subject: Playing with a Single Ace [print this page] Playing with a Single Ace Playing with a Single Ace
Learning how to play when you hold an Ace and another random card, or Ax, is an opportunity to add to your stack during the course of any given session. You will be dealt Ax right around 15% of the time or about 1 in every 7 hands dealt. Playing in a brick and mortar poker room that means that you will see Ax around 4 to 6 times every hour you play. If you are playing online, where hands play out much faster, you are going to see Ax between 7 and 10 times every hour you are playing.
The Ax Rule
Since it is absolutely true that you will see Ax from 4 to 10 times each hour you play, depending on whether you play in a poker room or online, it stands to reason that every other player you are playing with will also be dealt Ax from 4 to 10 times each hour. Getting dealt Ax is not a big deal so there has to be something extra special about your Ax to make it playable. Let me repeat the Ax Rule: Getting a single ace is not anything special so there must be something special about your ace that makes it playable. Let me illustrate:
Odds and Percentages
The two charts below provide a clue to the value of an Ax.
The second table requires a bit of conversion to be even more useful. Since the chart provides the percentage applicable to not having an Ax you merely subtract the percentage number from 100% to get the percentage for someone holding Ax on any specific deal. So the 13.3% against converts to 86.7% for someone at a ten handed table holding Ax. Think about it, if you are going to be dealt Ax on average 7 times per hour and so will everyone else at a 10 handed table, and during the course of an hour you will see between 30 and 60 hands dealt, or 3 to 6 circuits around the table (depending whether you are playing live or online) it stands to reason that a random Ax is going to show up at the table many times.
Playing Correctly
Since Ax is not a rare occurrence at the poker table, it is critical that you play Ax correctly. Many players simply fall in love with a single Ace in their hand. They will see the flop with any Ax combination. Most of these players tend to be losers in the long run and this incorrect play of Ax is one, but certainly not the only, reason for their losses. Learning to play Ax correctly will improve your game.
You can immediately plug the Ax leak in your game by restricting your play to AT or better. This gives you AA, AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo, AJs, AJo, ATs and ATo or a total of 9 Ax combinations that are absolutely playable from any position.
From middle position you may be able to expand your Ax selection by playing suited Ax to A8. In later position and especially on the button you may even speculate with any suited Ax. In early position play your Ax hand selection only if you are first to act and then raise to about 3x the big blind. If re-raised be prepared to toss your Ax into the muck. In middle position play your Ax only if you are the first to enter the pot. Don't play even if there was a limper in front of you if your Ax is a hand looser than your selection for early position.
In late position apply the same rule but modify it to include the hands you would open with in middle position. This follows the important poker principle that if someone enters the pot in front of you your hand strength must be greater that what you would open with in that same position. When you do decide to enter the pot, slow-playing aces is never a good idea, especially your monster aces like AA, AK or AQ although be careful with AQ because it is easily dominated by any number of solid opening hands such as AA, AK, KK, QQ, Kx, and even mid-pairs that hit a set on the flop like TT to 88. If you enter the pot and there was a limper in front of you a raise to 3x the big blind plus the limper's call is correct. If there was a raiser in front of you then a smooth call to see the flop is a good move. At this point your goal should be to keep the pot small if there was a raiser in front but to eliminate opponents behind you if there was a limper in front. After the flop you can re-evaluate your hand.
If you hold, say AhQh and the flop comes 8c4d2s then all you hold is ace high and your hand is drawing pretty light. Anyone with an 8, 4 or even a 2 has you crushed at this moment. Your troubles multiply if someone speculated with an 84 0r even a 42 hoping for a wheel. If you were the opening raiser a C-bet is in order but for no more than half the pot. If there is a bet before you or someone plays back at you then it is most likely a good idea to give up on this hand.
On the other hand, you are dealt the same AhQh and the flop comes Jh Th Qd. Now you have top pair and top kicker plus you have a flush draw and a royal flush draw. Any heart and you have the nut flush, and if you hit the miracle Kh (46:1 against) you hold the absolute nuts. Another Q and you now have trip queens and an A brings you aces up, a whopping 14 outs to improve your hand. Now your C-bet should be between half and two-thirds the pot and if someone bets in front re-raise to 3 times the that bet. This is a fast play situation. With 14 outs and two cards to come you are even money to improve and if you don't you are 2:1 against to improve with one card to come on the turn. The value of this hand is huge.
Solid Play
When people see an ace in their hand they begin to think about the payoff at the end of the hand, the size of the pot they will win! But having Ax in your hand is not a guarantee of winning the hand; Even AA will lose 15% of the time. So, here is the other Ax rule, well, really the principle for playing solid poker: play your hand according to the value of your hand and not for the value of the pot. Hand values can and do change from street to street and your skill at observing those changes and how they effect your chances to take down a pot will make you a better poker player.
