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Originally Posted by ultimodragon  Depends on a lot of variables mate,but having switched to cash play mostley now where i dont know players,my Ax range has really changed..il muck most straight off the bat unless im in a really good chip lead,but foremost how many players in hand? 6 people,10..chances are someone else has one...think thats a good habit to get out off,especially with something like A4 say and you hit a low flop...puts you right back into chasing territory,thinking i might hit a straight or i might catch an ace as a saftey net...not good.. 
Nice post again Buddy  |
Thanks! Yeah at a 10 seater I'll only play A- K,Q, or J in early or mid position, and I'll usually fold AJ or AQ off if I get played back at by someone that I don't know (or know isn't full of it). Cut off, button, or blinds I'll play A 10 or A8 suited. But for that reason, I prefer playing 6 seaters. It forces you to play more hands than just the highest pairs and As. Your opponents are forced to fold blinds to you more often. If they loosen up you can get a feel for their range and style and know the best way to play back at them.
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Originally Posted by T_B_H Ax or rag often
position and stack is the biggest thing to consider, even out of position u can bully with them, then fold to a huge re raise
but with a reasonable stack like to see a flop coz AK suited is as good as A anything if u hit a flush(except a full house board)or better
A up to 5 has flush and straight potential, i dont like A6-9, and A 10 vbove has both straight/flush potential
so is good to play them cheap enough, but to play them u have to be prepaired to fold post flop (same as any other hand) and dont get drawn in to thinking ur gonna hit a flush draw etc, play them on value, cheap turn bet see it or even jack it up and raise (depending on opponent) coz ur only a 1 in 3 to hit |
Very good point. I guess I saw AK to A2 getting progressively worse where the bigger gaps are between higher kickers (e.g., huge difference between AK and AQ as compared to between A4 A3). I guess I just see wheels winning so rarely in NLHE. I think another thing is A 2-5 therefore becomes speculative for that reason. But A to 5 straight will always be worse than flush or boat or any other straight and will happen less often than pocket pairs hit a set or medium suited connectors hit a good draw. And the boards that do hit weak aces are ones full of low cards that won't help anyone else's hand and make the pot big enough to pay you off. But yeah I rarely value A 6-9 very highly except for short handed or if it's suited and I can see the flop cheaply.
So to keep pushing the question, Phil Gordon talks about the Ace-x principle. You should find it, but in short when you are short stacked in a tourney and have to make a stand somewhere, and you have an A, you have greater than 50% of not being dominated if your kicker is higher than the number of people left to act. For example, short stacked at final table with 4 opponents remaining, you should shove under the gun with A5 or better. So play is obviously not the same in a deep stacked cash game, but the math has to be somewhat the same. Does post flop play come into the equation enough to make it not feasible to raise an unopened pot with a hand like A7off in late position?
This begs the next question: We all get a feel of how to play most starting hands preflop, but what about post flop? Say we had A9off in big blind and 4 players limped and SB called too. Board comes A J 4 rainbow. Do you put a feeler bet? Do you pot control and check call to the river? Do you hope you turn a 9 and give up at that point if you don't? Do you check raise and hope that kills actions? This is just one example, but does anyone have a good post flop way to play an A with good but not best kicker, or average or even no kicker?
Thanks for the two responses. If you can't tell I really like picking other players' brains. (not in a zombie way)
05-25-2011
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