The Full Circle of Ace-Rag

Ace-rag. A hand despised by many and misplayed by most. Just the thought of a specific hand and how good or bad it is makes my skin crawl. As I have written about previously, it's not the cards you hold. It's all about situations, representations, and expectations. But, many of the players who I coach ask me how to play certain hands or if I ever play certain hands. The most common hand in question is ace-rag. It is an interesting hand in my opinion and has an odd evolution.

For beginning or newbie players, ace-rag is played to death. They just love any ace and usually see the flop if they have one. However, they misplay it horribly and usually get killed and go broke. They cry of bad beats when K-10 or 8-7 beats them and go right back to making the same mistakes with it. The problem is that they do not bet the hand correctly to find out information on opponents' hands. They also do not choose the right times to play the hand. They play it every time and do so either ultra-aggressively or way too passively. They are also making crucial calls with it. These are some of the mistakes that lead to disaster. But, it's not the fault of the hand; it's the player's fault.

In stage two of the evolution of ace-rag, the intermediate players hate it. These are the guys that think they are really good now and swear by math, position, and hand selections. The Sklansky Fundamentalists, I call them. A good start but certainly not the key to no-limit hold'em. Once players have been beaten down enough times with ace-rag, they finally have a (misguided) "moment of clarity." Now the mindset is, "I never play ace-rag, I don't play anything less than A-J/10 and it better be suited or in good position." They cry whenever someone calls with ace-rag and beats their J-J.

Yuck! This mindset is almost worse than overplaying the hell out of a hand like the beginners. Just as you should never have a plan to play a certain style in a tournament, you should also never predetermine what hands you will or will not play. Wrong thought process. Play situational poker, and if that means that 9 3 is a hand worth raising with, then do it. Stop thinking of what hand you hold and be aware of exactly what situation you are in.

For an advanced player, ace-rag becomes a completely playable hand again. Like the beginning player, the advanced player will play it with confidence. The difference is, the advanced player makes good decisions and plays the hand well.

To play it effectively, he takes into consideration all variables, just as he does with every hand he chooses to play, whether it be 5 3, pocket kings, or ace-rag. He looks at the situation. First, what is his own image and what do his opponents expect him to do? Then, how is the rhythm of his game going? Is it time he raised a pot? What has the action been in front of him and by whom? What is the expected action after him based on his knowledge of the players?
What are the chip counts? What value is there in playing the hand (both chip or cash value and image value)? So, strategically, ace-rag is a "good hand" as is any hand for which the answers to these questions make sense. Also, as I spoke about in my last article, remember the concept of likelihood. The truth is that if you have an ace and another hits the flop, it is unlikely (or mathematically in your favor) that anyone else is holding an ace. Therefore, even fundamentally, ace-rag is a "good hand."

Now, the point of this article was not to tell you that ace-rag is a monster hand or a trash hand, but rather to show you how thought processes and mind-set determine success in this game. The fact is that the same cards in the hands of different players mean different things. As with anything in life, your outlook on the situation makes the difference in how successful the result is. The more aware you are of your surroundings and the more accurate you are with your reads, the more able you will be to win with almost any hand in the correct situation. The fact remains that regardless of what two cards you are playing (even if it's ace-rag), it boils down to what you make them believe you are holding and what you know they do not have.

Stop playing your cards so much and play the players and the situations!

Todd Arnold is the trainer and co-creator of realpokertraining.com. Visit the site or e-mail Todd at twarnold@realpokertraining.com.