Let’s Talk Series – Ace Rag
Let’s face it, the Ace is one of the most addictive cards in Hold ‘Em poker. It’s the top of the deck, nothing is higher. But there are certain ways to play with Aces at the casino. You can either get AA, the biggest made hand preflop in poker. Or you can get AK-A10 suited, strong connectable hands. Or you can get A9 or lower suited or unsuited. Now some of the worst players in the game will play any ace, suited or unsuited it doesn’t matter, nor does it matter if the second card is a rag. Chances are these players get lucky and flop top pair plus bottom pair sometimes, but not often enough to make a profit. This style of playing the Ace is a long term losing style. A shark on the other hand, may be much more prone to throw away his ace rag, especially if he’s out of position, and especially if they’re not suited. But what if your ace rag is suited. Well you have the opportunity to make the nut flush, and if there is no pair on the board, you have the absolute nuts considering there is no full house out there to beat you. But there are certain preconditions to be met to play Ace rag suited. One of those is position. You should be in late position if you’re looking to play this hand. Otherwise, you’ll more often than not end up calling and then folding like a fish. But if you’re in position, you get a chance to see what’s happening in front of you in terms of betting and as a result get a much better idea of the hand strength of your opponents. The next thing to consider is how many people are in the pot. The odds of flopping a flush are extremely low, and the odds of flopping four to the flush are low at best. So you need to judge how many people are in the hand. Ace rag suited is a multiway hand. It’s one that you get in with several opponents in which you can draw out on. It doesn’t fare well heads up as it leaves you in a situation where your opponent could have a bigger ace, or you pair your rag and your opponent pairs something higher. So you want several people pumping money in the pot so as to give you the right odds to play the hand. Couple that with your position and you are well on your way to value town in the event that your flush hits on the turn. And if enough people stay in and give you odds to call to the river, then you’re getting an even bigger pot. But remember, this hand doesn’t beat everything. It should be just as easy to fold out of position and in position if you’re not getting the right drawing odds.
