You look down and see an Ace in you holecards. For many players, the Ace is basically a green light to play the hand. It doesn't matter what it's paired with. It's an Ace!! On top of that, many of these "Ace loving" players refuse to throw their beloved high card away even after the flop has badly missed them and bets are coming from all directions. An Ace is a great card to see, but only when its mate is a worthy companion. Playing an Ace/low card can get you into trouble far more often than it will win you a big pot. In a recent 4TexasHoldem.com survey, we posed the question:

You are holding A9 suited against 2 players. The flop is AQ10 of different suits. Your first opponent bets and he is raised by the second. What do you do?

The first thing you want to do is not panic or get too excited. Sit back, relax, and take some time to think through the hand. Don't just push your money into the pot with the dreaded "I have an Ace" attitude. Ask yourself a few questions.

1. How did these players bet before the flop? Did they limp in? Did they raise the pot? If there was a raise, you could be facing players holding AA, QQ, 1010, AK, AQ, AJ, A10, or maybe KJ. Against any of these hands you would be in very bad shape. Of course the players could be holding a smaller pocket pair and just testing the water, but is your hand really good enough to stand up to the test?



2. How do these players typically play? Are they tight/aggressive players who play only good hands? Or, are they loose players who play any two cards and raise every pot? If they are tight players who raised preflop, there is a very good chance you are beaten and you should consider folding your hand. If they are loose players, your hand very well may be best and you could call to see how the hand progresses, or reraise to gather more information about the strength of your opponents hands. Just be careful not to get too involved in the hand making it very difficult to get away from it if more bets appear on the turn.

The survey results showed that most voters (47%) would just call the raise, followed by 30% reraising, 21% folding, and 2% unsure what they should do. From these responses, it�s clear that this is a difficult question with no easy answer.

If you don't have a good read on your opponents, you may want to get away from this one. There are many hands that can beat you and it could cost you a lot of money to find out that both players have better cards. I have used Phil Hellmuth's quote in the past, and I'll use it again. "Don't be afraid to fold the best hand."