Could you lay down aces pre flop in Texas Hold'em Poker?

Question

I saw this post on the PokerGob.com forum and found it interesting and also some of it a bit absurd...please read:

http://www.pokergob.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46

Answer 1

bad idea.  pocket aces doesnt gaurantee a win by an ymeans

Answer 2

Any tournament where you are close to the bubble and calling would put you all-in is a bad situation to be in... pocket aces only win about 33% of the time - why would you want to risk being knocked out before the money on a 33% shot?

In a cash game, the more people in a hand, the worse you'll be... if you're in a very loose game and there are 4+ people in with a capped pot, then you've seriously got to consider folding.

Answer 3

It is certain that they are the best STARTING hand.

What is uncertain is if they will be the WINNING hand.

I might lay them down.  It depends on how many callers and if it puts me all in.

Answer 4

Never lay it down in a cash game. There's absolutely no situation where you're not getting proper odds to call, ever. I can guarantee you anyone who tells you to fold it is not a positive player (i.e., they lose money, they don't make it).

Tournaments are a different story. If you're at the final table, and close to the money, there are situations where you should fold.  Say there are two players all in in front of you, and both can cover you. If you're only one or two players away from getting into the cash, you should seriously consider folding. Tournaments are about surviving, not taking unnecessary risks, even if you're a favorite.

Answer 5

If there were 3 or more callers before me, I might lay it down.  The odds of pocket As getting cracked against that many people is pretty high.  You have to figure that they all have pairs or big suited connectors, AKs or maybe AQs.

Say there were 4 callers for the all-in bet.  You have AhAc, you have to figure at least one other person has AK, and figure that they're suited, say spades, so one of your aces is gone.  One person has JdJc, one other has KcKd and one donk calls with KQ of hearts.  Look at the boards that would beat you.

Anything with a K or J and no A.

Any board with 3 hearts.

Any board with 3 spades.

Q-J-10

A-J-10

J-10-9

Any board with 4 of a suit you don't have.

If all 4 had a pocket pair, that would give 8 cards that would beat you and 2 that would win for you.

That's a lot of possible hands that would beat AA.

BTW, most of the time I play at a cash table, I double or triple my buy-in in 3-4 hours or less, so I know what I'm doing.

Answer 6

bad idea

Answer 7

LOL at the responses on that forum.  If you are playing a cash game or a normal tournament, never ever ever ever fold aces preflop, unless by some chance you hate money.  

There is one very specific exception to this.  If you are playing a satellite, and it's close to the bubble, and you have enough chips that you can just fold your way to a seat, then you shouldn't take a big risk with aces because you have nothing to gain by doing so.  Otherwise, call allins with Aces every time!

Edit:  People are still saying "lay it down if there's a lot of callers."  Here's why that is wrong:  Against 8 random hands, Aces still win 1/3 of the time.  Suppose I offered you a chance to roll a die.  You pay $10 up front.  If it comes up 5 or 6, I give you $90.  Otherwise, you're just out the $10.  Obviously you're winning less than half the time... but who would be making money in the long run?

Answer 8

Dave and Matt is right. Its only correct to fold AA pre in very specific tournament situations.

In cashgames I can maybee see one situation where its correct to fold AA.

If you are in a homegame with some really bad players and you are on a short bankroll.

If you loose the money you have on the table you have to leave the game, and you are sure that you will win all money if you play for some hours.

In that situation it might be wrong to risk your whole stack early even if your odds are extremely good.