Ace Low Texas Holdem

4/10/2022

Ace of Spades King of Spades Queen of Spades Jack of Spades 10 of Spades in a single suit. Also frequently referred to as 'Broadway'. Five consecutive cards of the same suit. Five sequential cards in the same suit. The highest type of Straight Flush is a Royal Flush, and the lowest is an A-2-3-4-5 hand (if Aces are low or high/low). In Texas Hold'em an Ace can be high or low. So a low example is the straight you talked about also known as a wheel. It can also be high TJQKA. And as others have said it cannot wrap like QKA23. In the case of a flush that has an ace in it, that is always the highest possible flush.

The definition of holding a 'rag ace' or an 'ace-rag' is being dealt an ace with another card lower than a ten. So the following hands can be regarded as 'rag aces': A9 A8 A7 A6 A5 A4 A3 A2.

It could be argued the range, in which the term rag ace incorporates, is smaller or greater than the one shown. For example some would say that a rag ace ranges from A2 to A6, but in my opinion the best way to determine an ace rag is in the range A2 to A9.

In a nutshell, a rag ace is an ace with a low kicker.

How to play aces with low kickers.

So that's enough of the background information, now how should they be played? It is typical for a beginner player to overestimate the strength of their hand just because they hold an ace, and this can lead them into trouble. This answer to the question on how to play aces with low kickers is as follows...

More often than not you should be folding rag aces. This may come as no surprise to any intermediate and experienced players as they have read this article or other articles like this, and learnt from mistakes they have made at the table.

You should always look to fold rag aces, as they will rarely win big pots and are likely to lose you a fair amount of money if you are out-kicked.

If you play rag aces, you are primarily looking for one thing to happen: making top pair with your kicker on the flop. This is because this gives you the best opportunity of having the best hand and to make money. If you pair your ace and get action from another player it is likely that they have your ace out-kicked, especially if they raised before the flop.

There may be a slight chance that your opponent is playing a rag ace worse than yours, but you can never be sure of this and it is never ideal to be putting money into a pot when you do not know where you stand.

Tips for playing rag aces.

1] If you pair your ace and bet out, your opponent will only be calling/raising with the better ace leaving you unsure of where you stand, or they will fold an obvious worse hand – winning a small pot. Furthermore if you were to hold A5 on a board of AJ8, any action you would get would either result in you losing the pot or calling to win half. In the best-case scenario of your opponent holding an ace-rag, it is likely to be a split pot by the river.

2] If you make top pair with your kicker you have a better chance of making more money from another player that has hit top pair with a worse kicker. However this situation is unlikely and again with one pair you can only hope to be winning a small pot.

3] You make two pair on the flop against someone with an ace but with a better kicker. This will usually be a profitable situation for you. However it is not common and it would be a losing play attempting to make two-pair with a rag ace against an opponent with a better kicker. It simply won't happen enough to make the call profitable.

Rag aces do not win big pots.

As highlighted in bold, the key idea to remember with rag aces is that they are not designed to win big pots, and if you happen to make that two pair, it is actually going to be a losing play in the long run. Just think about it. If a player raises you with his AQ and you call with you A6 to see a flop, who do you think will be coming out on top the majority of the time? Hopefully this has drilled into you that you should get away from rag aces as often as you can – save yourself some money at the table.

When can you play rag aces?

In spite of what has been mentioned above, there are certain situations that warrant playing ace-rag in the hole (remember that no answers in poker are that straight forward). When playing short-handed poker you can loosen up your starting hand requirements. When there are 5 people or less at the table it is acceptable to play any ace with good table position.

Rag aces can be played more profitably at short-handed tables, but you still have to be careful. Rag aces are generally best avoided if you are still developing a solid, winning strategy.

The likelihood that your opponents will be holding any aces has diminished significantly enough to change rag aces from losers to winners. The rule that you may only win small pots still applies, but the size of these pots will be slightly increased short-handed, as players will have a tendency to call bets with middle pairs.

Furthermore, an ace also acts as a plan B for clearing up uncontested pots with the high card. But be sure to let paired aces go if you come up against too much action after the flop.

Blind play with rag aces.

In addition rag aces are better suited for blind play (play within the blinds and button) for the reasons mentioned above, as once again there will only be a small number of players left in the hand. It is likely that you have the best hand so the optimum play is to raise with any ace if it is folded around to you on the cut-off or on the button.

If your opponent does call than you can evaluate how to play the flop with greater accuracy as you have position on your opponent. When in the small blind you should once again raise and hope to take the big blind. If your opponent does call then a continuation bet on the flop is likely to take the pot down. When on the big blind with an ace rag you should raise if you feel you can take the pot otherwise it is best to check, as you will be out of position for the hand.

When you do play rag aces, you should keep in mind two key words: Isolate and Determine.

You should realize that rag aces are not the kind of hand that you want to be playing in a multi-way pot. Therefore you will want to isolate any possible opponents by raising to keep the action heads-up if possible. If you do get the call off one opponent, you will then need to determine the strength of your opponent's hand and if they does indeed hold the better ace than you.

There are no tips or rules to know whether or not he does; you simply have to have a good understanding of your opponent and the way they play.

Rag aces evaluation.

If you are unsure of how to play rag aces, then you should fold them. If you are relatively new to poker then rag aces are either going to win you small pots or lose you big ones. This type of hand is simply not designed to win big pots and that does not help with the main aim of poker - making money.

This risk you are taking to win a small pot is outweighed by the risk you are taking of losing a big one. There are some situations in which you can profitably play ace-rags, but the profitability margin is not great enough to concern yourself with these sorts of plays, especially if you are unsure of what you are doing.

Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.

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Royal Flush

Ace high Straight Flush.

Ace of Spades King of Spades Queen of Spades Jack of Spades 10 of Spades in a single suit. Also frequently referred to as 'Broadway'.

Straight Flush

Five consecutive cards of the same suit.

Five sequential cards in the same suit. The highest type of Straight Flush is a Royal Flush, and the lowest is an A-2-3-4-5 hand (if Aces are low or high/low). This type of hand is referred to as a 'Steel Wheel'. Other Straight Flushes with special names include:

King of Clubs Queen of Clubs Jack of Clubs 10 of Clubs 9 of Clubs - Off Broadway (because it's shifted down one rank from a Royal Flush, or 'Broadway').

Four of a Kind

One of each suit in a single rank.

Also known as Quads. Many of the Four of a Kind hands have their own nicknames:

King of Clubs King of Diamonds King of Hearts King of Spades - Four Horsemen (of the Apocalypse)
Queen of Clubs Queen of Diamonds Queen of Hearts Queen of Spades - Village People (four Queens)
10 of Clubs 10 of Diamonds 10 of Hearts 10 of Spades - Larry, after Larry Fortensky (four-ten-sky), Elizabeth Taylor's eighth husband
4 of Clubs 4 of Diamonds 4 of Hearts 4 of Spades - Yacht Club (because the 4 resembles a sail)
3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds 3 of Hearts 3 of Spades - Forest (four 'trees')
2 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds 2 of Hearts 2 of Spades - Mighty Ducks (because the 2 resembles a duck)

Full House

Three of a Kind and One Pair.

A Full House is called as 'X over Y' where X is the Three of a Kind and Y is the Pair (e.g., in a A-A-A-Q-Q hand, you would call it as 'Full House, Aces over Queens').

A Full House is sometimes called a boat or a full boat. When called a Boat/Full Boat, the hand is announced as 'X full of Y' (e.g., the same A-A-A-Q-Q hand would be called a 'Full Boat, Aces full of Queens'). Some Full House hands have special nicknames:

Ace of Clubs Ace of Diamonds 2 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds 2 of Hearts - Marksman (bows and arrows)
7 of Clubs 7 of Diamonds 7 of Clubs 4 of Diamonds 4 of Hearts - Sailing rednecks
3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds 3 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds 2 of Hearts - Nits and Lice, Mites and Lice

Flush

Five cards of the same suit.

Any five cards, all of which are in the same suit. A Flush all in hearts is referred to as 'Valentine's' while a flush all in clubs is known as a 'Golf Bag'.

Straight

Five consecutive cards.

Five cards in sequential order (but not all in the same suit, or it would be a Straight Flush). Also known as a Run (in many melding/counting games, such as gin and its variants, cribbage, and canasta, a Straight is referred to as a Run, and the name has carried over into poker).

6 of Clubs 5 of Diamonds 4 of Hearts 3 of Spades 2 of Clubs - Rabbit (the lowest Straight Flush if Aces are high)
5 of Clubs 4 of Diamonds 3 of Hearts 2 of Spades Ace of Clubs - Wheel, Bicycle, Bike, Spike, First Street, Little Wheel (the lowest run if Aces are low or high/low)

Three of a Kind

Three cards of the same rank. Also known as Trips, a Set, or Triplets. Three-card combinations that have special names include:

Ace of Clubs Ace of Diamonds Ace of Hearts - Beatles reunion
King of Clubs King of Diamonds King of Hearts - Three Wise Men, Christmas Special (both references to 'Three Kings'), Alabama Night Riders, Ku Klux Klan (KKK is an abbreviation for the Ku Klux Klan, and 'Alabama Night Riders' is a colloquial term used to refer to this group, which has a history of carrying out their acts at night in rural ateas)
Queen of Clubs Queen of Diamonds Queen of Hearts - Six Tits
Jack of Clubs Jack of Diamonds Jack of Hearts - Hart, Schaffner, and Marx (Three Jacks)
10 of Clubs 10 of Diamonds 10 of Hearts - Dallas to Fort Worth (the I-10 connects these two Texas Cities), San Jose to Gilroy, Gilroy, Thirty Miles of bad road (the distance between San Jose and Gilroy, California, used to be 30 miles, although the two cities are now adjoining)
7 of Clubs 7 of Diamonds 7 of Hearts - 21, Slot Machine, Jackpot (all named after results in other casino games like Blackjack and Slots)
6 of Clubs 6 of Diamonds 6 of Hearts - The Devil, The Beast, Lucifer, Devil's Area Code
5 of Clubs 5 of Diamonds 5 of Hearts - Washington Monument, Pork Chop Sandwiches
4 of Clubs 4 of Diamonds 4 of Hearts - Grand Jury
2 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds 2 of Hearts - Huey, Dewey, and Louie (three ducks)

Two Pairs

Two pairs, each with two cards of the same rank. Notable named two pair combinations include:

Ace of Clubs Ace of Diamonds 8 of Clubs 8 of Diamonds - Dead Man's Hand (Arrows and Nooses)
King of Clubs King of Diamonds Queen of Clubs Queen of Diamonds - Mommas and Poppas
King of Clubs King of Diamonds 9 of Clubs 9 of Diamonds - Pair of Dogs (because it's K9K9-- two canines)
Queen of Clubs Queen of Diamonds 3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds - San Francisco Waiters (Queens with Trays/Treys)
Jack of Clubs Jack of Diamonds 5 of Clubs 5 of Diamonds - Jackson Five (Jacks and Fives), Motown, Rock and Roll
Jack of Clubs Jack of Diamonds 3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds - Hookers with Crabs (because the Jacks hook and the 3 is like a sideways crab)
9 of Clubs 9 of Diamonds 8 of Clubs 8 of Diamonds - Oldsmobile
9 of Clubs 9 of Diamonds 6 of Clubs 6 of Diamonds - Dinner for Four
3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds 2 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds - Socks and Shoes, Mites and Lice, Mits and Mites, Nits and Lice

One Pair

Two cards of the same rank. The poker hand that contains a single pair that is the most worth noting is the Princess Leia (an A-A-2-3), so called because the room in which Leia was imprisoned in Star Wars was room A-A-2-3. The best known names given to (pocket) pairs include:

Ace of Clubs Ace of Diamonds - Pocket Rockets, Bullets, American Airlines
King of Clubs King of Diamonds - Cowboys, King Kong
Queen of Clubs Queen of Diamonds - Bitches, Double date, Canadian Aces, Siegfried and Roy
Jack of Clubs Jack of Diamonds - Fish Hooks
9 of Clubs 9 of Diamonds - German Virgin (no, we don't know why.)
8 of Clubs 8 of Diamonds - Snowmen
7 of Clubs 7 of Diamonds - Sunset Strip, Hockey Sticks
6 of Clubs 6 of Diamonds - Route 66
5 of Clubs 5 of Diamonds - Speed limit
4 of Clubs 4 of Diamonds - Magnum, Sail Boat
3 of Clubs 3 of Diamonds - Crabs
2 of Clubs 2 of Diamonds - Ducks

Ace High Low Texas Holdem

High Card

While the high card is the lowest possible hand in poker (every poker hand automatically has a 'high card' in it-- the card with the greatest value), it comes into play in some poker variants more than others. Poker rookies often underestimate the value of the high card.