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How To Win With Pocket Rockets      By: TMoney    tmoney@pockettwos.com

        All of you have had the feeling.  You’re sitting at a poker table, it has been a slow day, when all of the sudden, BOOM, you look down and see 2 aces as your hold cards.  The initial thought is, “how can I capitalize and win as much as possible?” After all, you do have the best hand in poker.  Most times, however, we get so far ahead of ourselves because we have aces that we forget it is still only one pair.  You’re best bet is too relax, and focus on how to play the hand, because the slightest misplay with aces can spell disaster in the end.  As I will explain soon, the key to winning with Pocket aces is taking the pot at the right time.  This may sound a little cliché, but it is the truth. 

        Pocket Aces, otherwise known in the poker world as pocket rockets, snake eyes, American airlines, etc, is the most powerful hand in all of poker.  It is a dominant favorite over any other hand because it is top pair before the community cards are even delt!  However, as straights, flushes, set, etc are quite common in poker, you must make accurate assessments about the community cards when betting with aces. The key to aces then is knowing how to play them correctly.  After all, they are just a pair, and how often does one pair hold up in the end? 

        The first decision is whether or not to raise before the flop, and this ultimately depends on your position.  In early position in a medium size game, always make a decent sized raise with pocket aces.  You may be tempted to just call and try to re-raise a better; however if then the pot is not raised, then many people will be in to see the flop, and your aces will most likely get cracked.  By betting early, it limits the number of players to the flop and gets trashy hands out.  This is perfect because when you have aces you would rather be up against a strong hand like ace king or ace queen because you are a huge favorite.  The way to win big with aces is to have your opponents make second best hands, so if someone makes top pair of queens or kings on the flop, it will be pay day for you!  By letting smaller hands to see the flop you give your opponents “live cards” which if made into two pair or a straight, will ruin your aces.  Now consider yourself in middle to late position with aces.  You now have the advantage of seeing people act before you. This is known as having position. If someone raises in early position, they most likely have a strong hand and you must re-raise them.  You must also raise the pot if there are a lot of callers, again to get lower quality hands out of play.  The only time I would check or call with aces is if a) only 1 or 2 other people are in the hand and you close out the betting or b) if someone raise in later position whom you have position on.  This most likely means the person is making a position raise with a marginal hand, and you can trap them by just calling their bet. 

        Most of the time at the poker table, you want to bet out throughout the hand and protect your aces.  However, the question must be addressed, when can you slow play your Aces?  We have juts discussed when it is okay to slow play pre-flop, but how about after the flop, turn, and river.  The best time to slow play aces are when a) you have made a monster on the flop such as a full house or 3 of a kind, and b) when the flop is a rainbow (all different suits) and there are no obvious straight draws out.  In this situation you are most likely up against a high pair, but remember, you have the highest pair! This doesn’t mean that aces will always win, but by assessing the quality of the flop, turn, and river, you are able to make strong bets to protect your hand when the board brings draws out, or suck in an opponent trying to buy the pot when the flop is spread out. 

        This should help you understand how to play pocket aces in the future.  Always use position to your advantage and know when to bet big, or when to trap. Just remember, Pocket aces are not invincible, and they can be cracked just as easily as they can hold up and win.