Ace Jack Finally Hits

One of my favorite Hellmuth quotes is "the minute I get Ace-Jack suited, he raises right over the top of me." Phil had Ace-8 suited. Even if he had Ace-Jack, he would still be in a similar predicament.

When Hellmuth enters a hand, he wants to be in dominant position. Just read his first book and he goes on and on about dominant hands such as Aces, Kings, Queens, and Ace King. The problem is, Ace Jack doesn't really dominate too many hands. It is dominated, of course, by Aces, Kings, Queens, and Jacks. Also, Ace King and Ace Queen. It is approximately a 60/40 favorite against King Queen. It is a a 45/55 underdog to any pocket pair below Jacks. It's still a good hand though. But a very foldable one.

About a week ago, a player raised to $15 in middle position. A strong raise from a tight player in such position signified to me that he was very strong but still trying to protect something. I put him on a pair that were at least tens but no higher than Queens. This meant that when I looked down at my hand, unless there were alot of callers, I had better see Kings or better.

It got to me as everyone after folded. I was in the small blind and looked down to see Ace Jack suited. An attractive hand, but I knew it was abysmal in this situation, so I folded. The player who limped in first position called. The flop was blank, blank, Ace. The first player checked and the preflop raiser bet $20. The 1st player folded and the raiser/bettor showed pocket Jacks.

I told the player he made a good raise because he got me to fold Ace-Jack suited. The player to my right (who was looser than Paris Hilton) was shocked I would fold such a "quality hand." I simply told him, I was killed before the flop or at best, it was a race. Even if it were a race, why risk the $14 more hoping to flop an Ace or Jack, hit some sort of straight, or a flush? Even if I do flop top pair, my kicker with the Ace is susupicious, and if he hits a set, I'd practically be drawing dead. It turns out that preflop, I was behind 65% to 35%. Not exactly good odds.

Yesterday I made a similar good fold and had I been a moron I would have won a few bucks. I was to the right of the button. The player before me raised to $7. I had Ace-Queen so I called. The player to my left called. I was hoping he'd fold so I'd be in position but oh well. The small blind folded and the big blind re-raised to $27 total. I knew I was killed. The player to my right called. I quickly folded. The player to my left showed me his cards and he had the same hand I did, Ace-Queen offsuit. He folded. It turns out that the big blind re-raiser had Kings and won the hand against the original raiser who had a God aweful Queen-2 suited. There was an Ace on the flop and a Queen on the turn so me and the player to my left would have split the pot. But we both made the right decision. It turns out we were each about 10% to win the hand.

My Ace Jack finally hit yesterday. I limped in with it in middle position. A position raiser made it $7 to go so I called. The flop was 10-4-Jack. He bet $7, which had been his post flop bet after preflop raising. I re-raised to $17. He called. The turn was an Ace. He checked, I bet $15. The river was an 8. He checked. I bet $15, he called. He didn't even have an Ace beat, let alone Aces up. He had been raising alot preflop and betting alot of flops, but he never did it again when I was still in the hand. A nice $50 profit with Ace-Jack.

The other big hand I won was with pocket 3s. I limped in. A player raised it to $7 after 4 others limped. I figured for $5 more I'll see a flop and hope to spike a 3. I also figured that at least 2 of the 4 limpers after me would call. They all did. The flop was 5-3-2. Check, Check, I check, check, all-in for $29, fold, fold, call, I call. I'm somewhat worried about an Ace-4 and a straight, but my fears vanish when the turn is a 2 giving me a full house. There is only one hand that beats me now because the dealer misdealt and showed a deuce as the burn card. Only pocket 5s have me beat. The player to my right, who was very loose (he called the $27 with Q2 in the hand above) checked. I wanted to win some more money from this side pot, so I bet $15. He raises me to $30. Right there, I shouldv'e re-raised. I shouldv'e known he didn't have pocket 5s and his loose play meant that he'd call a large re-raise. I simply called. He checked the river, an 8, and I bet $15. He called. He flipped pocket 7s. I flipped over my winning full house, 3s full of 2s. Not exactly Aces full of Kings, but enough to get the job done. I won about $138 with that hand but it couldv'e been more. Maybe $50 more. I need to maximize my profits on these big hands. Especially when they come around less often. I had the 2nd best possible hand on the turn and was against a calling station with an pocket pair higher than everything on the board. I was 95.5% to win that hand on the turn and I coulv'e re-raised his check raise about $30 more, then bet $30 on the river instead of $15. I was so afraid of him folding that I completely forgot that he didn't have the ability to fold. The way he quickly called the $29 all in on the flop shouldv'e told me he couldn't fold this hand even if I had gone all-in.

Oh well, play and learn.