Now how do you play an ace-rag hand? It will be a very common mistake for inexperienced to get very confident with their hand because of the ace that they are holding. Most of the time this gets them into trouble.

One good rule for rag aces is to consider to fold them always since they will rarely win big for you. More often than not, you will end up losing money because you will be out kicked.

If you want to consider playing the ace and the low kicker, wait for a top pair on the flop. Watch out though for another opponent who raises before the flop because most likely they out kick your cards – and you’re on your way out of the casino broke.

Here are some tips on how you play rag aces:

1. You can only win small pots even if you get a top pair. There might be another player who has a worse kicker but most likely he will not put much chips into it unless he is true Donkaments.
2. It can be a profitable scenario but it is also a rare one that you make two pairs after the flop but you will be head on against someone who has a better kicker. The chances of being profitable are very slim.
3. You can bet it out if you are holding an ace-rag but there can be another player who has a better ace making you doubt your hand or there will be an opponent who has a lower kicker who eventually folds his stand. It is still a small pot for you in the end.

As you can see, what we highlight here is that rag aces do not win you big pots. It does not work miracles for you on the poker table. Even with a two pair, it can be a losing battle in the long run. Drill it in your head, an A6 that you hold will not be better when someone holds an AQ before you see the flop. Save yourself some chips and fold.

One should be patient and calculative from the beginning itself. In the game of Razz poker it is very easy to make out after the deal if your hand is a winner or not. When dealing two cards are dealt face downwards and one card is open to all the co players. If the open card is nine or a face card a player will probably fold while if the opened card is between an ace to five the game is worth playing.

Always observe the cards of other players. This will give you about the probability of winning.  Playing with tight poker tips is one thing, but you need to look at the table too! For example if your lowest is 8 and you see that all the other players have a card higher than 8 then you can take advantage of the situation and can increase your move accordingly. At times dead cards can be of great aid in determining the cards of opponent, if for example if your opponents show two aces and you have one ace with you then you can make out that there is very little probability of an ace in the upcoming turn.

There are various other tips which can ensure a hefty poker money fortune in Razz poker but the above are the most reliable.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Aah beautiful position

Eli Elezra pushes the turn in a strange play — Patrik Antonius close to HAVING to call, pushing the pot so high that Phil Ivey has no choice but to call either…

Cash game poker at its best.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m a huge fan of this champagne — and the only reason I am is because this Armand De Brignac bottle has the beautiful Ace of Spades on it!

GOTTA LOVE A POKER ADDICT!

How did I get lucky? Well, I was playing a 5/10 live game (No Limit Texas Hold’em), when the game started to die. My $1000 starting stack grew to about $7000, and we ended up 3-handed. Two guys both had about $3k, when I picked up KK UTG. I raised it, and saw a re-raise and another re-raise ahead of me. I kind of knew one of them had Aces, thought about it, but decided to push none the less. I can’t fold KK pre-flop in a cash game. I just can’t. To my surprise, both players called and when the cards were flipped over, I kind of got it. Both players had pocket Aces.

The flop came J4T, not looking good. The turn was way better, an off-suit Q, giving me a straight draw, giving me an extra two outs (now I didn’t want a King, I wanted a 9).

Well, you guessed it. I hit the nine on the river, scooping the $9k+ pot.

Sick beat, but hey, I can’t fold KK pre-flop in a cash game.

I’m investing part of that money into a try-out-buy-in for the EPT, and hope to do as good as Belgian semi-pro Jonathan Abdellatif, who cashed in his first EPT (this year’s Deauville). Fingers crossed!

The flop came:

752 rainbow.

Good flop for me and I decided to bet right out (€110) as I probably would most of the time with AA or KK in that spot. The first guy behind me folded and then I got raised to €250. I made the call and turned a seven to fill up. I checked to show weakness and the guy behind me quickly moved all-in for his last €600. I made the call and chuckled when he turned over two fives…

The guy obviously didn’t like it (and neither would I in that spot) but I dragged the pot and took an extra €80 on the side.

Awesome!

No biggie though, time to suck it in and get my game back together…

Will be back in a couple weeks!

If someone else has royals to share — send me!!!

The first one was a pretty easy 45-player sit ‘n go on Full Tilt Poker. Can’t believe how easy this was. I was a card-wreck. Picked up KK in the first hand, doubled up against a guy holding QJ (hit the Q on the flop) — picked up AA a couple hands later, took another big chunk of chips as I made a set of aces against his A9. Cruised on, never really got into trouble. Went heads-up with an 8-to-1 lead. Good stuff.

Second one was a 180-player SnG. Was carddead throughout the first 60 minutes, and actually only played like 3 hands in the first hour — but ended up doubling up twice with only 25 players to go. Got on the final table in 7th chip position, picked up 9T of hearts to make me a nut straight (against lower straight) — and got a lucky break when my KK beat AA. Once I won that hand, I pretty much sailed to victory.

Decided to take a break for a few days, kind of tired.