AA or KK against trips?

Question

Find it very hard to fold AA or KK after the flop unless there is a clear flush or straigh possibillity! I lose much of my money against trips in these situations. And often end up with all the chips in middle!

Any pointers on how to play better?

I usually raise them up pre-flop to clean out the trash.

Answer 1

Don't worry. I've been tracking my hands for a while, and higher pairs beat lower pairs 90% of the time. Also, you are just as likely to hit trips as they are. If you lose with AA, then it wasn't meant to be. Don't let past beats affect how you play.

Answer 2

Plan wether your going to commit with your AA or KK on the flop and play accordingly.

First calculate your stack to pot ratio.

Remaining stack/Pot = STP ratio.

For a tight opponent you would want a ratio of around 4

Average opponent 6

Loose opponent 10

If you get a ratio much higher than these guidelines you should go for pot control.

check and call to ensure you do not get more than a third of your stack in.

If your opponent trys to make you commit by betting a big amount fold to protect your stack.

With abit of maths you can cater your raise size to your STP ratio so you can plan on commiting to any decent board were you flop an overpair.

Answer 3

I think the issue is your perception.  People will flop trips with a pocket pair about one in 7.5 times.  So I find it really hard to believe that most times you get aces or kings, someone flops a set against you and hurts you.

I think you are just remembering the bad times.  Yes it sucks when this happens.  But you just have to remember that aces or kings are not an automatic ticket to big money.  As many poker players have said, aces will often win you a small pot or lose you a big one.  Try not to over play them.  And be more realistic about how often you are beaten with them.

Answer 4

First off, the answer to every poker question is depends. Because it truly does depend on, table stakes, quality of players, stack sizes, so on and so on.  but generally speaking

Here are my two cents:

AA - Dangerous hand, I often limp with them if there isnt much action preflop, if you want to try the limping in with them then make sure you are able to fold if the action gets hot and heavy afterwards.

Now if you've played your aces/kings straightforward and raised heavy before and you got action and then a guy is getting hot and heavy on the flop, thats even more reason for concern because he put you on a big hand and is still pumping the pot.  You have to consider your opponent.  Remember you can't change the way they think, you have the change the way you think.  So think like them, ask yourself, the way this guy plays would he put me on aces or kings right now? if so then why is he getting all crazy.  Look at the board, could he have played a two pair hand that hit (KQ, KJ) so on, could he have played a small pocket pair (usually if I raise I make it way too expensive for 22's - 77's to come in) once you have answered these questions you can make a decision.

After all is said and done AA and KK are only one pair..  The average winning hand in hold em is two pair.  So, by the time the turn and river come if you are holding just one pair, most of the time you have a loser.