09-28-04, LearnTexasHoldem:

AA Raise or Slow Play?

Question: With AA I always raise before the flop but I reacently read a book where they say you should slow play in order to get as many people in as possible. My experience is that if more then five player call before the flop I ussually need the set to come out a winner. Thats why I keep on raising before the flop.

What's your oppinion?

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Answer: How I play AA preflop depends entirely on the type of game I am in. It would be very rare that I wouldn't raise AA preflop in limit holdem, regardless of the stake size. In lower limit games my AA goes way down in value when more people see the flop so I'm hoping I cut off a few people from playing like you mentioned.

In upper limit games I raise with AA because they expect me to raise when I come in anyway, and the last thing they think I'll have is AA since what you raise with preflop could be a range of hands. If I was to merely call in that type of game and then reraise after someone raised me it would give up too much information about my hand. For NL games I wouldn't mind limping in (just calling) every now and then. The danger is though that you will get a weak hand in there that catches a big flop and you'll likely be married to the pot.

AA is a good hand of course but post flop it can go wrong in a lot of ways, especially if you don't have any idea what the other person may have. I don't like big pots with AA that much in NL (unless the money goes in preflop) because AA doesn't have many ways to improve if the other person is ahead. I would prefer AK and flop an A or a K instead of getting action on a flop when I have AA. If you do slow play AA preflop in a NL game, your hope is not to trap people after the flop, it is to trap someone before the flop.

You hope that someone picks up KK, AK, QQ or another hand when you have your AA and you get get them to put too much money in preflop in a heads up battle with your Aces. I use that play more in aggressive no limit games where I'm certain someone will raise behind me.

The second trapping slow play with AA is when you just call someone else's big raise preflop in hopes to trap them later. In both cases you know where your opponents are at, what kinds of hands they may have and it is that information that allows you to be more aggressive.

So to sum it up... Slow play in limit games with AA, no. Slow play in no limit with AA, rarely and with care.

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