When you get dealt aces, you are probably thinking about the best way to extract the highest amount of chips from your opponents. But before that, you should definitely focus on winning the hand, as aces are cracked more times than we would all like to admit.
The first thing you should focus on is narrowing the field before the flop. With two other players in the hand preflop, the probability of you winning the hand hovers just above 50%. There are not very good odds for a poker hand that is so strong. If there are more than two other players in the hand, depending on your cards you could be less than 50%. Most players try to keep as many players in the hand so they can take their chips, but more often than not they get drawn out on.
After you have narrowed the field, you will have to play according to your opponents tendencies and their actions. So many players try to slow play aces and think they are clever, but usually a savvy opponent will know something is up and will proceed with caution. You should play this hand like you would any other hand to disguise the strength of it.
Aces can either win you a small pot or lose you a big one. Focus on winning the pot first and don’t get caught up in trying to get the highest amount of chips possible and being greedy. You will be glad you did.
