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he Guardian Poker Column |
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Victoria
Coren |
Friday November 4, 2005
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How to play poker (How to play has been running from issue 16) |
Last week, we talked about what to do with a pair of aces.
But if that's the only hand you ever worry about ... I wish I had your
problems.
A much trickier proposition is a single ace. The most frequent
mistake that new players make is to get overexcited about a lone bullet by
itself. When I do commentary on amateur or celebrity poker tournaments, I
invariably find myself shaking my head in despair as yet another player
fritters his chips away by refusing to pass any hand with an ace in
it.
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The problem is, everybody likes aces. If you
bet with an ace, someone else will call with an ace. And if you're playing A6
or A7, your opponent is likely to have a bigger "kicker". If you miss the flop,
you've got nothing. If you hit a pair of aces, you're still losing. What a
mess.
AK, an ace with a king, is obviously a big hand. Now you're the
one with the best kicker. We will return to those two cards next week, as AK
merits a column by itself - but for now, yes, you can raise with them. AQ is
also strong. AJ is moving into the tricky territory where you need to start
being careful. As for an ace with any other kicker, inexperienced players
should just throw it away. Don't get involved. And A9 is not just a poisoned
chalice, it's a goddamn beaker of arsenic.
The only exception I would
make is with "suited wheel cards", where you're in late position and nobody
else has raised. With A2, A3, A4 or A5 of the same suit, you are drawing to the
nut flush and a straight, as well as two pair. But the key is to remember what
kind of hand you're aiming for. If you hit the ace to make one pair, don't get
excited and put all your money in. You'll only get called by a bigger
ace.
So: either play very big aces, or very small aces with a focused
goal in mind. Put the middle-sized ones in the bin. Like plastic lobsters in a
Chinese restaurant window, they aren't nearly as tasty as they
look.
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