Ace Poker - Free Texas Holdem & Hong Kong Poker for Android. By Ace Play Free. Developer's Description. By Ace Play THE BEST FREE-TO-PLAY POKER APP ON ANDROID. DOWNLOAD ACE POKER NOW AND RECEIVE A. Texas Hold'em hasn't been around that long, although it sometimes seems those old Texas Boys like Salior Roberts, Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim and the like had been playing the game for centuries, the way they dominated the early years of the WSOP!
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I ran into a friend of mine yesterday who was jealous because a bunch of our mutual friends were playing Texas holdem Saturday night. She was bummed because she never learned to play poker.
![Texas Texas](/uploads/1/3/5/8/135834073/931604776.jpg)
- Question 1: What is a “straight” in poker? In poker, a straight is made when we hold 5 cards all of consecutive rank, for example, 56789. Aces can be both high and low for the purposes of creating a straight, but the Ace must either appear at the beginning or end of the hand’s structure.
- .Ace can count as low (effectively a 1) or high (effectively a 14) (ex A-2-3-4-5 or 10-J-Q-K-A) when determining consecutiveness for a straight or straight flush.Same suit means they are all ♣, ♠, ♥, or ♦. Color is irrelevant. Rule #4: If players have the same category of hand, the player with the highest unique participating card wins.
- In Texas Hold'em, the highest combination of five cards wins the pot.So, regardless of the fact that player 'A' had two pair or that player 'B' had higher cards, the best five cards are the straight of 2-3-4-5-6, and since the game includes five community cards available to every player still in the pot, both players will use all five cards on the board to make the same hand, a 6-high straight.
I told her it was easy to learn, and the first thing she needed to do was learn about poker hands and poker hand rankings.
And that gave me the subject for my latest blog post.
Can An Ace Be Used As A 1 In Texas Holdem Rules
The worst ace rag hand is Ace Six off suit, because it a can’t make a flush using three board cards, and b can’t make the wheel straight using three board cards. With two options for forming winners removed, A 6 off suit is the epitome of the naked ace – or an ace high.
Poker Hands Are Almost Always Made Up of Five Cards
In fact, I’m not sure of an exception to this rule. Poker isn’t one game, of course, it’s multiple games that have a couple of things in common:
- They have a betting structure where you can decide to continue to play or not
- They use five-card hands that usually win based on the standard poker hand rankings
The variations are nearly infinite. But one thing most variants have in common is that, no matter how many cards are used in the game, you win the pot if you have the best five-card hand at the end of the hand.
If you’re playing Seven-Card Stud, for example, you get seven cards, but you use the best five-card hand you can make to determine the winner.
If you’re playing Texas holdem, you have two cards in your hand and five face-up cards that you share with other players. You make the best five-card hand you can using any combination of those seven cards.
If you’re playing Omaha, you have four cards in your hand and five face-up cards that you share with the other players. But you still make the best five-card hand that you can, using two cards from your hand and three cards from the community cards.
Ranks and Suits
Poker is almost always played with a standard 52-card deck of playing cards. Each card has two attributes:
- A rank
- A suit
You have four suits—clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. In each of those suits, you have 13 ranks—2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace. The ace is unusual because it can be the highest OR the lowest card. It can rank above the king, but it can also count as a “1.”
Flushes, Straights, and Straight Flushes
The ranks and suits become important when you have a flush, a straight, or a straight flush.
A flush is just five cards of the same suit. They can all be clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades, it doesn’t matter. If you face an opponent who also has a flush, the player whose flush has the highest ranked card wins. An ace would be the highest card in any flush.
A straight is just five cards where the ranks are in succession. It doesn’t matter what suit the cards are, it only matters that the cards are made up of consecutive ranks.
For example, an A2345 is a straight, but so is a 10JQKA.
In the prior example, the ace counts as 1, but in the second, the ace counts as the highest card in the hand, above the king.
If multiple opponents have a straight, the one with the highest card in the straight wins. But if the ace is used as a 1 to make an ace to 5 straight, it counts as a low card for this purpose.
A straight flush is a hand where the cards are all consecutive, AND they’re all of the same suit.
Pairs, Trips, Quads, and Full Houses
All the other possible poker hands you can make have nothing to do with consecutive ranks or suited cards. They have to do with how many cards of a specific rank you have.
Texas Holdem Ace Rules
A pair, for example, is a hand where you have two cards of the same rank and three other cards. If you and your opponent both have a pair, the higher-ranked pair wins. A pair of aces beats a pair of kings, for example.
Two pair is a hand made up of two cards of one rank and two cards of another rank, plus a third card of still another rank. Three of a kind is a hand made up of three cards of the same rank and two other cards.
A full house is a three of a kind with a pair, three cards of one rank and two cards of another. And, of course, four of a kind is four cards of the same rank.
In all these examples, the highest-ranked card determines the winner.
The Standard List of Poker Hand Rankings
So far, I’ve discussed the various poker hands you can have in relation to the attributes of the cards. I haven’t given them a ranking. Almost all poker games use the same ranking system.
From best to worst, here are the poker hand rankings:
- Straight flush
- Four of a kind
- Full house
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a kind
- Two pair
- A pair
A straight flush always beats four of a kind or anything lower. A four of a kind always beats a full house or anything lower. And so on, through the end of the poker hand rankings list.
Ace High Straight
The first element of poker strategy any new poker player should master is the poker hand rankings. If you don’t know what beats what in poker, you can’t possibly make the correct decisions.
How These Hand Rankings Are Determined
The poker hand rankings are sorted this way based on the probability you’ll be dealt such a hand. The less likely it is to get a hand, the more it’s worth.
For example, the probability of getting a four of a kind is 72,192 to 1. The probability of getting a full house, on the other hand, is 4,165 to 1. That’s a dramatic difference.
Also, most poker hand ranking lists include a separate listing for a royal flush, which is just the highest possible straight flush you can have. The only thing that makes it different from any other straight flush is how high your highest card ranks, but we don’t break four aces into a separate listing.
So, I don’t break a royal flush out into its own listing either.
Starting Hand Rankings in Texas Holdem
I could write about poker hand rankings all day, but for now, let me just address starting hands in Texas holdem.
Your starting hand in a game of Texas holdem consists of the two cards you get face down at the beginning of the game. These are the two cards you get to look at before deciding whether to play the hand at all.
The best possible starting hand in Texas holdem is a pair of aces. Often, a pair of aces can win a hand even if it doesn’t improve with the other cards. The rankings continue from there like this:
- Pocket aces
- Pocket kings
- Pocket queens
- Ace king suited
- Pocket jacks
- Pocket 10s
- Ace queen suited
- Ace king (not suited)
- Ace jack suited
- King queen suited
This might seem like a hard chart to memorize, but think about it like this… These are the best possible starting hands in the game. You should raise with any of them unless you have reason to believe that someone else has a better starting hand.
For example, if you have a pair of queens, you should raise with it, unless a couple of stingy players in front of you have already bet and raised. Even then, it often makes sense to raise with the queens.
Also, these hands all fall into categories. First are the pairs. Any pair of 10s or higher is a premium starting hand, even though there’s a huge difference between pocket 10s and pocket aces.
Then, you have the suited aces. An ace and a king, an ace and a queen, or an ace and a jack are great hands if they’re of the same suit. You have the potential to make the best possible flush, the best possible straight flush, and the best possible straight.
And if you miss those, you still might catch another ace or pair one of the other big cards, in which case, you’ll have a big pair with the best possible kicker.
Ace king offsuit is prized mostly for its high pair potential, but also for its high straight potential. And king queen suited has lots of potential to make big flushes and straights.
Conclusion
Poker hands aren’t that hard to understand, but if you’re a beginner, it’s probably the first thing you should learn.
Of course, the second thing you should learn is your betting options at various points in the game.
Did you already know everything about poker hand rankings? Did I leave something out? Let me know in the comments.
Playing pocket Ace Five, Ace Four , Ace Three, and Ace Two Off Suit and Ace Five, Ace Four , Ace Three, and Ace Two Suited in Texas Hold'em Poker.
If you have been following this series, you will notice that most of the articles contain advice about only one hand. The reason I have combined all of these hands here is they are all played exactly the same way. These hands are similar because they can all make a straight and are very weak kicker wise. The great majority of the time it is correct to fold these hands, so if you have any question about whether or not it is correct to play in a particular situation, it is best to fold. The suited hands are stronger than the non-suited ones, but even they are weak because the flush will not come often enough to make them profitable in most situations. These hands require a large number of opponents to build the pot after the flop when you hit a hand. They do not play well in short handed pots; so avoid this situation at all costs. It is worth missing a few opportunities to play them when you aren't sure the situation is ideal.
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Can An Ace Be Used As A 1 In Texas Holdem Game
Early Position
Can An Ace Be Used As A 1 In Texas Holdem Card Game
In all but the very loosest and most passive games, all of these hands should be folded from early position. If there is any chance of a raise behind you, which there is in most games, these hands are not strong enough to enter the pot. Even in a game where five or more see every flop without a raise, it is incorrect to play the non-suited hands listed above. The suited ones are just barely playable in these games, but usually can be played because when you hit your flush the pot will tend to be very large, making up for the many times you don't win. Even in the games it is safe to enter with the suited hands, you must be disciplined enough to fold after the flop if it doesn't help you considerably. If you never play another one of these hands from early position you will most likely be a more profitable player.
Middle Position
Play these hands the same from middle position as from early position. If there has been a raise, the correct play is a fold.
Late Position
If there are already many players in the pot and it is unraised, you can play the suited hands from late position. Otherwise it is correct to fold them. I even fold the non-suited hands from late position in unraised pots over 95% of the time. They just aren't good enough to play.
Blind Play
If the pot is not raised, I always see the flop with these hands. When the pot is raised, I will call a single bet with the suited hands, if there are many opponents. In both situations, if the flop does not help me I will get away from them to any aggression. Even when the flop contains an Ace I will fold to aggression. It is very likely that I am out kicked.
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There is an old adage in the poker world that while stud is a game of live cards, hold’em is a game of high cards. There is a great deal of truth to that saying and it helps explain the love affair that exists between hold’em players and Ace-King – which is known throughout the poker world as “Big Slick” – and also what many call a suited AK; “Super Slick”.
Many poker players struggle to distinguish any difference between Ace-King and what David Sklansky refers to as “Group 1” hands such as AA, KK, QQ, JJ and AK suited. He relegates an unsuited AK to his “Group 2” list. While AK suited or not is clearly a nice starting hand it is overvalued by some. The good news is you can get a starting hand of AK a lot more ways than any of the other top starters as we’ll outline next.
Sixteen Ways for Ace-King
There are sixteen ways for the four Aces and four Kings to get together and make Big Slick, which means you will see it more often than Aces or Kings combined.
Texas Hold'em Ace
Is Ace-King almost as good as Aces or Kings? The answer is a resounding no. Let’s check out the stats. As you can see, Ace-King offsuit (Big Slick) is a huge underdog to a pair of Aces:
![Ace Ace](/uploads/1/3/5/8/135834073/840697199.jpg)
Ace-King suited (Super Slick) is better, but it still gets crushed:
And here’s the combined stats, showing unsurprisingly that a pair of Aces are a massive favourite against Ace-King:
Ace-King does do better when matched up against a pair of Kings:
When it’s Ace-King suited the equity gap closes to 34% vs. 66% compared with 30% vs. 70% for an unsuited Ace-King.
The fact that Ace-King is nowhere near as good as Aces or Kings shouldn’t come as a surprise, since both of the top pairs are made hands while in contrast, although big slick can win in a showdown unimproved, the majority of the time you will need improvement for it to prevail. It’s not all doom and gloom though.
The Beauty of Ace-King in Tournaments
Ace-King is a favourite tournament hand with which many players like to get all their chips into the middle, especially pre-flop. They feel that Aces and Kings are the only prohibitive favourites against it so it’s a hand with which it is worth gambling.
Even the lesser big pairs such as JJ and QQ are only slight favourites to AK:
The beauty of AK is that it dominates the typical hands that players tend to push all-in with late on in tournaments, namely AQ, AJ, etc.
Ace-King is Overvalued by Many Players
There is definitely a love affair out there for Ace-King. However, the strength of this hand is overvalued by many poker players – and they end up going broke. It’s fairly easy to play AK late in tournaments, where pre-flop aggression and all-in moves are commonplace. But the real difficulty with playing AK is in the early stages of a deep-stake no-limit tournament and in cash games. In such situations, it’s probably prudent to attempt to keep the pot small and treat your AK as a drawing hand and taking more of a wait and see strategy. Trapping others for bets makes for a big pot which ties opponents to it. The bigger the pot the harder it becomes for opponents to fold their holdings.
Advantages of Keeping the Pot Small
There are two main advantages to keeping the pot small in no-limit. First, you won’t be as tied to the hand when you flop a pair but it becomes obvious an opponent has flopped two pair or a set. Secondly, by playing more conservatively you will disguise your hand as most players tend to jam with AK. This second advantage will help you get action when you flop top pair and an opponent has a weaker kicker. Another player who may be holding AQ will become aggressive not believing you would not have raised holding AK pre-flop.
There is a whole legion of poker players out there that raise big with Big Slick from any position all the time and what they always do is what they think everyone else does. This behaviour can provide an opportunity to trap these conventional thinkers for extra bets.
…did you know that AK flops a flush draw 11% of the time?
The new book Optimizing Ace King has a complete chapter on playing draws (along with chapters on playing pairs, turn & river play, and even ideal lines when AK totally misses the board).
As a bonus for being a Pokerology reader, use code POKEROLOGY at checkout to save $5 when you pick up your copy.
The ‘Wait and See’ Strategy isn’t Slow Playing
You shouldn’t confuse this ‘wait and see’ strategy with slow playing Ace-King. You should certainly be raising to thin the field. It’s a vulnerable hand and it needs protecting, but this doesn’t mean you should go overboard.
It’s also very difficult to know where you stand with AK because even if you do hit an Ace or King on the flop, you might be thinking you have a good hand, but you can’t be too sure. This is why your position at the table has to be a key consideration when playing Big Slick. Having position on your opponents certainly make this hand easier to play, but still far from straightforward.
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The next time you are see a flop and you’re holding AK, take a moment to acknowledge what other hands might be lurking around the table.
Conclusion
While AK represents a favorite starting hand for many it is best to put its value into proper perspective. The elements that need to be evaluated to recognize its value is your position, the number of opponents you face, the betting and of course, the playing tendencies of your foes. I believe one should generally acknowledge AK to be a drawing hand when facing four or more opponents and play it like a powerhouse when up against a short field or heads up.
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By Tom 'TIME' Leonard
Texas Hold'em Ace Rules
Tom has been writing about poker since 1994 and has played across the USA for over 40 years, playing every game in almost every card room in Atlantic City, California and Las Vegas.
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