1. All Aces In Poker
2. Poker Straight Ace Low
3. Video Poker Aces
4. Small Straight In Poker

Ace-King, especially when suited, is a very strong starting hand in No-Limit Holdem Poker. However, unless you connect with the board you will have only an ace-high hand to show down at the end. This makes playing ace-king problematic in some circumstances.

This article will look at some of the important no-limit Holdem strategy considerations when playing ace-king. These include your stack size, position at the table and the tendencies of opponents who are already in the pot, and those yet to act.

If all of your cards are of the same suit and in sequential order, you have a Straight Flush! So, a 2 of clubs, 3 of clubs, 4 of clubs, 5 of clubs and a 6 of clubs will beat an Ace high Flush of clubs or any other suit. ROYAL FLUSH: A Royal Flush is as Ace high Straight Flush. So, a ten of hearts, Jack of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, King of Hearts. Under deuce-to-seven low rules, an ace always ranks high (so 5 ♠ 4 ♠ 3 ♠ 2 ♠ A ♠ is an ace-high flush). Under ace-to-six low rules, an ace always rank low (so A ♥ K ♥ Q ♥ J ♥ 10 ♥ is a king-high flush). Under ace-to-five low rules, straight flushes are not possible (so 9 ♣ 8 ♣ 7 ♣ 6 ♣ 5 ♣ is a nine-high hand). You can put this solution on YOUR website! A poker hand consists of five cards from a standard deck of 52. Find the number of different poker hands of straight (five.

Basic ace-king strategy.

The worst possible outcome for ace-king is to be in a multi-way limped pot out of position and then to miss the flop. Under these circumstances the hand should usually be folded to any serious betting action from opponents.

Ace-King is a hand that you definitely do not want to be playing against multiple opponents.

Ace-king is in fact a drawing hand – you will usually need to improve to win a showdown. At the same time this hand has a strong likelihood of improving to become the best hand, any ace or king on the board will give you top pair with top kicker. This makes ace-king a hand to play strongly and positively until you encounter resistance, both before the flop and in later betting.

The ideal situation with this hand is that you take control before the flop by playing aggressive and positive poker. Raising, especially from position, will thin the field – ideally to a single opponent. If that opponent checks to you on the flop you will often be able to take the pot away from them with a continuation bet. When this gets called you have the added advantage of being able to see the river for free if your opponent checks to you after the turn.

You might like the multi-way cbetting video for strategy on dealing with tricky flops when facing 2 or more players. Hand 2 (3:22) and Hand 5 (12:36) use AK as examples.

Stack sizes and playing ace king.

The stack size of both you and opponents in the hand are a critical factor in playing ace-king. If the effective stacks (shortest stack in play) are small then your best move is often to get all-in before the flop with this hand. This is common in tournament situations and has two possible outcomes both of which are positive.

If you are up against small stacks, you should try and get all-in before the flop with ace king.

Either the pre-flop raiser (plus any caller) folds allowing you to take a good sized pot. Or if you are called – for example by a pair lower than Kings – you get to see all 5 board cards to improve your hand. This means you are only a little under 50% to win the hand – your pot equity will also be increased when there is blind money or a 3rd player who entered the pot then folded to your re-raise.

When you have a deep stack holding ace-king a pre-flop re-raise can give you valuable information on your opponent's hand. For example an opponent raises 3 times the big blind from middle position and you re-raise a total of 8 or 9 blinds from the button. When you're opponent is holding the hands you really fear – pocket aces or kings – he is likely to put in a re-raise here.

Be wary of 3-bets when you are deep stacked after making a re-raise with ace-king. This could very well mean that your opponent holds aces or kings.

All Aces In Poker

However, pairs QQ and below and other ace-high hands are more likely to call. Not only have you defined your opponents hand, you have taken control of the hand before the flop – putting you in a position to take the pot away fairly often those times that you do miss the flop.

Player tendencies.

The tendencies of specific players, and indeed the table dynamic as a whole, will also affect the way that you play ace-king. Before the flop you may raise to isolate a particularly weak player seated to your right. However when a 'rock' in the same seat has entered the pot a flat call may be the best strategy – as such an opponent is more likely to tell you whether they liked the flop with their post-flop betting patterns.

Another opponent specific move occurs at a 'wild table' here you can flat call a raise from early position in the hope that a wild player later in the betting will re-raise, you can then push all-in over the top representing aces or kings. When called you still have very good equity against the wild player's range – in addition to the overlay of the dead money in the pot. Since ace-king does not play well in a multi-way pot caution is required with this move – you need to be sure that an opponent will re-raise ahead most of the time.

When the betting gets heavy ahead of you a good rule of thumb for playing ace-king, especially when not too deep stacked, is to be the player making the all-in bet and not the one calling this. Ace-king is almost 50% to win against pairs Q-Q and below and 30% to win against pocket Kings. However, when you are the player making the last big bet you have the added benefit of fold-equity. The chance that you're opponent may fold increasing the profit from playing this hand considerably.

How to play ace king evaluation.

Good no-limit Holdem play with ace-king involves all of the factors discussed above – but also and awareness of how they work together. For example a re-raise from position to define your opponents hand is only useful against a reasonably competent opponent, from position and with a deep stack.

Against a weaker opponent or with a short stack (15 blinds or less) your best move might be to push all-in immediately. The combination of 'fold equity' with your winning chances giving this play a positive expectation.

Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.

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Hand rankings[edit]

The most fundamental of poker concern the hand rankings, because the hand rankings determine the winner. While betting is extremely important to the game, players are wagering on whether they have won, therefore a complete understanding of hand rankings must come first. These hand rankings do not apply to games played 'low', such as lowball or razz; see the section on 'low hands' below.

The cards are ranked thus, from low to high: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace. An ace is the highest card, but it can also function as the lowest in completing a straight. The two is usually called a 'deuce', and the three is sometimes called a 'trey'. Ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace are often abbreviated T, J, Q, K, and A, respectively, so that each card name has a single number or letter associated with it. This is commonly used in describing hands, for example, A-2-3-4-5 is a hand with an ace, a two ('deuce'), a three, a four, and a five — not necessarily in that order, but presenting them in that order makes it clear that the hand is a straight. A hand may also be written, say, A-A-x-x-x, where 'x' means any other card that does not form a better hand.

Poker Straight Ace Low

A-2-3-4-5 is considered a five-high straight, and it is called a wheel or bicycle; this is the only time an ace plays as a low card. An ace-high straight flush is called a royal flush and it cannot be beaten. The only time it ties is when all 5 cards to the royal flush, i.e. A♥K♥Q♥J♥10♥, are on the community board. Higher cards always beat lower cards, for example, a pair of aces beats a pair of kings, and a flush with a king beats a flush whose highest card is a Queen. If two players have the same pair, a kicker is used to break the tie if possible (more about them soon). When two players have two pair, the highest pairs are considered, for example, aces up always beats kings up, no matter the other pairs. If, for example, two players both have aces up, then the higher of the smaller pairs wins: aces over kings beats aces over queens. If, for example, both players have aces over kings, then the kicker card is considered. Kickers also come into play when more than one player has the same three or four of a kind (possible only in community card games or wildcard games). If players have the same straight, flush, full house, or straight flush, it is always a tie and the players split the pot. There is no suit superiority or trump suit; a spade flush with A-10-9-6-4 does not beat a club flush with the same values.

Video Poker Aces

A kicker is any card that you hold in your hand that does not make part of it, that is, an otherwise useless card. A hand can have more than one kicker; A pair for instance has three kickers and a three-of-a-kind has two, and they are considered in rank order highest-first. When two players hold the same pair, two pair, three of a kind, or four of a kind, the highest kicker wins, for example, A-A-K-x-x beats A-A-Q-x-x, A-A-K-Q-x beats A-A-K-J-x, and A-A-K-Q-J beats A-A-K-Q-T. A kicker can be higher than the rest of the hand, for example, K-K-A-x-x beats K-K-J-x-x, so an ace usually makes the best kicker. If the first kicker ties and there is a second or third, they are compared in rank order; A-A-K-J-x loses to A-A-K-Q-x. If the hands are totally equivalent, the pot is split.

Low hands[edit]

Some games have a high-low split, and some games such as lowball or razz are played low-only. In a high-low split game, typically a low hand must not have any cards ranked higher than eight and no cards must be paired, or it does not count as a low hand. In low-only games, any cards can be used. Many forms of poker do not use low hands, so you need not concern yourself with these until you intend to play games that do.

Small Straight In Poker

There are three common ways of ranking low hands: ace-to-five low, ace-to-six low, and deuce-to-seven low, named after the best possible hands in the respective systems. In all systems, paired cards are bad and cannot be used to beat any hand that does not have a pair. Likewise, a pair beats three of a kind, three of a kind beats a full house, and a full house beats four of a kind. The most common hand ranking system for low hands is ace-to-five, used almost universally in high-low split games and very common in other games. This means A-2-3-4-5 (called a wheel or bicycle, just as it is as a high hand) is the best possible low hand, and the ace is the lowest card. For a high-low split game, it also forms a high hand: a five-high straight. In order to avoid confusion, we will discuss only ace-to-five low at the moment.

When pairs and any other 'bad' hands are not present, then the winner is the one whose highest card is lowest. For this reason, a low hand is usually described highest card first, to make it easier to tell which is lower. In ace-to-five, 8-4-3-2-A loses to 7-6-5-4-3 because the highest card in the first hand (eight) is higher than the highest card in the second hand (seven), even though all the other cards in the second hand are lower. If the highest cards are the same, then the next-highest cards are considered, and so on: 8-7-6-3-A loses to 8-7-5-4-2 because the second hand goes lower first.

In ace-to-six low, straights and flushes count for high (that is, they're bad), and the best possible hand is A-2-3-4-6 unsuited, since it's the lowest possible card combination that avoids pairing, straights, and flushes. Deuce-to-seven is identical except the ace is the highest card, so the best possible hand is 2-3-4-5-7 unsuited. Therefore, in deuce-to-seven low, the hand that would make the worst possible high hand in traditional poker is the best possible low hand, and vice versa: a royal flush is the worst possible hand.