the "any Ace" theory

[elmitchbo]

i admit, i'm an A ragger. i play almost exclusively in tournies though, so that may skew my opinion a bit.

looking at the pokerroom EV chart....every suited Ace down to A3s shows positive EV, and A2s is break even. in a tournament i open raise with any suited Ace in MP or LP. if i hit an ace i don't really fear being out kicked... it happens very rarely. if i hit my flush draw i semibluff it just like i made a top pair.

that strategy is part of my daily pusrsuit of LAG mastery.

EDIT: looking at the chart again... the suited Aces show more EV than any of the suited connectors lower than T9s. looks like your better off playing A5s(.08 +EV) than 98s(.00 EV) or 76s(.03 -EV).

[velvetdog]

I'm admittingly on the LAGy side, but do play ace rag offsuit in a few situations 6max or shorthanded. With ace-rag I like occasional blindsteal attempts from the button and completing from SB against 1-2 opponents. I will also sometimes limp in an unraised multi-way pot in passive games from the button w/ A9 and A8. A combination of shorthandedness and position or the SB discount can make Ax playable IMO.