Ace/Jack = Ace/Rag

One of the ways that I am really tight is in how I play an Ace/Jack or Ace/Ten (or worse) from middle to late position.

If I am first into the pot, I will raise.  But if the pot has already been raised, I’ll let it go.  And if there is even one limper, unless I have an excellent read on him, I’ll fold as well.

What?  Fold Ace-Jack from late position?  Why would I ever do that?

Well, let’s do the math.  The chance that the flop will hit my hand in any way is roughly 1 in 3.  The chance that my opponent, playing with (let’s say) a middle pair will flop a set is maybe 1 in 7.  So, that suggests I should call from late position with my Ace.

But let’s say I have Ace-Nine in late position and call two limpers.  Add the blinds, and we have five players to the flop.

Now, let’s assume one of two possibilities: (1) The flop is King-Nine-Two.  Is my hand any good?  (2) The flop is Nine-Eight-Seven with two clubs.  Is my hand any good?  (3) The flop is Ace-Seven-Four.  Is my hand any good?  Add to this the fact that a lot of players will play any Ace like it’s solid gold, and I may even be up against two pair.

So if I’m going to play Ace-rag against more than two players, or in a raised pot, I’m probably going to have to make some difficult decisions.  And being naturally lazy, I’d rather avoid having to do that.

I have an interesting little anecdote that illustrates this tendency about how I play Aces in late position.

I once played a lengthy no-limit hold-em session at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.  I’d been at the table so long that I actually made friends with one of the other players, a young guy from Vancouver B.C. named Suresh.  He was a terrible player but a really friendly guy and I enjoyed hanging out with him.

The next morning, I decided to play at the MGM Grand for a change of scenery.  Their poker room was rather new at the time and looked pretty nice.  I sat down at a no-limit table and started to grind it out.

After maybe 15 minutes, who should happen to walk into the room but my buddy Suresh from Caesar’s!  (These kinds of coincidences always seem to happen to me in Vegas – running into co-workers, old friends, new friends, family members, etc. but it still takes me by surprise.)  The tables were full, so he put his name on the wait list and in the meantime I let him sit behind me and “sweat” my play.  We chatted a bit when I wasn’t in a hand.

One hand I was in the cutoff – one position to the right of the button – and I picked up an Ace-Six offsuit.  A middle-position player limped, and when it came to me I folded.  As I did, I heard an audible gasp behind me.  (I don’t remember any more about that hand, other than that the Board failed to connect with either of my two cards.)

After the hand was over, I turned back to Suresh, who had this shocked look on his face.  I said, “What’s wrong, why did you react when I folded?”  He said, “You folded an Ace!!”  I said, “No I didn’t.  I folded a Six with a halfway decent kicker.”  I could tell from his reaction that he couldn’t see what I was pointing out, but before I had the chance to discuss it any further a seat opened up at another table and his name was called.