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[Becks77]

LOL. Sorry, i'm new to online poker and posting on sites. As far as the aces go, on the limits i play at (.50/1, .25./50) i want as little callers as possible. I mostly want only one maybe two callers because i don't want to have too many hands playing against me that could make their draws or catch something on the flop.

Also what does utg mean?

[thirddan]

UTG = Under the gun (first player to act)

hmm, with aces you want lots of callers. You have the best hand possible and it will win a ton. Of course sometimes you will lose, but this is the most profitable hand in the game. It seems that you may not be playing as well as you think, try posting some hands in the micro forum and they will help you out...

[Becks77]

I know that is the best hand to have and i know that it is profitable and all that but everytime i raise everyone calls no matter what. With king 3 offsuits, 6 8 suited and they make their hands. I lose more money than make when lots of people call me with aces.

[bdk3clash]

[ QUOTE ]
LOL. Sorry, i'm new to online poker and posting on sites. As far as the aces go, on the limits i play at (.50/1, .25./50) i want as little callers as possible. I mostly want only one maybe two callers because i don't want to have too many hands playing against me that could make their draws or catch something on the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK, dude, that question was a litmus test. You don't play poker to win pots, you play poker to win money. You want everyone to call. You won't win as often as playing against 1 opponent, but you'll win more in the long run.

Here's a very, very simplified situation that might illustrate things.

Let's say you raise AA and get 1 caller, and the action stops there. Let's say you have a 75% chance of winning the 2 BB pot. (A BB is a big bet, like $4 in a $2/4 game.) So in the long run, you're going to win, on average, 1.5 BBs, or $6 per hand.

Now, let's say you raise and all 9 opponents call, and the action stops there. Your chance of winning that particular hand plummets from 75% to, let's say, 25%. Oh no, you're now an underdog to win! But, and this is a huge but, there are now 10 BBs in the pot. So on average you're going to win 2.5 BBs ($10 in a 2/4 game) if you get all nine opponents to call.

[ QUOTE ]
Also what does utg mean?

[/ QUOTE ]

UTG="Under the gun." First to act after the big blind.

Get a beginner's poker book. "Winning Low Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones and "Internet Texas Hold'em" by Matthew Hilger are both excellent places to start.

[thirddan]

you haven't been playing long enough, AA is a huge money winner, no matter how many players call you. I think you may also have a bit of selective memory concerning your losses with good hands.

[moondogg]

[ QUOTE ]
I know that is the best hand to have and i know that it is profitable and all that but everytime i raise everyone calls no matter what. With king 3 offsuits, 6 8 suited and they make their hands. I lose more money than make when lots of people call me with aces.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you are loosing money with aces, at least one of two things is probably true:
- You are overplaying them on extremely scary boards (e.g. 4 suited cards, and you ain't got that suit, or two pairs on the flop) and passive/timid are raising and reraising you. In these cases (which are very rare), you should probably still not fold very often, but you may consider less raising and more calling (again, these situations are VERY RARE). However, I seriously doubt that these situations could turn it into a losing hand overall, no matter how misplayed.
- You haven't played enough hands.

Over time, it is virtually impossible to lose money with aces. Keep at it. If you play 10K hands against these clowns and still lose money with aces, I'll eat my hat.

In the mean time you are going to get sucked out on. Constantly. You have to get used to it. If you move up for this, you'll get your ass handed to you, period. You will definitely win LESS money from better players. Trying to play against better players in order to win MORE money may feel intutively correct now, but so do sucker bets in craps when "feel a hard 10 coming."

Also, when you say that you have been losing more money than you've been winning, is that your gut feeling or are you measuring it (with PokerTracker)?

If you're going by your feelings about the hand, you mind is probably playing tricks on you:
My curse hand is JJ. Just about every time I get it, I play it very aggressively, and it seems like I ALWAYS lose with it. However, according to my PokerTracker stats, It's one of my biggest winning hands (i.e. most profitable), whcih I still have a hard time believing to this day. I don't win often with it, but when I do, the pots are huge. My mind just forgets the few times I win and focuses on the many times I lose with it.

[sfer]

If you're still here in 6 months reread this thread and marvel at how much you've learned.

Good luck.

Also, read bdk3clash's last post. Then reread it.

[ansky451]

[ QUOTE ]
I know that is the best hand to have and i know that it is profitable and all that but everytime i raise everyone calls no matter what. With king 3 offsuits, 6 8 suited and they make their hands. I lose more money than make when lots of people call me with aces.

[/ QUOTE ]

Come on man. You even said you know its profitable and all, well, there, thats it, you hit it on the nose. If you raise with AA and get called by k3, 57, j4, etc, count your blessings. POKER IS ABOUT MONEY. never forget that, it took me a while to realize that poker is not about winning pots, its about winning money. Long run you will make more money if you get multiple callers with aces, end of story.