Playing AA and KK

In No Limit Texas Hold’em AA and KK are the two hands that you hope to see each time you check your hole cards. In terms of pre-flop hand strength they are the best hands you can be dealt. There will be occasions where AA or KK will cause you to lose a big pot either through a bad beat or a slow played monster held by your opponent but to have them as your cards is a good thing in cash games, so think positive!

Because online poker can be frustrating at times it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking “Finally I have a good hand, it’s time to get paid”. You should still take into account your stack, position and any knowledge you know about your opponent, but of course first and foremost you need to play the hand strongly as this is a good spot for you. Do not get carried away, however, as they are only one pair despite looking so pretty.

There is always the risk the hand may lose but you cannot play with scared money. A professional poker player friend of mine analysed a hand played by a co-host on my poker radio show and he pointed out that a bet he made on the flop was, “because you were scared that you might get beat” rather than the correct move to build the pot. You might think “does it matter, it’s still a bet!” but the reasoning behind such moves and your mindset in playing Aces or Kings must be correct if you are to make money long term in this spot.

Pre-flop I would always make a raise. This defines your hand and if you are re-raised I simply shove all-in. Your hand is too strong to get involved in a post-flop war and if they appear game to gamble you may as well get your money in with the best of it. Because he is raising the chances are that the money will go in anyway. If you are coolered, e.g. AA versus your KK, what can you do? Unless he hits an unlikely set you will look to bet strongly, so playing passively in this spot will cost you the bets that you could have won from them folding AK, QQ, JJ or even a KK if they are tight enough. When you are three bet with Aces or Kings it is not always the other two kings or aces.

Usually it is the turn and river where pocket Aces and Kings become tricky to play. Using the “small hand, small pot, big hand, big pot,” cash game rule of thumb things are becoming edgy for your hand once you get to the turn. After all, it is simply one pair. When you improve, you can continue firing at the pot but with an unimproved pair it may be time to check behind and control the pot size. The board texture is bad news for you if there are flushes and straights easily held. A paired board with a high card e.g. JJ is also bad if you think your opponent could have the full house. Read the flop cards carefully, this will help you decide whether you can continue to bet hard.

I find if you check behind on the turn and your opponent checks to you again on the river you can value bet knowing you are ahead. If they have a really strong hand here they will usually bet the pot or overbet the pot on the river trying to reclaim what they perceive they lost by you checking behind on the turn. This is a signal of strength. You should be able to bet on the turn with one pair if you board is kind to you. Not doing this is a weak play. AA and KK are good hands and should be played as such. If an Ace comes on the board and you have KK then slow right down as you are usually beat with more than one opponent. There is nothing worse than losing to a raggy Ace with pocket Kings.

Visit bwin.com and check out their growing poker room. They are kind enough to deal you Pocket kings and pocket Aces as often as you will get in a live game or any other poker room online in order to help you practise. Aces and Kings look really nice on their software, go and take a look.

By Malcolm Clarke

Popularity: 2% [?]

Tags: aces and kings, bwin.com, online poker, poker, poker strategy