05-12-05, LearnTexasHoldem:
Not Going All-In Preflop With AA
Certainly in a ring game I would have pushed the limits. But because of the tourney format and seat position, I didn't bet big. I've seen too many reckless first-hand all-ins, with legitimate hands beat and sent packing. My current strategy is to weather the storm and let others duke it out until I can start to get a read on the feel of the table and some of the players.
Was it too cautious?
- D
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Answer: Even if you were playing in a cash game, going all-in preflop with AA in no limit holdem isn't the best way to play the hand if you are first to act. Ideally what you would like to have happen is get some action and win a decent pot. If you bet too much or just go all-in, most likely no one will call and you'll make nothing. I would suggest that you make a decent size bet in relation to the blind size at that point. This does a couple useful things. First of all, it gives you some deception.
You don't want to always bet more with better hands and less with worse hands because it makes it too easy for your opponents to get a read. You want to mix it up, or either raise the same amount preflop with all your hands. With this hand I would raise a standard 4 or 5x the big blind. If you suspect there are some maniacs at the table that are going to reraise you, great. Let one of them reraise behind you at which point you can push all-in.
This also has the added value of maybe getting some extra bets in the pot from players who wanted to gamble initially, but not with all their chips. I don't think you should ever be afraid of going bust when you put your money all-in preflop with the best hand. If it so happens that your AA gets cracked, too bad, you just go home and don't waste anymore time in the tourney. On the other hand if it holds up against a number of preflop all-ins, you'll be a huge leader.
Sometimes when you have a hand like 99, TT, JJ, etc against a really aggressive loose player, you don't want to push all-in preflop because it is likely they will call you with a hand that might run you down (even though you know you are ahead now). Part of the value of being aggressive with the middle pocket pairs is that you hope you can protect the cards some by forcing good players out. If you know that someone will call your big raises all-in with a hand like KJ or AT when you have 99, you need to play the hand differently.
Another way to play the hand is to call preflop, or raise a lessor amount, then push all-in on the flop if it comes back without overcards. Let me give you an example of a hand that I misplayed once in a tournament that busted me out. I was in the small blind with a moderate amount of chips. The chip leader, who was very aggressive and taking control, raised preflop from late position. I had TT. Clearly, TT was a better hand than her's. I pushed all-in, and she called me with AJ. The turn card was a Jack and I lost. I could have played it differently and won. I had enough chips to smooth call her preflop raise, then on the flop push all my chips in, forcing her to have to call a large bet with nothing but Ace high.
Notice the difference between the two plays. By smooth calling preflop, I limit her drawing cards to only 3. If we both go all-in preflop, she has a full 5 cards to draw to. What happens if I just smooth called and there was an Ace on the flop? Well, I just lose the preflop bet, not my entire stack. Now you wouldn't play this way against everyone, just against players who you think might call you with two overcards and put you in a race situation for all your chips -- players who are either not too bright or have a lot of chips.
Bad players sometimes unintentionally make the right play because they are willing to gamble. By playing your hand a little differently, you can skew the odds more so they are making a wrong move instead of a correct one.
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