Pocket Rockets
You wait and wait to get those big aces dealt to you in hold’em. There is no better starting hand than pocket aces. So they should be easy to play, right? Well not always. You are ahead with those aces but by how much.
AA vs. KK 81% to 19% (win percentage)
AA vs. AK 92% to 7%
AA vs. 78s 77% to 23%
AA vs. 72o 88% to 12%
Yes, you are ahead but you will not always win with those aces. The best you can hope for is 9 out out 10 against AK. Play against middle suited connectors and you will lose almost 1/4 of the time. Even the lowly seven deuce offsuit will win 12% of the time when you are loaded up with pocket rockets.
So when you do get those aces (approximately 1 in every 212 hands) what to do?
First, you need to win some chips with those big pairs; don’t scare away the fish by over betting them. On the other hand, all big pairs play better heads up or against at most two opponents. So, you need to make them pay to outdraw your monster aces. Aces don’t come around any more or any less often than any other pair but when they do, it certainly is better to be raking a pot of any size than seeing a big pot pushed the the other guy and your aces going into the muck.
The key to playing pocket aces is how you bet. You want to maximize profit and to do that you often need to minimize opponents in the hand. Good luck and may the flop be with you.
-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #208
