Chuck Blount: Poker: Pocket aces provide excitement but can hit you in the pocket Published: 2005-12-29
San Antonio Express-News
Pocket aces are the best starting hand in Texas Hold 'Em and will go on to win the pot roughly 50 percent of the time without needing improvement versus multiple opponents for the lucky player holding them.
You get them roughly once every 220 hands — the same odds for any specific pocket pair — and it's most players' favorite hand for obvious reasons. Often called "Bullets," "Pocket Rockets" and "American Airlines," A-A has more nicknames than Puff Daddy.
The old saying in poker circles is that the hand will do one of two things for you: win a small pot or lose a very large one.
The small pot theory exists because the player holding the hand has two of the four cards everybody at the table is hoping to see in their hand, and even with one, they need another ace on the flop for the fireworks to go off. Other hands such as K-K, Q-Q, J-J or A-K will give you tons of action and pay off your aces, but the chances of two players being dealt such powerful holdings are abysmally low.
Assuming one is not playing at a loose table where all hands are live, it can be difficult to build a big pot. A flop such of As-10c-8h will give you action from a player holding an ace. Heck, you may get fortunate enough to run into someone with two pair vs. your set, but this flop will alienate the rest of the table for fear of the ace.
Don't get greedy if all you do with the hand is take down the blinds and a few stray bets.
Since pocket aces only guarantee you a winner half the time, a player should proceed to do everything possible to make sure they land in the good half of that equation. There's some occasional merit to slow-playing the aces depending on table dynamics (i.e. let the wild man bet so you can double the stakes), but the rule of thumb is be aggressive and bet out your hand. You may run into somebody that thinks they have the best of it and they'll pay you off.
There's nothing worse than limping into a pot with aces only to have a flop of 10c-4c-7s give your opponent two pair or a flush draw with a hand that wouldn't have legs to stand up against a raise.
This leads to the theory of losing the large pot with your aces.
Suppose you did play the hand aggressively and raised properly. The flop listed in the above scenario would appear harmless, and it would be incorrect to put the brakes on. Do you think somebody called your raise with 10h-7d? It's unlikely.
You have a wide range of hands beat, and if you do put your opponent on a flush draw there is about a 70-percent chance a third club won't hit the board on either the turn or river to fill it up. And even if it does come on the turn, aces can play tricks on you and it's easy for a player to convince himself his hand is still good. Going against your initial read, which is typically correct most of the time, can cost you a lot of chips.
The player holding aces against an opponent that justifiably called your raise with 10-10 or 7-7 hoping to hit a set on the flop is virtually drawing dead to two outs.
Only the most obvious signs of danger can lead a player to fold pocket aces, and those situations arise only after a player has committed a lot of chips to the pot. Every losing hand is a bad beat when you have pocket aces.
My best advice is to keep an eye out for paired boards with high cards. It shouldn't be too hard to throw away your hand if there are multiple players in the pot.
This being said, if the poker gods would like to give me pocket aces once every 50 hands instead of the statistical 220, I will welcome them with open arms. They are a runaway winner in the long run and the biggest hand in poker.
THE LINGO
Limping: Simply call the big blind in hopes of seeing a flop.
Business bets on poker popularity Published: 2005-12-27
By Katie Robinson
The Progress
Dec 27 2005
Poker is huge.
The game of luck, skill, and people has become such the crazy roller coaster ride that everybody now seems to want to jump aboard.
“There is no other skilled game in the world that has such emotional swings. There are highs, lows, ups and downs,” said Roanan Hawes, owner of Roanan’s Home Game Services, Chilliwack’s new poker supply store.
“It’s a true roller coaster ride and all you can do is get in, hang on tight, and go.”
That’s what Hawes did 15 years ago.
He was first introduced to the game while at a bar in Calgary, and his interest was instantly ignited. He kept playing, he kept learning, and soon he became a prominent professional dealer.
But Hawes was an early bloomer with the game. Today’s craze didn’t begin exploding until just three years ago at the 2003 World Series of Poker. Chris Moneymaker, a 27-year-old average Joe with amateur poker talent, qualified for the series in an online tournament at an entry fee of just $40. To buy into the series though, it would have cost $10,000.
And then he beat the odds. He beat out thousands of contenders; he beat out major world players; and in the end, he took home the grand pot of $2.5 million.
“For a $40 investment, he won [$2.5 million],” Hawes said. “That’s when the explosion occurred.”
People began to realize that it wasn’t just the rich and the famous in these events, it was ordinary people too. And suddenly they realized that they too could have a shot at millions.
“Everybody likes poker,” Hawes said. “I’ve played against high school kids, math whizzes, taxi drivers and pros. There is no stereotype to poker players •??everybody is playing poker.”
But first, a bit of talent is required.
“What makes a good poker player? Knowledge. Knowledge of people and knowledge of mathematics,” Hawes said. “Poker is not just a cards game. It’s about playing the man. You have to know who you’re playing against.
“It is a game of skill, but there’s also a huge bluff to it.”
And notorious poker player Howard Lederer relied on the art of that bluff a few years ago. He didn’t look at his cards once through the entire tournament, and yet he still made it to the final table.
“He did it strictly by playing the people,” Hawes said.
Hawes doesn’t believe poker is just a fad, a trend that will soon disappear. It’s here to stay, he said. And he hopes the popularity will continue to grow.
Roanan’s Home Game Services is at 46116 Yale Road inside Mugabytes Internet Cafe. For more information call 604-701-8736.
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