Suited Aces - How to play them?

[Larude]

I want to know how you people feel about playing suited aces (lets say ATs and down). Assume lower stakes please. My feeling is that we can limp with them after one or more limpers from about MP2. Sometimes raise with them for the sake of variation (also from mp2). I would almost never open limp with them. Would we also openraise them from EP? or just from MP2? How about when the table is tougher?

[diebitter]

It depends. You can limp with them UTG in loose, passive tables, and that's the best thing to do with them there. You can call a late raise even if there's lots of callers left between you and the raiser.

The important thing is if you flop an ace, you can lose a lot or win a little, so their virtue is in flushing or 2-pairing, not as TPWK (if ace lands)

[SimaoMacaco]

I am really not in love with AXs as its so hard to get paid with them. You are around 8/1 to hit a flush draw, which is so obvious that people usually kill your implied odds with big betting and you have to fold anyway. Hitting the A is a recipe for disaster as usually any other A kills you.

How to play them well at 100NL> .. if anyone knows please let me know! The only viable strategy i see is raising and cbetting, treating them as a bluff against the right villans and having a little insurance as you may end up with a very good hand. Limping in multiway pots has value too but again, a set will just zap you on the flop most often.

Oh yeah, and you cannot really get too agressive on the flop as you rarely have enough outs to get saucy. Give me 97s any day.

FWIW also.. this is my FTP stats for ATs>

[Larude]

Okey I understand that you have to watch out if you have TPWK. You say that on a loosepassive table we can also openlimp, but with what pfraise% table we characterize a table as loose passive?

I ask this question about suited aces because in another thread with a hand of mine I just limped in MP2 after two limpers and one guy thought this was horrible play and that A5s was a trash hand, so I want more opinions on that part.

[binions]

[ QUOTE ]
I want to know how you people feel about playing suited aces (lets say ATs and down). Assume lower stakes please. My feeling is that we can limp with them after one or more limpers from about MP2. Sometimes raise with them for the sake of variation (also from mp2). I would almost never open limp with them. Would we also openraise them from EP? or just from MP2? How about when the table is tougher?

[/ QUOTE ]

Fallback, limp behind limp in any position. If raised behind you, fold or call depending.

Open R 50% C 50% ATs in mid position. Open R 50% C 50% ATs-A2s in late position. Occasionally raise a gaggle of limpers in late position if you have a good image.

The reason for sometimes open limping in late position is that you hope one of the blinds is suited in your suit, and you want to make it cheap for them to flop a flush draw.

As for raised pots ahead of me, I virtually never cold call a raise with AT-A2s unless the raiser is a maniac and I am in late position. I might overcall a raise in late position depending.

[diebitter]

What you describe isn't poor play at microstakes..

Axs is IMO the weakest of drawing hands, because they often get into trouble, they are easily spotted and sidestepped.

For drawing hands, the order of best-worst is (IMO):

PP
SC
S1-gappers
Axs

S1-gappers lose in rate of flop connection compared to SCs, but make up for it somewhat in being better disguised.

[KurtSF]

For reference, the hand Larude is referring to is here, and my critique of A5s can be found here. I too would be interested in opinions on this.

I'd limp in late position with other callers, but more often than not I'm folding them in MP and either raising or folding them in LP depending on who's in the pot. Would a stylistic difference account for my reticence to play these hands? Maybe LAGs will get value but TAGs won't. Would the stakes? I usually play at 50NL, and maybe its not as appropriate there as at 5NL. Or perhaps I'm outright leaving value on the table?

IMHO these hands just don't "flop big" often enough to make them a regular part of my game. I have to drop medium strength hands, and I'd rather avoid the situation and save my money for when I have an edge.

[jhill3535]

[ QUOTE ]
I want to know how you people feel about playing suited aces (lets say ATs and down). Assume lower stakes please. My feeling is that we can limp with them after one or more limpers from about MP2. Sometimes raise with them for the sake of variation (also from mp2). I would almost never open limp with them. Would we also openraise them from EP? or just from MP2? How about when the table is tougher?

[/ QUOTE ]

I play them the same as I would a suited connector, usually limp MP after 1 or 2 limpers, usually raise late MP-Button if no limpers. I occassionaly open limp the button with these type hands against tough players in the blinds or players that like to defend their blinds.

I only open raise EP-early MP if I have good table control or if I feel like my image is too tight.

[King Spew]

[ QUOTE ]
I play them the same as I would a suited connectors...

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, with exception being that SCs will play postflop as a BIG hand (hidden)when your str8 comes home. You have to downgrade Axs because when you hit, a majority of times, your payoff is small. Stack size/implied odds factor HUGELY when deciding whether to compete or not.

Axs is one of those hands I like to compete with when in the SB. Fit or fold is sooo easy. TPWK,,, I'm gone to pressure. Almost never complete to a PF raise tho.