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Playing Kings with an Ace on BoardPlaying Kings with an Ace on Board
Posted by T.J. Cloutier | July 21, 2006
Suppose you're playing one of the $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em events at this year's World Series of Poker. You've just come back from the first break of the day and sit down in front of your stack, which is just about par with the curve.
On the very first deal, you're sitting in middle position and look down at two black kings. "Wow, things are starting to look up," you think as you throw in a raise. Everyone folds around to the Big Blind, who just calls. He has about the same number of chips as you. The flop comes A-J-9. The Big Blind checks and you check along behind him.
A second ace hits the board on the turn, making it A-J-9-A. Now your opponent fires out a pot-sized bet. Judging from your observations of how he's been playing through the first two rounds, you know that he is capable of betting with an ace in his hand -- or another pair -- or even on a complete bluff. Knowing these things about him, what's your best play?
In this situation, I would call. Two aces on board are much less dangerous than one ace. Why? Because it is less likely that your opponent has one of the two remaining aces in the deck. Since he is known to bluff or bet a lesser hand, I would call him on the turn -- and also at the river if he bets into you again.
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