Another Way to Play AA

Pretty much any poker book will say to raise or reraise on the initial betting round with pocket aces.

In my experience that's not always the best way to play.

Many of the games I have are full of people who play very marginal hands. That's where most of my profit comes from.

If I play the aces strongly right from the beginning, I'm likely to chase out many of those weak hands that would otherwise see the flop for one bet. Sometimes I play according to the books, but sometimes I simply call. Letting lots of players see the flop cheaply has a downside: They might hit a lucky flop and crack your aces... they might hit a lucky flop. However, the odds are way against them. Most of the time the flop will not improve them far enough to beat your aces, and there will be much more money in the pot so your probable win is much larger.

Here's an example of where I recently applied that strategy:

AA from middle position
Person to my right raised, I call.

Flop: AJ7

Looking good! Trips!

The other player bet the flop, I called.

The turn came

AJ7T

Oopps, there was a possible straight (or more likely straight draw) on the board. The first player bet, I raised. He called. Until now, there were several other players in the (now very large) pot.

Now for the river:

AJ7TA

Wow! I hit quad aces. Slow playing the aces left me with the absolute nuts in a huge pot. Lots of other players contributed to the pot without much chance of winning because I let them in with weak hands.

Don't follow this strategy against tight players because the odds will turn against you. Against typical loose, low-limit players, it can be a great way to mix up your play.