Amateur Poker News and Strategy

Pokerstars has purchased 3 top online poker sites including Pokerpages.com, Playwinningpoker.com, and Poker-Babes.com.  This move should help Pokerstars compete in the online world of poker information, as they look to solidify their brand.  Pokerpages.com was founded in 2000, and was one of the most popular poker destinations online until it shut down in 2009.  Playwinningpoker.com is a strategy site which also launched in 2000, and contains a comprehensive strategy guide.  Poker-Babes.com was founded in 2003, and contains features and profiles of various poker players.  These acquisitions could be a real boost to Pokerstars as it attempts to stay ahead in the online poker industry.

Every Hold’em player has had that moment… you look down at your hole cards and see two aces looking back. It’s the best preflop hand you can get, and it’s very exciting, however I see a lot of players misplay this hand and it can cost them, either by not getting paid off, or losing their entire stack. First and foremost, reign in your excitement. Your heart may start pounding, but look down, see the cards, and lay them back on the table the same way you would any other hand. Other players are watching, and any reaction that differs from your usual one can give you away. Now let’s examine your options.

What’s your position? This is hugely important, as it is with any hand. The best positions to be in here is the dealer. You’ll be 3rd last to act before the flop, and last to act after the flop, which will give you a lot of options. You get to see what other players think of their hands before you need to act, which can help you get paid off, people with mediocre hands may limp in before you, and someone with a premium hand will probably raise before you. The worst position to be in is first to act after the blinds. This position makes it harder to get paid, because you haven’t seen how the others react. Any raise here will cause most mediocre hands to fold, and can make it so more premium hands end up seeing a flop with you, which is undesirable. Other positions range from better to worse, depending on how close to the dealer they are.

The next thing you should consider is your stack size, and your stacks relation to others at the table. Are you one of the bigger stacks, a middle stack, or short stack? If you’re in a tournament, what are the blind levels and how many big blinds do you have left? Is it early in the tournament, or late? If you are playing a ring game, do you have enough chips to push someone off the pot, or is there a big stack that will call you no matter what, just because they can? These factors should all be taken into consideration before you act, so you can take full advantage of your hand, without risking everything that you have unless it’s necessary.

Now you should consider the people you are playing with. Who’s aggressive, and who’s conservative. Also, what’s your reputation at the table, if you are conservative, your raises will be taken more seriously and you may get less callers. If you are aggressive, more people will call your raises, because they think you could be on a wider range of starting hands that they have a possibility of beating. Both styles have advantages and disadvantages now, if you are seen as too conservative, you may not make as much off the hand, two aggressive, and more people will enter the pot, creating a better chance that your aces will get cracked. This is why altering your playing style is very important, you always want to keep people guessing as to what you may have.

Now that we have some things to look for, here’s an example of how I would play Aces.

• Middle of a tournament, late position, one before the dealer (7th position), 8 people at the table.

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