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More than one player has seen his pair of aces go down in flames, taking his entire stack with it. If you’re a no limit hold’em player, how can you avoid being a loser with pocket aces?

Raise Pre-Flop

Some people like to get sneaky and limp with aces. In most cases, this is a big mistake. If you are in a very early position and think you can get another player to raise so you can re-raise, or as a very rare change from your usual tactics, you may consider a limp.

However, in most situations, it is very important that you raise pre-flop with aces. Firstly, you want to get money into the pot. If the pot is unraised, it will be very easy for opponents to get away on the flop if your aces are still best.

Secondly, you want to thin the field. The more players there are out against you, the better chance there is that one will catch something to beat you.

Most importantly, you need to find out where you are. If you raise pre-flop, you are likely to get called only by people with premium hands, meaning mostly big cards. On a flop of Q 8 7, you can be fairly sure that your aces are still best. However, if you fail to raise before the flop, your opponents could hold anything, from 56 to Q7, and when you bet, you will only get called by one of these well disguised hands that beats you.

Know When You Are Beat

There’s no law that says you have to put all your money in with aces. If you get two callers pre flop with two black aces and the flop comes T J Q all hearts, it’s okay to check fold. It’s great to get aces, but if they’re beat, they’re beat.

Don’t Go on Tilt

From time to time, you will lose with aces no matter what you do. In these cases, it is very important to keep a level head. It is just one hand and if you do the right thing consistently, you should come out ahead. Continue to play your best game and if you can’t, get up and play another day. There’s always another free poker bonus around the corner to get your bankroll back in shape.

photo credit: pocket aces poker blog