Should Ace-little be played? If so, when?

The literature would indicate that in a tounament one should not play anything worse than A-Q in late position, and A-K in early position. Is this too conservative? I've been getting whooped lately by small aces. Last night I was at the second to the last table in a NL turny; blinds were 1000/500; I was getting lousy hands and being blinded out; I had to take the big ($1000) blind with only $1,300 left. So I had $1000 in the pot and $300 left in my stack. I get dealt 6 4 offsuit. Great. {:o( Two limpers plus me saw the flop. Flop = A 6 2 rainbow. I hit a chunk of it, but damn that ace! I figure someone has an Ace so I'm probably beat, but if I pass and fold, I'm mortally wounded with only $300 left, which will force me all-in on the next hand when I'll have to be the small ($500) blind. I figure I'm better off going all-in now, with the chance of improving and winning with two pair, or who knows, maybe I'll hit the jackpot and draw 3-of-a-kind, in which event I'll win a decent sized pot and be back in the game. First limper folds. The second limper calls. Second limper must have Ace something, presumably no less than AK, AQ, AJ, or maybe even A-10. A "6" comes on the flop, giving me three 6's!!!!! Yes! I'm back in the game! Aces can't beat me now! River is a rag. My opponent turns over A6 for a full house! The guy had been playing hands like that all night and had a huge stack. Again, am I playing too tight? Two hands earlier I passed with QJ. Was that a mistake? I've made second-to-the-last table in 3 out of the last 5 tournaments I've been in, and came in second place at the final table in one of them. I can't tell if I'm playing WELL enough to get to the second-to-the-last table, or if I'm playing so poorly I ONLY get to the Second-to-the-last-table.

Well, if you are only playing AQ or better in late position you are playing WAY too tight. I dunno where in the literature you got that but it simply is wrong. What you should do, early in the tourney is play your regular ring game strategy, with a slightly tighter approach to draws. Since you were talking about a NL tournament, I would play in late position AXs, KJ, all pairs etc...provided there is no raise in front of me and that the call is less about 5% of my whole stack, but no more than 10% (usually).


You have the very best position, this is crucial in NL or PL games. It allows you to make big semi-bluffs with those suited combos. If you can pick-up a couple of pots like that, you can survive without getting cards, plus if you manage to not go to a showdown with them, you'll be preceived as a total rock which is nice, when you get in the blind steal and crunch portion of the tournament (near the money).


And yes you should have gone for it with QJ. Andy always says that you should move before the blinds hit you and he is right. Sometimes you just can't, but when you get any playable hand (Ax, T9s, 22)you should cross your finger and go for it (don't cross your fingers before all the other players have acted... :-) ). Once you get to your BB, there is no way you are folding your hand - whatever it is - , and you should have bet the flop no matter what falled (sometimes they will fold).


Good luck,


Nicolas Fradet (ThePrince)

This is how I read T. J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy's books to play. Maybe they were just refering to tournamnets like the World Series where the rounds last much longer, so you don't get blinded out as easily. Are there any better books for NLHE or LHE tournaments? Thanks for your advice. I will give it a try and let you know the results.

"The literature would indicate that in a tounament one should not play anything worse than A-Q in late position, and A-K in early position"


I can't imagine that is correct. Early I tend to play AQo+/AJs+. Middle I add AJ+ and maybe AT+. Those are usually for raises. Once opponents have already limped then AJ & AT may be in the muck.


Now if it is a suited ace I may limp in from middle or late positions if my stack can afford it. If it is late position and no one has come in, then I am going to raise to steal with many cards including any aces. I rarely will limp with an offsuit Ace-ugly in any situation.


As with any discussion in No Limit you need to also watch how your opponents play and adjust to their play.


Ken Poklitar

Playing a little too tight when you've got plenty of chips isn't necessarily a problem. Or at least it isn't likely the first one to worry about fixing.


Your mistake was getting blinded down to 1.3x BB without playing something.


Once you get below about 6x BB, you need to find the next hand that is likely to be your best hand before the blinds hit again, and raise all-in with it.


By the time you got QJ, it was too late, since that raise was going to get called by any hand in the big blind. You needed to raise back when you had something playable and enough chips to make them fold.


More important than the cards you hold is how tight the table is playing, and in particular the player who currently has the big blind.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

You have to be very careful with the context. Taking information from books out of context (no matter how good the writer is) and applying it rigidly will often hurt your game much more than help.


I should think the context of that advice is "at a full NL table when your stack is large compared to the blinds", and probably "against good opponents". Short-stacked is a completely different game and you would be amazed (I always am) how many experienced and otherwise very good players just can't play a short stack.


Andy.

"Should Ace-little be played? If so, when?"


Axo tends to win a good proportion of pots, but only little pots, i.e. when everyone misses. However if ether you or your opponents are short stacked then the pots are only going to be a little ones so Ax can be played aggressively. If the money is deep all round then its crap.