How to Play Pocket Aces (Without Losing With Them)
Level 6 · Lesson 4 of 64 min read
How often are you dealt pocket aces?
About 0.45% of the time — one deal in 220.
After two hundred hands of folding, most players decide in advance that this one ends with all the chips in the middle. That decision then survives flops it should not.
How strong are pocket aces?
Aces beat every other starting hand before the flop:
| All-in before the flop | Aces win |
|---|---|
| Against a random hand | ~85% |
| Against K♦ K♣ | ~81% |
| Against 7♦ 2♣ | ~87% |
Kings are the nearest challenger; 7-2 offsuit is the furthest away, and the two rows sit close together. That is what puts aces at the top of the best starting hands: no opponent holding changes the plan.
These are equity figures for a hand played all the way out: five cards come, nobody folds, nobody decides anything. They describe an all-in. They do not describe a flop you still have to play.
Quick check
Both players are all-in before the flop, A♠ A♥ against K♦ K♣. How often do the aces win?
Should you ever fold pocket aces before the flop?
No. Not to a raise, not to a re-raise, not to an all-in.
Pot1,500
Bet12,000You are in the big blind, the button has moved all-in, and the small blind is out. Call. No price can make folding correct when nothing in the deck is ahead of you.
Raise them when the action folds to you as well. Aces earn their edge from the chips that go in before the flop, and calling the big blind instead of raising gives that up.
How do you bet pocket aces after the flop?
Keep betting, on a flop like this one:
Three ranks, three suits, no run of cards. The hands that call here are behind: a king, a smaller pair, a second-best ace. Every street you bet takes chips from them. Slow playing does the opposite: checking to disguise the hand gives a free card to the one opponent who needed it.
How do pocket aces get beaten?
By the board, and it takes less than most players expect.
Aces are one pair, and two pair is ahead of them. Nothing in the table above is a certainty, and the losing share of every row is a flop like this one.
Read the flop, not the memory of your hole cards. Middle cards that connect, two of a suit, an opponent who suddenly wants a big pot: those are the signals. Bet smaller, call instead of raise, and let the hand go when the action keeps saying you are beaten. When to fold works through that read.
Any term here that is new to you is defined in the poker terms glossary.
Frequently asked questions
Why are pocket aces called pocket rockets?
Two aces standing side by side look like rockets on a launch pad. The same hand also answers to bullets and to American Airlines, and Level 22 in Vibe Poker is named Pocket Rockets for it.
Are pocket aces stronger against one opponent or several?
One. Every extra player brings two more cards that can pair, connect or make a flush, and each of the figures above is a one-on-one number. Against three opponents the aces are still the best hand at the table, and they still win the pot less often than those numbers suggest.
Practice this in Vibe Poker
Play the spot yourself — Level 22 in Vibe Poker deals you A♠ A♥ in the big blind facing an all-in. Free, play-money.
Free, play-money only. 18+.