Enjoying Fives More Then Aces?

Filed in archive Poker Blogs on July 29, 2007

Texas Hold Em' will continue to baffle the best of pros with its endless discussions on the "correct" way to play certain hands. Factoring in all the variables (players, cards, stack size, blood alcohol content of the guy in the cowboy hat) makes a seemingly easy ABC poker decision extremely tough.

Michael Craig steps into a different part of the Full Tilt.com website to offer some advice on question that has been talked about at every large poker tourney by rookies and pros alike:

I was involved in endless discussions of "The Hypothetical." You know, it's the first hand and you're in the big blind. Five players move all-in. You look down at pocket Aces. What do you do?

He's referring to the first hand of the World Series of Poker Main Event and you're in the fortunate (or unfortunate position) of having to call with the best starting hand in Hold Em'. Granted most people would like their $10,000 buy in to last a little longer then the first two minutes of a six day tournament, but are you playing too weakly if folded while looking for a better spot? Many people would look beyond the 30%-40% chance to win and pick a better spot, harded pros probably would have you call and maximize every edge given to you.

Here's Craig's entry into the "Tips from the Pros" section at Full Tilt Poker.com titled "Small Pockets and Big Stacks":

... Some first-timers insist they will fold, and plenty more at least entertain the idea. Chances are that no one has to face The Hypothetical, but what about the more plausible nightmares at the beginning of a deep-stack tournament?

What if you raise with Aces and get four callers?
What if you have Queens in the big blind after a raise and re-raise?
The early stages of a big tournament can be mortal terror for a neophyte.

Experienced players make fun of the rookies' discomfort, but they ignore the underlying issue at their peril: with a giant stack and a lot of action, a premium hand like pocket Aces can quickly lead to trouble.

This is why I think there are a lot of times when pocket 5s are better than pocket Aces. In fact, when I get pocket 5s, I may want to be against pocket Aces. This idea synthesizes advice I received from three of my expert collaborators on The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition.

• Andy Bloch "In his chapter on pre-flop No-Limit Hold 'em, Andy explains how your goal with A-A is to get all your chips committed when you're a huge favorite or are playing against a single opponent. The deeper the stacks, the less likely you are to accomplish these objectives.

• Chris Ferguson "Chris' philosophy is to minimize the number of difficult decisions you have to make during a hand, and maximize the number of difficult decisions your opponents have to make. With enough chips for betting throughout the hand, a player with an over-pair faces decisions that get more difficult on each successive street.

• Richard Brodie "In his chapter about online No-Limit Hold 'em tournaments, Richard explains how tournaments have two phases: the "implied-odds" phase and the "showdown-value" phase. When stacks are deep, you want to accumulate chips with hands that offer the best implied odds " hands that can make the nuts and/or out-flop an opponent willing to double you up with a "superior" starting hand... (continued at Full Tilt Poker.com)