The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

When someone is dealt Ace-small, such as Ace-3, most good players will immediately fold and not put one cent in the pot to play with it. But, if that Ace-3 is suited, well, different things can happen. If someone raises, most people are very tempted to call, and a lot of players WILL elect to call. It's not the worst play in the world, but you must have the sophistication to fold it if you don't get a perfect flop, even if you get what you think is a good flop.

Say you call a raise with your Ace-3 suited, and the flop is A-x-x. Your opponent who made the pre-flop raise now bets out. You have no idea where you stand. What can the initial bettor have that would make him or her bet out like that? More than likely, the hand was raised with a big Ace like Ace-King or Ace-Queen. You have kicker issues with your Ace-3. Unless another 3 comes up on the next two cards to give you two pair, you are most likely beaten if you elect to call. Because you made top pair on the flop, you are likely going to keep on calling bets and lose a lot of chips as a result.

Players raise with big Aces because they're giving themselves TWO ways to win. If you raise with Ace-King, pairing up either your Ace or King on the flop will likely give you the best hand. If you pair up your Ace, you've made top pair and have the best kicker, while if you pair up your King you also hold the best kicker, and you really only have to worry about someone holding pocket Aces. That is not too likely since you are holding one of the four Aces in your hand, so you can go ahead and bet with confidence.

Ace-Small is a dog going into a hand because if you pair up your three, you will likely fold since a mere pair of threes cannot stand big bets when other players are betting into you with either a higher pair they flopped to or a pocket pair they already have. In other words, you're really only going into battle with one card, your Ace. And as previously discussed, if you pair your Ace you won't be sure if it's the best hand as you have kicker issues holding that 3 as your backup.

If you play Ace-small suited, what you're looking for is a flop that can make you a flush. If you flop a flush (1 in 118 chance of that happening) you've made the nuts, but you'll have to slowplay since players aren't terribly eager to bet into a board of one suit. If you hit two of your suits and need one more to make your flush, hopefully the remaining bettors won't make it too expensive for you to draw to it on the turn and river. A lot of things need to happen to make your play with Ace-small suited work.

There is nothing wrong gambling with Ace-small suited, but just remember the traps you can get yourself into. Always keep in mind that you should fold if you meet much resistance. If you raise or are raised before the flop hits, don't be too stubborn to keep playing your cards when you think you are beat and give credit to the betting players that they have a good starting hand.