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I keep seeing new players (like myself) who jump the gun when being dealt AA or any good pair, only to have the table fold and they end up grabbing the loose change instead of the gold - My question, when should you get agressive - should it be worked into slowly, wait for the TURN to be sure it's a viable hand, when??
Bee
Hi beemaster,
Speaking specifically in regards to playing a cash ring game its all about knowing your opponents at the table. If you've noticed them being very loose and calling lots of 4 or 6X BB raises then thats what you should raise if you pick up AA in early position. However if the table seems very tight then you should raise the amount that you think will get you 2 or so callers. The thing I hate the most is when I pick up AA and raise it to 4X the BB and get 6 callers because I just know I'm going to be risking all my money with the distinct chance that one of these fishies has hit 2 pair or trips or a straight or something.
When i have a hand like JJ or QQ I always raise it big and am happy to collect just the blinds if everyone folds. Often times I get one caller who most of the time is just plain loose and if the flop looks ok I push in. If there is a scare card I'll put out a test bet. Seems like half the time I put a test bet out they fold....they other half they reraise which is fine by me then I fold. Playing this way with JJ or QQ ensures profitability with these hands for me. To me limping or raising small with these hands is a receipe for disaster because anyone with overcards will call and then have you beat on many flops. My theory is raise almost everyone out and either take blinds or go up against the one caller who you know you have beat 65% of the time.
Its all about risk Vs reward, no hand is going to win more pots than AA, heads up or multi way.
All in pre flop has the highest win% but probably the lowest return. I think Joe's advice is pretty solid, the more you milk with it the more chance you have of getting beat. If you have a small BR, play them more aggressivly earlier, if you have a decent bankroll, you can get away with slow-playing them a little, but know that they will be cracked more often.
I'm playing Limit atm and can't protect my hand at all, all I can do is raise 1 blind pre flop and AA is still showing as winning 75% of the pots.
Do you want to win 75% of big pots or 95% of small pots ?
Start raising hands like JTs pre-flop and you'll find more callers for monsters like AA-QQ pre-flop.