is almost the same.

Mark

[phillydilly]

Hey Crockett,
Games they had Friday were Holdem 3/6 6/12 10/20, they didn't have it that night but they do 20/40 occaisonally
they also had Omaha Hi/Lo 3/6 and i think 6/12
The dealers were excellent, worlds above motor city and greektown,
I got there around 3pm and had a 20 min wait, as the evening wore on, the list for 3/6 got 35+ deep.
I only played 3/6, so i dont know how the 6/12 and 10/20 games were, but the 3/6 was very beatable. I'm not sure if this is typical, first time i'd played there.

[sthief09]

[ QUOTE ]
Flop quads.

[/ QUOTE ]

Brad, not everyone plays as well as you, and it's unfair to expect them to flop quads as often as you do. Please have more consideration for newer, less experienced players. Thank you.

The answer for a newer player would be to just fold preflop.

[Aces McGee]

[ QUOTE ]
Flop quads.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude, flopping quads will kill his action. Rivering a set is the preferred play.

-McGee

[sfer]

I try to flop sets. I have low expectations, I guess.

[MarkL444]

[ QUOTE ]
It seemed I generally caught them in late position or in the blinds.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just to clear something up for you. Late position rules. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[BigEndian]

In the blinds in a tourney is the best, especially with an aggressive table. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

- Jim

[AcesKracked]

I feel your pain, went to Biloxi a few months ago and had AA 8 times, lost 7 of 8 playing them just the way you did in a 1-4-8-8 game. Figured I lost over $500+ worth of pots on those hands. Having more experience at the time of playing NL games, I finally started paying more attention to possible draws and pot odds - nothing you can do but try to get your money in while you know you have the best hand and hope they don't outdraw you. Just be sure not reraise when a possible completed draw shows on the board (that would have saved me 4-5 BB's)
AcesKracked

[Evan]

I only play Aces on the button or in the CO, so sets are good enough for me too.