Call them what you will - pocket rockets, American Airlines, the bullets – this hand is a killer in more ways than one. It can either win or lose you a bundle of money. In this segment, we’re of course going to concentrate on how to maximize winnings when you’re dealt a pair of aces.

Contrary to what many people think, there are many different ways to play this monster hand. The inexperienced player will often go all-in automatically without even considering the alternatives, which is a shame for them because they are clearly not maximizing the value of this ‘mother of all hands’.

If you are content just stealing blinds, then by all means, ignore this segment and continue to go all-in each time you get blessed with the big ones. But you’ll never win tournaments that way because if you can’t collect big pots with great cards, how can you expect to do it with mediocre ones?

Player-type recognition is, as usual, important when trying to determine how to proceed with a certain hand. If, for example, you’ve identified your opponent as a tight aggressive player and he raises pre-flop, you know he’s probably got a good hand. But keep in mind you’re still holding the bullets. More than likely he’s holding something like pocket Kings or even Big Slick, A-K. Still, these hands are 4-1 underdog against your pocket aces. Obviously you want as much action as you can get so it’s a good idea to smooth call here and disguise your hand before the flop. If you raise early your cautious opponent will likely fold, unless you’ve already established a loose table image.

Conversely, if your opponent fits the profile of a loose aggressive player-type and he raises pre-flop, you can expect him to make continuation bets even on a soft flop. Thus, it makes sense to raise only after the flop, as your opponent will then think you’ve only just hit your card, likely to be the top pair. Again, the true strength of your hand has been disguised and you’re extracting value in the process.

Of course by playing your pockets aces this way, you will sometimes get stung. But in the long run, we think it’s better to draw out bigger pots because more often than not you will take the hand. Some think you should always play A-A fast and hard, with early raises in order prevent getting sucked out. Fair enough, this will allow you to steal blinds and nail the occasional caller, but in the long run it won’t lead to great windfalls and taking small pots is not how you win tournaments.

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