A2 (O8)

[El Tigre]

hi, newbie to O8, I was wondering if it is a good idea to play any A2 from any position for 1 bet in a loose game? What about 2 bets? 3? Should there always be a good high to accompany the A2? Is it necessary to have that high in order to play an A3?

[2the9s]

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I was wondering if it is a good idea to play any A2 from any position for 1 bet in a loose game? What about 2 bets? 3?

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In a loose game you should always play a hand containing an A2 for one bet. In fact, in late position you'll almost always want to raise with it even if the other two cards aren't anything special. In a loose game you'll also want to play A2xx for 2 bets unless the raise came from a tight raiser, the pot is likely to be shorthanded, AND the other features of the hand don't rate to be better than the origianl raisers. When I have an A2xx and the pot is raised, I'm usually just calling. Even in a loose game, I'd be very careful playing a hand containing an A2 for 3 bets because you are likely playing for 1/4 or 1/6 of the pot. Whether or not to play depends upon who raised, your position, and you other 2 cards.

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Is it necessary to have that high in order to play an A3?

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A dry A3xx hand isn't a very good hand IMO. I'll play this sort of hand for 1/2 a bet in the small blind, and I'll also open raise with it from late position if the blinds aren't very loose, and it's good enough to call a steal raise. Other than that, I want A3xx to have something else working for it for me to play it(usually a suited ace), but in late position I'm happy playing hands like A34x, AQQ3, or A /images/graemlins/heart.gif K /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 6 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 3 /images/graemlins/club.gif as long as the pot is not raised. IMO your other two cards are much more important with A3xx than they are with A2xx as to how you should play your hand before the flop.