"AT44 is a pretty awful hand preflop" - is it? And an introduction.

[Wires]

A little history...

I've been a PLO player for about 48 hours after giving up on holdem. I started playing hold'em in 2003 moving from FR limit to SH NL about midway through. Completely fried and not enjoying myself any longer I was prepared to walk away however I've found myself dabbling in a little PLO the last few days. I've started at .50/1 to get my feet wet, plan on reading a few books mentioned in a post linked by Troll and move up asap - I'm probably rolled well for 2/4 but could make 3/6 work. I'm not overly bankroll oriented. I won't play under rolled but I'm not a nit about it either - I'm not a pro but own my own business so I guess that saves me from having to overprotect my roll.

Reading another thread someone made the comment mentioned in this subject line. I was looking for someone to elaborate. Ah Th 4x 4x seems to me like a fairly robust hand in position (I think the post stated it was vs. a min raise). This is the stuff I need to spend some time on in the next while so any comments on this specific hand or similar would be great.

I guess this post primarily serves as an introduction. I've heard you're a cranky bunch so I look forward to the ass chewings I will invariably receive.

Hi.

[sc000t]

AT44 is a pretty weak hand. It doesnt work together as well as others do, and the 44 for set value is weak and will lead to set over set situations that will lose you big money in the long run, which hurts the strength of the hand. The hand is also incapable of picking up wrap draw, or an OESD for that matter. Just because the hand is suited to an ace doesnt make it a great starting hand. You want hands with options, that can work many ways post flop.

Hi.

[Wires]

Yeah, I can see how the AT44 hand is basically an either/or proposition - you play to connect with the AT or the 44 but they certainly don't integrate well. Not that robust at all, I guess.

Ideally I would have picked up some reading material today to try an avoid the nOOb questions in here but today being Canadian Thankgiving there wasn't much open.

Thanks for the reply though.

[Chaoslord]

it all depends, if u are the strongest postflop player on the table u can get away with playing a lot more hands profitable, if not its probably best to stick to solid starting hands where all 4 cards work together.

[sqwisssssss]

the post said utg made a min bet. i took this as a limp. someone else limped and op with position had ace ten 4 4 suited to the ace.

i made the comment of this hand being ok to play in that spot. i made that comment thinking it was a limped pot.

i am still not sure if that pot is raised or limped because the original op sounds rather new to posting and didnt make himself very clear.

however, i too made an error. the hand is ok to play in position in a limped pot with an experienced player who can make the hand more profitable through skill and not so much on the reliance of the cards.

in a raised pot, i myself would not play the hand and i'm sure even better players would not either.

for those that are new to the game, then one should only play hands like those mentioned in this thread...... hands that are more connected and working together.

as time goes by and one gains more experience and skill, then hands like ace 10 suited with 4 4 can be added in the correct positions and situations.

[crashwhips]

Pretty much the only times I would play this hand would be to limp in LP after limpers, to open raise from the button to steal, and to complete from the SB.