Your Complete Introduction to Aces Hands in Poker

In the game of poker, an Ace is considered to be the most powerful card in the deck. Ranking atop all of the other cards in its suit, an Ace’s power doesn’t only come from its ranked strength, but also because in many variants of poker (such as Texas Hold’em and Omaha),

Aces can also be considered low, giving it an added element of deceptive strength and function!

That’s right – in the most common forms of poker, an Ace is considered to be both high and low! This fact means that not only will a pair of Aces beat a pair of Kings, but it will also form the low ends of “wheel” straights, like in A-2-3-4-5.

Table of Contents

When Is an Ace High? When Is an Ace Low?

In nearly all “made hands” in poker, Aces are going to be considered as a high card value. The following chart illustrates this:

Common Aces in Poker Variants

Granted, most of you reading this will likely be geared to play No-Limit Texas Hold’em. However, it’s still essential to address how Aces are ranked in different forms of the game.

They won’t always have the same high/low function across all types of poker. Sometimes, Aces will only be high; sometimes,Aces will only be ranked low!

The following chart shows how Aces function across various poker game types:

Ace Poker: Rules/Hand Ranking Power

As discussed, in the most common forms of poker, Aces are primarily going to be considered and used as high cards. This fact is crucial in games like No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) and Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO), where the aim of the game is to try to make the highest possible hand!

As such, having an Ace in your hand can give you added power, but it can also be a detriment to you in other situations.

Take the following two examples:

Example 1: Ace Kicker Poker

For a first example, suppose if you hold AK and your opponent holds KQ. The board runs out K8632. At showdown, both you and your opponent hold a pair of Kings. In this instance, you will win the hand because your Ace is a better “kicker” (the high card that will affect total hand ranking) than your opponent’s Queen.

In essence, your five-card hand would be K-K-A-8-6 while your opponent’s would be K-K-Q-8-6.

Having that powerful Ace kicker makes all the difference!

Example 2: Pair of Aces, Kicker Problems

For the next example, this one is to illustrate how having an Ace in your hand can be useful in making high pairs, but a detriment if you don’t always have a decent kicker to go along with it.

For instance, you have A3 off-suit (A3o), and your opponent has AK suited (AKs). The board comes A-J-8-6-2. Right now, your 5-card hand is a pair of Aces with a Jack kicker (A-A-J-8-6). Your opponent has a pair of Aces with a King kicker (A-A-K-J-8).

In this situation, you’ve run into what’s called “kicker problems.” Yes, you have a high pair in the form of two Aces, but you aren’t faring so well because of your low kicker. If you knew with 100% certainty that your opponent had an Ace, the best situation you could hope for would be a “chop” (split pot) if your opponent had A5, A4, or A3.

Overplaying Hands Containing an Ace

It’s essential to realise the value that having an Ace can hold in the game of poker. However, in place of the last point on “kickers”, it’s also crucial to realise that not all hands with an Ace are considered equal.

NOTE: In poker, when one refers to a hand as AX. This means that they definitely have an Ace in their hand, and the X could be representative of any other unpaired card. For example, AX can refer to A2 / A3 / A4 / A5 / A6 / A7 / A8 / A9 / AT/ AJ/ AQ / AK.

What Hands With Aces Will Good Poker Players Play?

Good players will not play every hand with an Ace in it, but they will often look for ways in which their 2^nd card has the potential to interact with the Ace in their hand.

• Does it have the potential of making broadways straights (A-K-Q-J-T)?
• What about wheels (A-2-3-4-5)?
• How about flushes (suited combinations)?
• Is there a high kicker to go along with it?

Additionally, good players also note that they’d rather play a hand like A5s than a hand like A6s because of the playability aspect. In both cases, the kicker is low, and yes, while the 6 is still better than a 5 when it comes to determining “kickers,” sometimes this won’t matter. If the community cards were high enough, this factor would make them irrelevant. (i.e. A6 and A5 on a K-J-8-7-2 board would both make up the same 5-card hand of A-K-J-8-7 for Ace-high). 

Beginners vs Pros: Playing Aces In Poker

To summarise the previous section, good players will usually try to play –

• Suited Aces (AXs)
• Broadways Aces (AT+)

- if they play a hand with an Ace in it at all!

The extent of how much trouble new players can get into by playing too many AX hands can be fully seen when looking at combinatorics in poker. Taking Ace-King, by multiplying 4 Aces by 4 Kings, it becomes evident that there are 16 different combinations of this hand. Of these, we can determine that there are 4 suited and 12 unsuited combinations.

Knowing this, let’s consider the number of AX combinations a good player might play (even though exact hand ranges would vary by position and situation). There would be 16 x 4 = 64 combos of broadway Aces, and 4 x 8 = 32 other suited combinations of Aces (A2s – A9s), bringing the total AX combos in a good player’s range to 96.

On the other hand, if we take a look at the combinatorics for an amateur’s range of all AX hands, we’d see that they have 16 x 12 = 192 combinations of AX.(This number is precisely DOUBLE the number of AX combos a “good” player might play in any given situation!)

These calculations go to show just how easily beginners can get themselves into trouble with “kicker problems”by playing so many AX hands. Situations will arise, all too frequently, where their AX hand will be “dominated” – that is to say, where their kicker with their Ace will be inferior to their opponent’s.

 

 

Playing Specific AX Hands

In this section, we will shed some light on the most powerful unpaired hand combos with an Ace(AT+) – the value they have and recommendations on how to play them:

Poker: Ace-King

Ace-King is one of the most formidable hands in poker! Whether it’s suited or unsuited, the high broadway potential of this hand is fierce, making it playable with either with a raise or a re-raise!

Yes, while it is not a “made hand” before the flop(unlike any pocket pair), against most pairs QQ or below, it usually carries about 50% equity (chance of winning) before the flop. It crushes most other unpaired hands!

Going all-in with AK before the flop is undoubtedly a frequent play in poker (depending on stack sizes and opponent profiles) - most notably in tournament poker when stacks get shallow.

In cash games, while stacks are often much deeper, if you aren’t going all-in with AK preflop (it’s usually acceptable to if you have 100bb or less), then you’re definitely going to want to up your post-flop game. You will need to maximise your winnings with this powerhouse after the community cards come out.

Poker: Ace-Queen

As the second-strongest AX hand in the deck, AQ certainly carries some power potential too. From almost all positions, you’re going to want to play AQ. (The only exception might be AQo from Under The Gun (UTG) – the player first to act preflop– at a very tough/strong table.

Additionally, you may want to 3bet (re-raise vs an initial raise) many of your AQs combinations for value. When you compute the strength of this hand compared to many of your opponent’s opening/raising ranges, AQs is usually going to do very well. Additionally, the playability of this suited high-card hand does very well in position.

Unlike its suited counterpart, you don’t have to always 3bet AQo preflop and many times you can do well to call, too.This hand is going to do better than a lot of your opponent’s range much of the time. It can also work as a decent candidate to help strengthen your preflop calling range (so that you’re not always calling with medium or speculative hands and 3betting your strongest).

Post-flop, if an A or a Q comes, you’re often going to have the best hand with top pair and an excellent kicker, meaning you should frequently bet your AQ’s here for both value and protection. If you face resistance from your opponent, you’ll have to assess that player’s tendencies to know how to adequately continue. (Are they capable of semi-bluffing/bluffing, or do they only ever have made hands of two pair/sets or better?)

Poker Ace-Jack

While AJ suited could undoubtedly be opened from EP at a 9-handed table, AJ off-suit should more often be folded in the same spot. While the “suited-ness” of a hand will usually only add about 2% equity to one’s holding, in terms of playability, suited hands will play much better than their off-suit counterparts.

Furthermore, with numerous “in position” players left to act after you, AJo can certainly get you into some tough post-flop spots.And even in preflop situations, while AJ hand will usually be good enough to open, you must be careful when facing a 3bet+ after you open. This play is especially true if your opponent is a tight player and is only re-raising better hands (AQ+ or an overpair).

In fact, in lower limit cash games, most players will rarely 3bet preflop as a bluff and more often 3bet only with solid premiums, against which AJ doesn’t fare so well.

If another player raises first and the action folds to you, AJ also poses an interesting choice of how to proceed:

• You couldopt to 3bet but would usually hate then facing a potential 4bet;
• Calling opens you up to the chance of being squeezed with a hand you can’t call with (unless maybe if it’s AJ suited);
• And folding is often too weak a play for a hand as strong as this.

As such, AJs will be either a call or a 3bet for value, typically, while AJo could be either a call (if facing a super loose opponent), a fold, or a 3bet as a bluff (if you have a 3bet bluffing range). In the caseof 3betting with AJo, taking the initiative in the hand gives you the potential to win it either preflop or postflop with fold equity, instead just trying to make a strong made hand. This decision is important because it won’t have as many ways to win as its suited counterpart with the added “playability” of being suited.

Poker Ace-Ten

Ace-Ten is the most difficult of the above AX hands to play. While AT beats weaker Aces, there becomes more and more of a possibility that you could be up against a better AX hand yourself.

A Word on Table Position: Playing Aces in Poker

6-Max Cash Game AX Playability Chart

You’ll likely have noticed in reading this article that, the earlier position you are in, the tighter a range you need to have to open. By the same thought, in an unopened pot, you can open-raise with a broader range when you are situated in later positions.

As a suggestion to help you determine which starting hands to play from which positions, it’s recommended to use the free 20 Poker Charts by 888poker. Using these as a baseline for your preflop decisions will help you better understand and become accustomed to the fundamentals of hand selection, based on position. It will also help you determine where and how to deviate from “standard” preflop play, depending on the circumstances.

As for hands that you flat call with vsa raise, a good rule of thumb to use is that you should flat with hands that either –

• beat/dominate hands in your opponent’s opening range but would be too weak to 3bet with for value;

OR

• hands with good implied odds, such and low to mid pocket pairs.

In Summary

As this article illustrates, not all Aces are created equal. It’s essential to think of how the second card in one’s AX hand will interact with the Ace to potentially make a strong hand (i.e. suited for flushes, low for wheel straights, high for broadway straights/good kickers).

That said, an Ace is still a powerful card in the deck, as it can be valued both low and high in specific situations. However, having any Ace in your hand is never a justification to play it. You must see what other card(s) you are dealt and play optimally accordingly.