A-x suited, what to do about it...

[tlow]

So I am having a really hard time aka losing money to playing A-x suited (x is 9 or lower). Should I be folding preflop? How many people do I need in the had to be calling/raising? Looking for some guidance. THanks

[unome]

As long as the table isn't incredibly aggressive pre-flop, I will play A-9 suited from anywhere, but like anything I have to be prepaired to fold it post flop if I don't hit something that is favorable for many reasons. A-8 and A-7 suited get some consideration from me to play in EP, but not always. A-6 suited and lower is a fold in EP unless the table is ultra passive. A-8 suited and lower (unless several people are in already) is a fold to any preflop raise.

I think it's just largely situational/table dependent for what to do with the Ax suited; however, I think when in doubt folding the Ax suited (lower than 9) to any raise in EP and MP is the best of the choices. Many will disagree I would think, but that's how I tend to look at it.

[hashi92]

playing A9-A6 is worse than playing A2-A5. with A2-A5 you have the straight draw plus the flush. you must be willing to fold on the flop if you dont hit or have a reasonable draw

[unome]

[ QUOTE ]
playing A9-A6 is worse than playing A2-A5. with A2-A5 you have the straight draw plus the flush. you must be willing to fold on the flop if you dont hit or have a reasonable draw


[/ QUOTE ]

I've always wondered about that reasoning. It would seem to me that you really aren't playing for the str8 anyway with the A2-5 suited. True you have that option as opposed to the A-9 suited, but both hands you need to be able to get off of real quick when you miss the flop and heads-up I would think the 9 kicker is a lot more valuable then a 4 kicker if you decided to play when hitting a pair of aces.

I too could use some education on the Ax suited delima as I am not sure what the true reasoning is here.

[sthief09]

I only play at Intertops (Party), and I limp Axs UTG in all games under 5/10. That means I'll play them from pretty much anywhere if there's no raise in front of me.

[miamikid]

[ QUOTE ]
playing A9-A6 is worse than playing A2-A5. with A2-A5 you have the straight draw plus the flush. you must be willing to fold on the flop if you dont hit or have a reasonable draw


[/ QUOTE ]

I have A9s and A8s, ranked higher than A5s-A2s. I have A8s ranked slightly higher than A5s.

miamikid

[tlow]

So...another problem, if you get a flush draw on the board, i am going to assume most people only chase if they are getting pot odds to call all the way down...right?

[pudley4]

[ QUOTE ]
So...another problem, if you get a flush draw on the board, i am going to assume most people only chase if they are getting pot odds to call all the way down...right?

[/ QUOTE ]

In the vast majority of limit holdem games, you'll have the pot odds to call down. You'll most likely have enough opponents that you can bet/raise the flop for value.

[dogmeat]

If I went only by my poker tracker stats I could tell you that I make about the same with Ax from 9 down to 7, then less as it works it down to Ax - 2. However, what a lot of people with poker software forget is the numbers get tainted by the way you adjust to them. (example - I see that I am not doing well with KJo so I stop playing it completely and after another 10K hands I look at my stats and say "Wow, that hand sucks, good thing I stopped playing it". If I was playing it well in the right situations I would say "Wow, I can win with that hand".)

As for A-2,3,4,5 - yes, you can make a straight or a sneaky two pair with it, but playing A-9 has a much better chance of holding up when only an ace hits (and no ace will hit the flop 3/4 of the time), and you get the real benefit of taking the pot when just the 9 and a bunch of low cards hit (and this is much more likely than the straight). That's the benefit of A-9, A-8 etc. over the A-baby.

If you are playing Ax suited looking for a flush - look again because you will only flop a four flush about 11% of the time, and then you will miss it 65% of the time. Thats a lot of money drawing to a flush. It's easy to miss 10 or even 20 straight times with a hand like this - and gives you a hell of a swing in your bankroll.

Dogmeat [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[jslag]

AXs will add a lot of fluctuation to your bankroll if you aren't careful with your post-flop play. I rarely raise with these hands. If I do, it's from late position and only if I'm first in. Occassionally, in a tighter game, I will raise first in from middle position as you can steal a lot of blinds from rock-type players this way.

In NL ring games or tournaments, be especially careful with these hands. You will rarely get odds to call for a flush draw, unless your opponents are making mistakes or have worse hands.

In limit hold'em, you will often gets odds to call or raise the nut flush draw. Just be wary when there's a pair on board and you're being re-raised by tighter players.

I will limp with AXs when the game is loose/low-limit -- these games almost require that you play more suited connectors and AXs/KXs. I find A9s/K9s will get me top pair, top kicker against many weak opponents and win enough hands with nut flushes to make them very profitable.

It is very easy to overplay these hands, somewhat like KQ/KJ... if I play them, the flop has to hit well for me to continue, especially against weaker opponents who may hold any pair on board.

[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] jslag [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]