Best Hand Against Aces

The very best hand against pocket aces is actually 8-7 suited because you get both straight and flush draws as well as the potential to backdoor trips or two pair. Still even the best hand against aces only wins 22.87% of the time. Pocket aces are a very dominant hand pre-flop but keep in mind that 80% favorite isn’t unassailable. The highest possible straight flush, and the best hand in poker, is an ace high straight flush, also known as a royal flush A “ royal flush” consists of a straight from ten to the ace with all five cards of the same suit. A royal flush is exceptionally rare and is therefore the most coveted hand in poker. To calculate your poker equity - or how often you should win a hand, you can use a simple formula. Count how many outs you have. For example, if you're drawing to a flush, you have 13 suited cards, two in your hand, two on the board - leaves 9 outs. The chance of you hitting on the turn is 9.4 (+4) = 40%. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. Videos you watch may be added to the TV's watch history and influence TV recommendations. To avoid this, cancel and sign in to.

The Strongest Poker Hands – Before and After the Flop

Before the flop is dealt, the strongest hands are easy to spot. Aces, Kings and Queens top the list – with Ace-King not far behind.

The relative strength of poker hands in Texas Hold’em changes as the community cards are dealt. While all sorts of starting hands can hit the flop, there are certain categories which are more likely to turn into hidden monsters.

This page covers the top 10 poker hands, before the flop – and then all the way to the river. This includes:

Starting Hands: Top 10 hands that every play would love to be dealt before the flop
Flop Betting: How the first 3 community cards have a huge effect on the ‘relative’ strength of the bet pre-flop hands.
Turn and River: Draws can complete, or high cards can hit as the community card board is completed.
Top Hands and Position: Why being dealt a top 10 poker hand alone is not enough to win big.
How to Tell: If you can spot those times an opponent has a monster hand, you’ll be in a great position top get away from 2^nd best holdings.

Starting Hands: The Top 10 Hands Before the Flop

Pocket Aces rule the rankings before the flop. If you are dealt this hand, you’ll win 80% of the time against any single hand your opponent could hold by the river.

Here are the top 10 hands pre-flop in Texas Hold’em:

Pocket Aces: There is no better feeling in Hold’em than looking down at a pair of aces. Especially if there has been a raise ahead of you.
Pocket Kings: With aces so rare, it is usual to assume that your pocket kings are the best hand pre-flop. You can always reassess if you face multiple re-raises. With no aces on the flop, you can hope to win a big pot with this hand.
Pocket Queens: There is a risk that opponents have aces, kings or ace-king when you are dealt Queens. With no ‘card removal’ for those hands as when you are dealt A-A or K-K. Pocket Queens is still a very strong hand and should be played for a raise.
Ace-King: This hand is even stronger when suited, though plenty strong enough with just the high card value. If you make a pair on the flop, you will have the top kicker to go with your top-pair.
Pocket Jacks: As you get down the rankings, even strong starting hands start to become vulnerable to over-cards on the flop. Jacks are often good enough to win unimproved, though you need to be cautious when an ace hits the board.
Ace-Queen: Again, a suited version is much stronger than an unsuited one – as you’ll be able to make the nut flush on occasion. This hand becomes stronger if your opponents are prone to overplaying aces with weaker kickers.
Pocket 10’s: This is the last pocket pair which is more likely than not to be an over-pair on the flop. It has hidden value, blocking straights and allowing you to hit a set (as with all smaller pairs) on boards which look ‘safe’ for the higher pairs.
King Queen Suited: This hand has a lot of potential multi-way. Heads up against one of the premium hands, it does not do as well. If you find yourself with king-queen suited in position in a multi-way pot, you can often make a hidden monster and win a big pot.
Ace-Jack / Ace-Ten: These hands are vulnerable, though suited versions can make the nut flush, if you don’t make 2 pairs, there is always a chance of a Broadway straight.
Mid-Pairs: Finally, mid-pairs can make sets – giving them a lot of deceptive strength. When someone has aces, and bets strongly, you can often win their whole stack with a hidden pair or 7’s (for example).

Relative Strength of Poker Hands on Different Flops

Key to success in poker is not to get married to the top 10 starting hands after the flop. There are several factors to consider. While you can often assume that your premium starting hand is still best (and bet it accordingly), a clear assessment of the risks is always useful.

When you see a flop, think about the following:

How many opponents saw this flop (what is the risk that some random hand connected!)?
Does this flop have the potential to hit many drawing hands (straights and flushes)?
Is this the type of flop that will not connect with hands my (tight) opponents are likely to play (low, unconnected flops fit this category)?
Are there cards on the board which are higher than my pocket pair?

These questions highlight an error that many new players make with premium hands. If you limp or call, instead of raising with those aces – you can end up in a tricky spot. You could see a wet flop (lots of potential draws available) with multiple opponents who might have random holdings. If you have to act first in the betting, the situation looks even trickier. Here your hand is too strong to give up on, though if you get a lot of action on subsequent betting rounds, you could be in trouble!

Playing good hands strongly, and raising a few outside the top 5 for balance, is a great way to avoid too many tough spots on the flop.

Turn and River Cards: How Likely my Opponent Hit?

When the turn or river card completes a flush (for example) and your opponent comes out firing with a big bet, you need to ask yourself how often you are beaten.

The wrong question to ask here is ‘how often do players make flushes by the river?’. You have some additional information. If your opponent called a bet on the flop, or even raised, then they are likely to have some kind of hand. If they continued all the way, only to re-raise you at the end when their card hit – you might just be in trouble.

Getting ‘married’ to over-pairs can be expensive in these situations. What is demonstrates is that even the top 10 starting hands can be losers in certain run-outs. You’ll need to use your judgement to decide whether your opponent might be bluffing in the scenario above. This can be based on the player, their bet sizing in the hand and your history with that opponent. In my experience, players at the smallest stakes are not bluffing frequently enough in this type of spot to make this a profitable call.

Playing the Top 10 Poker Starting Hands in Position

With the dynamics or poker hand strength changing as the community cards come out, playing in position is a great way to optimise your profits. This simply refers to acting last in the betting on the flop, turn and river betting rounds. The player with the ‘Dealer’ button position acts last – though keep in mind that acting last relative to the raiser pre-flop is a different factor.

When you are last to act, you can get away from hands when there is a raise and a re-raise ahead of you. It is always an option to bet out and steal a pot you might otherwise have given up on when everyone checks to you as well.

Position strategy goes a lot deeper than this. When you are starting out, keep in mind that acting last + having a top 10 poker hand is the best spot to be in!

How to Tell If Your Top Hand is Beaten?

As you gain experience playing on different board-textures, and against different types of opponents – spotting those times when your pocket aces are second best becomes a lot easier.

While some opponents keep betting at any pot where they have a piece of the board (or a draw in some cases), other opponents are more cautious. If someone who usually limps and calls suddenly wakes up with big bets, this is a great sign that you could be beaten. I have seen opponents play passively for hours, and suddenly check-raise when they made the top flush. If you pay those types off, it is down to you not paying attention – rather than bad luck.

Did your pocket aces get cracked again? Are you wanting to know what are the odds of aces getting cracked?
This is something that many of us wonder about when our aces seem to get cracked again and again and again.
So let's just jump right into it!

Is Pocket Aces a Good Hand?

The first thing you should know is that pocket aces is a very good hand, the best hand in the game in fact.
And just because you lost with it, doesn't mean you should limp preflop with it or even fold it next time.
In fact, pocket aces is over an 80% favorite versus all other pocket pairs like KK, QQ, JJ and so on.
And it will also be your biggest long term winning hand in terms of total profit.
You can actually just go check this for yourself by filtering for the profitability of all hands inside a program like PokerTracker.

What Are the Odds of Pocket Aces Getting Cracked?

These are the odds your pocket aces getting cracked:

14.82%

When you are dealt pocket aces you have a 14.82% chance of losing versus a completely random hand.
So in other words, not very often but it will happen from time to time!

Is the Poker Site You Are Playing On Rigged Because Your Pocket Aces Got Cracked Again?

Not necessarily.
A lot of people jump to this quick conclusion without really thinking about the math first.
Best Hand Against Aces

Like we just mentioned, you actually have almost a 15% chance of losing with pocket aces versus a completely random hand.
And since most people will have something a little bit better than a 'completely random hand' versus your pocket aces, they will often have an even higher chance to win against you than this.
This is why when people say that online poker is rigged or some major site like PokerStars is rigged, they often haven't actually thought it through enough.
They are instead just reacting in the moment and not using the rational part of their brain which clearly tells us that pocket aces is not some 'invincible' hand.
Your pocket aces will actually lose frequently in poker, this is simply a fact. It does not necessarily mean you are playing on a rigged poker site.

Basic Pocket Aces Odds

Here are some other basic stats you need to know when you have pocket aces:

You will be dealt pocket aces 0.0045% of the time (1 in 221 hands)
You will lose with pocket aces versus pocket kings approximately 18% of the time
You will lose with pocket aces versus a broadway hand like KJ approximately 14% of the time
You will lose with pocket aces versus a random suited hand approximately 18% of the time
You will lose with pocket aces to ace king approximately 8% of the time
You will lose with pocket aces to a suited connector like 98 of hearts approximately 24% of the time

So these are some pretty good odds with pocket aces versus other common hands. This is why most professional poker players actually list pocket aces as their favorite hand!
Daniel Negreanu for example has mentioned this several times before including in his advanced poker training course.

More Important Pocket Aces Odds You Need to Know

Here are some more important odds for pocket aces that I recommend you study and memorize:

You will beat a flopped straight draw with pocket aces approximately 65% of the time
You will beat a flopped flush draw with pocket aces approximately 61% of the time
You will beat a flopped straight flush draw with pocket aces approximately 43% of the time
You will beat a flopped two pair hand with pocket aces approximately 24% of the time
You will beat a flopped trips hand (three of a kind) with pocket aces approximately 8% of the time

One of the good parts about getting dealt pocket aces is that you almost always have a chance to win.
The odds aren't always great, but there is almost no scenario where you will be drawing completely dead.
Now please don't get me wrong here.
There definitely is a time when you need to fold your pocket aces, like I discuss in this video I made recently:

But for the most part, pocket aces are a great hand to have in almost all situations in Texas Hold'em because even if somebody flops a huge hand against you, you almost always have outs still (chance to win).

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What Are the Odds of Getting Pocket Aces Twice in a Row?

So we already know that the odds of getting dealt pocket aces are only 1 in 221.
In other words, not good.
But how about the odds of getting dealt pocket aces twice in a row?
The odds of getting dealt pocket aces twice in a row is:
1 in 48,481
And then to take it one step further...
The odds of getting dealt pocket aces three times in a row is:
1 in 10,793,861
So as you can see, the odds of getting dealt pocket rockets twice in a row is exceedingly rare and the odds of getting dealt aces three times in a row is like winning the lottery.

However, as we all know, anything can happen at the poker tables. This is why it is a good idea that you are using a good poker HUD so that you can quickly get reads on your opponents.

What is the Best Strategy to Win Big With Pocket Aces?

The best pocket aces strategy is to play them hard and fast. This means raising or re-raising with them preflop and then betting big on the flop, turn and river.
From time to time you will need to fold them as I already mentioned above. This is specifically versus very tight and passive players who raise you on the turn or river.
This is something I have discussed in detail before on this blog as well in my guide to when to fold an over pair in poker.
But for the most part, the best strategy with pocket aces is very simple. Play them fast, bet often and bet big with them!

Should You Ever Slow-Play Your Pocket Aces?

What about slow playing your pocket aces? Yay or nay?
In general this is a bad idea especially at the lower stakes. And the reason why is because you miss out on a ton of value.
Most players at these limits like to call way too much and never fold any pair or draw.
This is something that was very clear to see in my recent video series where you can watch me absolutely crush the 1c/2c online cash games.
I have some of the best results of all-time in these games and I can tell you that I almost never slow play my pocket aces.
And this is because the problem with slow playing your pocket aces then is that you will often end up winning a very small pot, when you could have won a much bigger pot by simply betting more.
And over the long run, this really, really starts to add up.
It is really important to remember that when you see world class poker pros like Phil Ivey slow-playing their pocket aces, it is usually because they are playing against another world class pro.

Best Starting Hand Against Pocket Aces

They have to employ some trickery from time to time in order to constantly keep their opponents guessing.
But if you play in the typical small stakes online or live poker games, the best course of action is going to almost always be to avoid slow playing your pocket aces.
Just play them straight-forward every time and you will win much more.

Best Hand To Have Against Pocket Aces

Final Thoughts

So what are the odds of your pocket aces getting cracked?