Knowing when AA is good

[98romaine]

brand new to O8...I'm having trouble knowing when AA is good on a board where a low is possible as well as a middle str8. This is primarily 2/4 and 3/6 on Party but I have folded the winning high hand to a bet in several big pots when the pot was 3-4 handed thinking someone had to have the str8.

Any tips/literature/posts on improving this skill?

Being new to the game, seems the biggest challenge is knowing when your in between non nut hands are good.

[GooperMC]

I am relatively new to O8 as well but here are my general thoughts about playing hands that are the non-nuts.

Playing the non-nuts takes a lot of feel. The majority of the time someone will have the nut or the near nuts, even when it is a middle str8, so you have to be hyper-aware of the action to know if your AA is good. It is a very situational play so you are going to need a lot of experience to make it correctly.

Against a tight player who has bet every round from EP a naked AA is very easy to toss away. However in a shorthanded pot, with a J high flush, against a fish I would call down.

A couple of specific responses to your post:
- A naked AA is no where near the nuts and in limit O8 it is actually a pretty weak hand.
- You said that the pots were large. Were they large enough that a crying call would be correct? You also said that there was a low out so my guess is that you made the right play by folding.
- While you are mastering the game you would be ok laying down a naked AA in almost every situation. O8 is a game where you can still be profitable by nut peddling, so you will not lose a lot of EV by folding AA until you have a better feel for the game.

[gergery]

Good post, Goop.

I’d tend to raise with AA if I could get to 1-2 opponents, and call for set value against more opponents or with position but also be willing to fold to pressure or with bad position. I think of naked AA as being kind of like 77 in holdem. It’s a decent hand (particularly if heads up), you’d like to see a nice flop to be happy but could win without improvement vs. just 1 or 2 opponents, and you should fold to strong action.

--Greg

[Ribbo]

AA in limit omaha is *not* a pretty weak hand. It's a hand that earns you money. I think you need to be absolutely clear about this. However if you're the sort of guy who irrelevant of the board or the person playing at you cannot stop betting it then yes I can see your problem. You always have to raise it preflop in limit because it earns money by doing so. If you can't raise AA, then what exactly are you going to raise?

[TGoldman]

I've found that AAxx has a reasonable shot at being the best high hand when the board is rainbow, unconnected, and there's another pair already on the board. If there aren't too many opponenets, I like to bet paired flops to get an idea if someone out there has trips or a full-house already. If I don't run into a raise or if I check and no one else shows much interest in the pot, then there's a decent chance the nut two-pair hand is good for the high.

[Cleveland Guy]

[ QUOTE ]
AA in limit omaha is *not* a pretty weak hand. It's a hand that earns you money. I think you need to be absolutely clear about this. However if you're the sort of guy who irrelevant of the board or the person playing at you cannot stop betting it then yes I can see your problem. You always have to raise it preflop in limit because it earns money by doing so. If you can't raise AA, then what exactly are you going to raise?

[/ QUOTE ]

There are AA hands to raise - and AA hands not to raise. There is also things to consider like position, and how passive/aggressive the table is.

I wouldn't like to raise AAxx early at a loose passive table, cause I will be out of position, and unless I flop an A, I'm not sure where I am, and even if I do, I still might be drawing to the boat.

There are many non AA hands that are worth raising and that are much better than some AA hands with no suits and crappy side cards.

[GooperMC]

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It's a hand that earns you money

[/ QUOTE ]
I never said it was an –EV hand, however I did say that you will not loose that much money by not playing it.

[ QUOTE ]
However if you're the sort of guy who irrelevant of the board or the person playing at you cannot stop betting it then yes I can see your problem

[/ QUOTE ]
Reading the board and other players is a skill that takes time to learn. I was suggesting to the original poster that he wouldn’t be losing much by folding a naked AA until he learns the game better.

[ QUOTE ]
you always have to raise it preflop in limit because it earns money by doing so.

[/ QUOTE ]
You think it is a +EV play to raise with AA79 rainbow in EP when you are going to get 5 callers?

[ QUOTE ]
AA in limit omaha is *not* a pretty weak hand

[/ QUOTE ]
Like I said in my original post AA is a very situational hand. It depends on the table, on your opponents and a variety of other factors. Since the hand needs specific situations to be strong, yes I would call it a weak hand.

Just a thought: why was is that I posted to help the original poster and you just posted to flame me?