Getting Value from AA First to Act.

[chollowa]

I don't feel like I'm getting value from my Aces when I'm first to act. I make my standard raise to 4xbb when I pick them up and more often than not, I end up scooping the blinds.

I would never think of min-raising this hand, but I am thinking about coming off my standard raise and only raising first to act 3xbb with all hands.

I just feel that this weekend I lost alot of value whenever I picked up Aces in this spot.

[fuzzbox]

sometimes nobody has anything worth calling a raise with.

Limp it sometimes (say 20% of the time) and otherwise just hope they have something, and dont set up on you !

Dont limp, you get destroyed by 2 pairs this way and getting AA cracked is the worst. I like the 3x bet...you pick up any strong A or lower pp, sometimes KQ, but its a pretty safe play. Also, to make the most money, you should be playing tables that have the highest players/flop % that you can find...Switch around and look for good tables where your AA will get payed off.

[chollowa]

Yeah, I figure that's the deal. Nobody picks anything remotely good up. But at the level I play at online (low, low) you figure somebody has to like something. Oh well, just bad spots I guess.

RE: limping, I was thinking that this might be a decent idea at tables where there is alot of pre-flop raising which would allow me to re-raise and at least garner more than the blinds.

[fuzzbox]

[ QUOTE ]
Dont limp, you get destroyed by 2 pairs this way and getting AA cracked is the worst. I like the 3x bet...you pick up any strong A or lower pp, sometimes KQ, but its a pretty safe play. Also, to make the most money, you should be playing tables that have the highest players/flop % that you can find...Switch around and look for good tables where your AA will get payed off.

[/ QUOTE ]

You can limp reraise AA very nicely. Also you only get destroyed by two-pairs and the like, if you regularly stack off with AA after you limped it, and nobody raised (I dont do this).

[subzero]

[ QUOTE ]
You can limp reraise AA very nicely. Also you only get destroyed by two-pairs and the like, if you regularly stack off with AA after you limped it, and nobody raised (I dont do this).

[/ QUOTE ]
Especially from UTG at full ring with aggressive players at the table. But if nobody raises preflop, you have to be able to release it postflop.

[swedeD]

[ QUOTE ]
... you have to be able to release it postflop.

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If you are a tight player, like me, this is one of the most important lessons. Train, train and train you postflop actions and reads so that you know when to fold AA postflop.

Another thing: Many players say that the almost never fold KK. As I see it, my biggest mistakes are almost always when I have a good read that a player is tight and play EXACTLY like a typical AA holder play, AND I CAN'T FOLD the [censored] bullets.

As you move up in level this becomes more and more important - a pair is after all just a pair.

(AA and KK are gold-mines against loose players, so don't always fold them if you meet resistance... [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] )

Normally, I will only slow play aces when there is a certifiable maniac behind me, and then I am doing so for the express purpose of trapping the maniac. I have found (at PP $50 NL) that there is a maniac behind me often enough that I do not need to slowplay my aces in any other situation.

But there is another situation that might be a good opportunity. Maybe once a week I will be at a table where two or three of the players seem to be campaigning to make the standard raise a min-raise of .50, making it $1 to go. Pretty much every time they come in from early position, they'll make it $1. I still haven't figured out what most of these people are thinking (anybody know?). I am leaning toward usually interpreting preflop minraises to mean "I like my hand but I don't love my hand." I think other people are reading them the same, because people take shots at ep preflop minraises pretty regularly. And they almost always attract callers, because (I think) they look so enticingly weak and build the pot to a level that generates interest even for people with marginal hands.

Therefore, I have been thinking about modifying the standard trap play for these tables, so that when I have AA in ep, I go ahead and fire in one of these weak-ass minraises. Now it's a raised pot, and people may want to come out and play, and, maybe even better, KQ or something takes a shot at you.

Take all of this with a grain of salt. I haven't tried this yet. But if you need to mix up your play with aces, maybe this is a second way to do it.

[ryanghall]

If you're in late position, you could make an argument for 3.5x BB if you're opening.

Raising 3x BB in SSNL is not good.

If you just take the blinds down every time you're either experiencing some bad variance or more likely you're not raising with other hands often enough.

What is your PFR?

Ryan

[gol4pro]

If you can play AA carefully and effectively having limped with it, and having no raise behind you.... then your profits will soar.

Essentially, you just need to find out if you're beat or not on the flop. Usually pot a safeish looking flop, and reevaluate if raised.