Want to go even further and explore Ace-high flops? Join our on-demand coaching session and see real GTO vs. exploitative approaches on flops like A♠8♥4♣: www.splitsuit.com/ace-high-flops-training-session
I agree you should raise if you're playing suited Ax. You have to think that a lot of the other players will fold weak aces up against a strong bet. So, you may be holding suited A5 and get the unsuited AJ to fold. If an ace hits the board and you may win with top pair because you pushed the stronger ace out of the hand pre-flop. If the weak ace isn't suited I think you should consider tossing the cards away. These are hands that can really get you in trouble if something like AAX flops.
In general both players have 1/6 chance of hitting top pair on flop... 1/6! Hence why being in position is best cause you put pressure by betting first. With weak ace and you hit flop and get called, you're often waaaay behind. I will generally only commit if I flop/turn two pair and then start pushing hard to get the rare value.
In 1/2 small suited aces are very profitable if you won't go broke with 1 pair. I play it exactly for flush/straight and my opponents are usually straightforward so I know when to fold it if there's an ace on the flop. When everyone limps, you have to limp with them in position because people play any 2 cards and if it's flush over flush you will scoop a big pot. I play live a lot and those situations are not rare. Or when both players have flush draw and you win with A high.
I'm a passive person. I'd like to know what hands would be more favorable to my passive playing style. I don't mind playing passive aggressive (call or check the entire way but then a big raise or reraise at the end)
Helicopter Hat Hacker Rather than trying to optimize for a passive strategy, I'd suggest spending that same time learning how to break through your passive shell and into aggressive poker :)
a passive player would want to play hands ideal for trapping: Here's a tight range I would try: 22+,A9s+,A5s,KTs+,QTs+,J9s+,T9s,98s,87s,AJo+,KQo (14.3%) I think AT and KJ are too weak for trapping top pairs. K9s flops extremely vulnerable 2 pairs and you can easily be drawing dead vs AK on QJT. Q9s flops less straights and weaker top pairs than QJs/QTs J8s is just a bad hand (imo) 76s and 65s are too low and it's difficult to flop a strong hand that also hits your opponent. I would also incorporate more bluffs on the River to balance all your value bets (since you're usually trapping after all)
Overplaying rag aces is one of the biggest and costliest mistakes new poker players make. Even the 15% of the time or so you hit top pair with one of these hands, you’ll often be dominated. I really hate getting dealt these dangerous hands.
I don't even bother playing A6-9 most of the time. At least A2-5 you can flop or make a straight. A6-9 has 0 straight potential and still has kicker issues. See flops cheaply in position and ditch easily when I miss.
I generally fold my Weak Aces pre flop, gets you into heaps less trouble ( and you flop a monster), only in BB do I play them when there is no Major Raises
I had to watch the whole thing. Just got busted with an A3 off in the number 6 spot of a tournament. Prick had an ATs. Played aggressive to the shove. Got beat down. Oh well. Making to the final table is a win in any case. Good video.
Tournament play is way different then live cash games so unless you were short stacked shoving with A/3 off was a terrible play. You will always get called by the prick with A/10 suited in a tournament. That being said congrats on 6th place and GL with future tourneys.
@@2cardarsenal310 I was in too deep not to. I would have been left with a couple BB´s, if I recall. That´s all right - I REALLY got my ass kicked today. Did not even get close to the money.
I guess one question would be, are there any spots that jump to mind that you like to take advantage of in certain positions when you see people straddling? Thanks and good luck.
I know this question is coming about 7 years late but how and why does A4suited hit two pair on the flop more often than A6 off? Seems like it would be the same odds, what am I missing?
What you are missing is just the discrepancy between theoretical concepts and statistical figures. Do you know that pairs on hand are theoretically 8% to improve but statistically 25%? There are things that just cannot be simply explained with 2+2.
I tend to play suited aces because of nut flash potential. When you hit your flush you almost always have the nuts (unless the board is paired) and it puts you into the dream spot. You just know you are ahead. Yes, it's rare but so it is to hit a straight with connectors and gapers, and unlike suited aces those don't always give you the best hand
You say that A2s-A5s aren’t great because they offer a flush draw 15% and a straight draw 12%. But that kind of extra equity with the combined straight and flush draw potential means you can profitably cbet a lot of flops and potentially turns. I start playing A2s-A5s from the CO whereas I would fold A6-A9s. Why do you only consider raw equity in your analysis here but you don’t consider the fold equity that comes with the extra playability?
You can make more monthly playing A4 suited than AK. Because everyone over plays AK and you are more likely to throw away A4 suited if you don’t hit. But when you hit, and get a customer, it’s good.
Janis Lintmanis it depends. late position open is fine. Cuz the A, 9 or 10 could have showdown value. Bu they can be tricky becaue AQ off and AJ can be legitimate calling hands or late 3 betting hands. And sometimes JJ can also be a calling hand. You have be mindful of which players are calling you. But generally A9 and A10 off aren't hands. Imo
AT isn't rags, but it's nothing to be pumped about. I'm a tight player and I fold it UTG (6handed) and play it after that. I also almost never coldcall an open with AT outside of on the button deep stacked or defending the BB vs a small open.
@@roguecop8633 I'm a nit from the blinds, but I'm never not 3betting JJ in position (6 handed) -- there's no way to balance light 3-bets without hands like JJ/TT in your range, and if you're only 3 betting AA/KK/QQ/AK, you're begging to get crushed outside of play money/micros
+Chris Wilson it's tougher to get dealt 5 random cards that amount to a flush compared to a straight. But in NL you have 9 outs with a FD and 8 outs with an OESD...
You've got to remember that probabilities are different at different stages in the hand. Essentially by the time you have got to the flop you've gone down one branch of the tree of possible hands and *from the flop* flush draws are more likely to hit than straight draws. *But* you are more likely to get into a straight draws than a flush draw. Hope that makes sense.
If some one plays agressive most of the time it means he/she has weak cards. Maybe one ace. You cant say that in a certain % you can win, it depends on how many players.
The Poker Bank In terms of flopping them should be the same(given you play them the same amount) and a 3 should be second or third pair way more often than a 7 since it hasn´t many cards under it that can be hit by others and be worse...to be precise 1. :p I think what´s strange is that it isn´t higher. With a 3 your opponent HAS to miss everything except a 2, while with a 7 you should be more likely to have made "top" pair even if the other hit something since it has 5 cards under it, the 3 only 1.
you only say gutshot when talking about straights, what about open enders? 76s flop 58Q? its much better than a gutshot. i was in a home tourney a week ago and i knocked 2 ppl out with 74 of spades ahah, flop 56Q open ended st8 flush 2 ppl shove i call, 1 had KK and the other had QT, spade hits the river.
I don’t know too much about the fancy statistics... From my view you should fold them basically always, the chances of getting beaten by strong kicker are too high... only get into this hands in late positions and for a maximum of 1BB otherwise fold... 1vs1 the situation could be different of course... Those who recommend raising to steal the pot, I foresee that you’ll be stunned soon...
Suited while in back of the bus in a loose game for multilayer pots will be profitable over the long run. Unsuited is pretty much garbage especially A7 - A9.
It’s best to aggressively fold to the final table or and just accept that all the evidence suggests it’s luck and that you have no more control over the game than you do over your life just too many variables to contend with
That's doesn't make sense. Any two card not paired pre-flop will flop 2 pair or better the exact same amount no matter what cards you have. To say it changes because of the suit or cards only chages because of you actually playing them not that different cards hit more often than others 😂
@@Dragon-Believer Exactly Scott, then you face a reraise and are toast. Only way raising any Ace might work is if you are on the button, then you had better raise it hard or you will face multiple callers.
There is little understanding of actual poker in this video. I don't think they're trying to mislead anyone intentionally, but it is really misleading. Hint: A3s is a top12% hand.
+The Poker Bank I don't want to sound condescending, but I am the best poker player in the world (barring perhaps Prahlad) and I say that A3s is a top12% hand with 125bb+. All hand rankings are very dynamic though. At any rate - I'm trying to point out that poker isn't about waiting for the nuts. Here: 88+,A2s+,KTs+,QTs+,JTs,T9s,98s,87s,76s,65s,54s,AQo+ That's generally the best 12% range for deep stack NLH. Think about how the optimal strategy for post-flop would look like with this range. I could elaborate on that if you're interested.
+The Poker Bank Here's a Christmas present. Best sizing for preflop (with no antes and 100bb+ stacks) is 2.75bb. UTG should open about 27% and D about 40%. UTG can never fold A3s to a normal sized 3-bet. As a matter of fact you should probably stop folding to 3-bets as a rule.
With that first range your opponent could three-bet any ace near 12-15 BB, then pot or over bet every board where an ace flops. They can almost do it if they hit the under pair too. Think about it, what does this strategy do when an opponent can value jam 20% of the time with such a crap range? Oh that's right, it gets stacked.
Want to go even further and explore Ace-high flops? Join our on-demand coaching session and see real GTO vs. exploitative approaches on flops like A♠8♥4♣: www.splitsuit.com/ace-high-flops-training-session
I’m a terrible poker player. Up until this video I didn’t even know there was an X in the deck
🤣🤣😳🤣🤣
There is not
Societal Deformity whooooosh
Are u dumb he's obviously talking about axes
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Poker can get so detailed it's actually crazy
You have no idea how deep the rabbit hole can go :)
Like so many things in life.
what wont people do for money ...
The depth of it’s complexity hasn’t fully been discovered yet, because nobody’s solved the game.
I fold all starting hands.
I don't play poker and have a 100% chance of not losing
Lol
I base my strategy around suited pairs
@@terencehill3972 i actually won like that once
Why is this so funny haha
This is the first and only video I’ve watched, but I really liked the layout. I’ll be sure to watch more!
I love these videos, and I love the production/editing you put into them. Great stuff :)
+Comedian Matt Moore Thanks Matt!
+Comedian Matt Moore I agree :)
I agree you should raise if you're playing suited Ax. You have to think that a lot of the other players will fold weak aces up against a strong bet. So, you may be holding suited A5 and get the unsuited AJ to fold. If an ace hits the board and you may win with top pair because you pushed the stronger ace out of the hand pre-flop. If the weak ace isn't suited I think you should consider tossing the cards away. These are hands that can really get you in trouble if something like AAX flops.
there is no way an AJ unsuited will fold...I'm a noob, I wont fold that...
"smash the flop!"
love it! great term..... i'm using it for everything now!
smash the flop.
+Mark Saraceno yeah.... you're right. it is smash the flop.... EDIT
i'm an idiot
Love your videos, I check every day for your new releases. Keep'em coming!
Thanks Reginald! We certainly will!
I check too :D
Thank you as well =)
In general both players have 1/6 chance of hitting top pair on flop... 1/6! Hence why being in position is best cause you put pressure by betting first. With weak ace and you hit flop and get called, you're often waaaay behind. I will generally only commit if I flop/turn two pair and then start pushing hard to get the rare value.
In 1/2 small suited aces are very profitable if you won't go broke with 1 pair. I play it exactly for flush/straight and my opponents are usually straightforward so I know when to fold it if there's an ace on the flop. When everyone limps, you have to limp with them in position because people play any 2 cards and if it's flush over flush you will scoop a big pot. I play live a lot and those situations are not rare. Or when both players have flush draw and you win with A high.
I'm a passive person. I'd like to know what hands would be more favorable to my passive playing style. I don't mind playing passive aggressive (call or check the entire way but then a big raise or reraise at the end)
Helicopter Hat Hacker Rather than trying to optimize for a passive strategy, I'd suggest spending that same time learning how to break through your passive shell and into aggressive poker :)
a passive player would want to play hands ideal for trapping:
Here's a tight range I would try: 22+,A9s+,A5s,KTs+,QTs+,J9s+,T9s,98s,87s,AJo+,KQo (14.3%)
I think AT and KJ are too weak for trapping top pairs.
K9s flops extremely vulnerable 2 pairs and you can easily be drawing dead vs AK on QJT.
Q9s flops less straights and weaker top pairs than QJs/QTs
J8s is just a bad hand (imo)
76s and 65s are too low and it's difficult to flop a strong hand that also hits your opponent.
I would also incorporate more bluffs on the River to balance all your value bets (since you're usually trapping after all)
Overplaying rag aces is one of the biggest and costliest mistakes new poker players make. Even the 15% of the time or so you hit top pair with one of these hands, you’ll often be dominated. I really hate getting dealt these dangerous hands.
I don't even bother playing A6-9 most of the time. At least A2-5 you can flop or make a straight. A6-9 has 0 straight potential and still has kicker issues. See flops cheaply in position and ditch easily when I miss.
I generally fold my Weak Aces pre flop, gets you into heaps less trouble ( and you flop a monster), only in BB do I play them when there is no Major Raises
In cash games weak aces are playable, but I also fold them in tournaments mostly. Only gets you in trouble
I had to watch the whole thing. Just got busted with an A3 off in the number 6 spot of a tournament. Prick had an ATs. Played aggressive to the shove. Got beat down. Oh well. Making to the final table is a win in any case. Good video.
Tournament play is way different then live cash games so unless you were short stacked shoving with A/3 off was a terrible play. You will always get called by the prick with A/10 suited in a tournament. That being said congrats on 6th place and GL with future tourneys.
@@2cardarsenal310 I was in too deep not to. I would have been left with a couple BB´s, if I recall. That´s all right - I REALLY got my ass kicked today. Did not even get close to the money.
What happen to A9 hand?
I guess one question would be, are there any spots that jump to mind that you like to take advantage of in certain positions when you see people straddling? Thanks and good luck.
Thank you, i like this videos, they are very simple and clever for me!!!! Keep this great workd
I needed an intervention on this lol
What is the blocker
i agree aggression is key with a rag
Can we use this hands the same way we use small pairs? With a setmine mentality?
+Firo Rosso suited aces smash the flop far less often than small pairs.
Got it. thanks!
I know this question is coming about 7 years late but how and why does A4suited hit two pair on the flop more often than A6 off? Seems like it would be the same odds, what am I missing?
What you are missing is just the discrepancy between theoretical concepts and statistical figures. Do you know that pairs on hand are theoretically 8% to improve but statistically 25%? There are things that just cannot be simply explained with 2+2.
@@khanhnamlai4415 thanks? I think?
I tend to play suited aces because of nut flash potential. When you hit your flush you almost always have the nuts (unless the board is paired) and it puts you into the dream spot. You just know you are ahead. Yes, it's rare but so it is to hit a straight with connectors and gapers, and unlike suited aces those don't always give you the best hand
even unsuited can bluff knowing ppl will b scared of nut flush .. they wont have !
You say that A2s-A5s aren’t great because they offer a flush draw 15% and a straight draw 12%. But that kind of extra equity with the combined straight and flush draw potential means you can profitably cbet a lot of flops and potentially turns. I start playing A2s-A5s from the CO whereas I would fold A6-A9s. Why do you only consider raw equity in your analysis here but you don’t consider the fold equity that comes with the extra playability?
You can make more monthly playing A4 suited than AK. Because everyone over plays AK and you are more likely to throw away A4 suited if you don’t hit. But when you hit, and get a customer, it’s good.
I think A9 and ATo are rag aces too, am I a nit?
Janis Lintmanis it depends. late position open is fine. Cuz the A, 9 or 10 could have showdown value. Bu they can be tricky becaue AQ off and AJ can be legitimate calling hands or late 3 betting hands. And sometimes JJ can also be a calling hand. You have be mindful of which players are calling you. But generally A9 and A10 off aren't hands. Imo
Yes
A10 are connectors
AT isn't rags, but it's nothing to be pumped about. I'm a tight player and I fold it UTG (6handed) and play it after that. I also almost never coldcall an open with AT outside of on the button deep stacked or defending the BB vs a small open.
@@roguecop8633 I'm a nit from the blinds, but I'm never not 3betting JJ in position (6 handed) -- there's no way to balance light 3-bets without hands like JJ/TT in your range, and if you're only 3 betting AA/KK/QQ/AK, you're begging to get crushed outside of play money/micros
I don’t get how ace 6 or ace 4 have different top pair flop percentages. Can someone explain that to me?
A4 can catch top pair (with the 4) on 432. A6 has more options like 652, 643, 632, etc.
Good job
Flushes are supposed to be harder to get than straights so how is it more likely to improve to a flush than a straight?
+Chris Wilson it's tougher to get dealt 5 random cards that amount to a flush compared to a straight. But in NL you have 9 outs with a FD and 8 outs with an OESD...
You've got to remember that probabilities are different at different stages in the hand. Essentially by the time you have got to the flop you've gone down one branch of the tree of possible hands and *from the flop* flush draws are more likely to hit than straight draws.
*But* you are more likely to get into a straight draws than a flush draw.
Hope that makes sense.
Very impressed by your video!! Do you still offer coaching?
Thanks Engels! I do still offer coaching, yes. Feel free to contact me via email or my site splitsuit.com
Cool, thanks for the info. I'm going to buy FlopZilla when I can afford it but 'til then I'm using Equilab.
I use this video for free.
Awesome vid
Thank you =)
If some one plays agressive most of the time it means he/she has weak cards. Maybe one ace. You cant say that in a certain % you can win, it depends on how many players.
great videos as usual thank you!!
You are very welcome!
Great video really enjoyed this
is there data on why aggressive is better than limping? Seems like aggressive was the trend and now everybody is limping to catch player off guard.
2:00 Why is the "nut fd (1 card)" 0%?
Because with a suited hand you would always use both of your 2 cards. Only unsuited hands would hit 1-card flushes.
All interesting vids. However you say in this one that A7 hits top pair 16% of the time and A3 hits top pair 15% of the time. Is that right?!
Gibraltariano it's tough to flop top pair with a 7 (since pairing the 7 is usually second or third pair)
The Poker Bank
In terms of flopping them should be the same(given you play them the same amount) and a 3 should be second or third pair way more often than a 7 since it hasn´t many cards under it that can be hit by others and be worse...to be precise 1. :p
I think what´s strange is that it isn´t higher.
With a 3 your opponent HAS to miss everything except a 2, while with a 7 you should be more likely to have made "top" pair even if the other hit something since it has 5 cards under it, the 3 only 1.
I tend to fold them. Rarely do I see AAA, AAX, AXX, or XXX on the flop and end up kicking myself.
Same here, especially on the Pokerstars tourneys that almost always squeeze 90% of the field into 10BB
I usually hit a wheel straight
i mostly don't play weak aces, only sometimes when it's suited.
Cool video.
Thanks Stephen!
i didn't know i had to be a mathematician to play god dam cards
big difference between playing your average joe and someone who's put 1000 hours into studying the game
you only say gutshot when talking about straights, what about open enders? 76s flop 58Q? its much better than a gutshot. i was in a home tourney a week ago and i knocked 2 ppl out with 74 of spades ahah, flop 56Q open ended st8 flush 2 ppl shove i call, 1 had KK and the other had QT, spade hits the river.
Bigg Rigg, hey good buddy ,read me the title to this video and then tell me how i get anything except a gut shot with ace rag?????
gerat vid man
I don’t know too much about the fancy statistics... From my view you should fold them basically always, the chances of getting beaten by strong kicker are too high... only get into this hands in late positions and for a maximum of 1BB otherwise fold... 1vs1 the situation could be different of course... Those who recommend raising to steal the pot, I foresee that you’ll be stunned soon...
Suited while in back of the bus in a loose game for multilayer pots will be profitable over the long run. Unsuited is pretty much garbage especially A7 - A9.
Awesome
idk I play sng a5 suited is the nut's
Conclusion, never play any hands and just let your chips leak slowly
No such thing as kicker issues if you're playing against me and I have AK.
so either fold or bluff your ass off. Got it
It’s best to aggressively fold to the final table or and just accept that all the evidence suggests it’s luck and that you have no more control over the game than you do over your life just too many variables to contend with
Why do all the same players end up winning all the time? Ivey, Negreanu, Hellmuth. Ever heard of those guys?
One person missed the like button
+Kerry Pooley like.
If you are going into the hand thinking about the percentages...... you have already lost.
One of the dumbest comments I’ve seen
did you say weak ass hands?
According to this guy.. you should told every hand preflop
That's doesn't make sense. Any two card not paired pre-flop will flop 2 pair or better the exact same amount no matter what cards you have. To say it changes because of the suit or cards only chages because of you actually playing them not that different cards hit more often than others 😂
So you're saying connectors don't form straights more easily?
If you can’t hit and ace on the flop with weak aces then don’t play them
When you hit A with 3, most of the time, your opponent has a better kicker
I see ace i raise
@@Dragon-Believer Exactly Scott, then you face a reraise and are toast. Only way raising any Ace might work is if you are on the button, then you had better raise it hard or you will face multiple callers.
poker is like golf I have a great round,and the next is like i never played before.
I play HU hypef so there is a very simple way to play those hands:
You shove them
Computer poker is not even helpful to what iam looking for
There is little understanding of actual poker in this video. I don't think they're trying to mislead anyone intentionally, but it is really misleading.
Hint: A3s is a top12% hand.
+Christian Drechsler Even if you drag the bar in Equilab to 12% the weakest Ace included is A9s.
+The Poker Bank I don't want to sound condescending, but I am the best poker player in the world (barring perhaps Prahlad) and I say that A3s is a top12% hand with 125bb+.
All hand rankings are very dynamic though.
At any rate - I'm trying to point out that poker isn't about waiting for the nuts.
Here: 88+,A2s+,KTs+,QTs+,JTs,T9s,98s,87s,76s,65s,54s,AQo+ That's generally the best 12% range for deep stack NLH. Think about how the optimal strategy for post-flop would look like with this range.
I could elaborate on that if you're interested.
+The Poker Bank
Here's a Christmas present.
Best sizing for preflop (with no antes and 100bb+ stacks) is 2.75bb.
UTG should open about 27% and D about 40%.
UTG can never fold A3s to a normal sized 3-bet.
As a matter of fact you should probably stop folding to 3-bets as a rule.
With that first range your opponent could three-bet any ace near 12-15 BB, then pot or over bet every board where an ace flops. They can almost do it if they hit the under pair too. Think about it, what does this strategy do when an opponent can value jam 20% of the time with such a crap range?
Oh that's right, it gets stacked.
A-9 should be considered rag too cause it’s just 9 high, A-10 can have the best straight & it also can get a royal flush