How do you play A,3 A,4 unsuited pre flop?

[SBR_John]

Or for that matter A,7 and under, unsuited?

On a 5/10 table I try to call the 10 and call a raise up to maybe 30(over that I'd fold). But I noticed I'm losing consistently so I modified my strategy to call the 10 and fold to any raises.

Any suggestions?

[Monitor-Tan]

Depends how many ppl on the table chief

[leetreaper]

I thought u were joking...but i can see now that ur not so heres only 1 answer : fold pre lol...

[SBR_John]

Depends how many ppl on the table chief

Right, I meant to include that; 4 or 5.

[Ra77er]

Depends on what position you are playing these kinds of hands. If your playing late position with no limpers, they are good hands to raise and attempt a blind steal. If your trying to play them early then its either a fold or raise to maybe 25/30ish imo. Limping in early and getting reraised puts you in a bad spot as you are most likely behind to several hands. If you open with them early and catch any kind of resistance I'd proceed carefully and use your knowledge of who your playing against to make further decisions.

[Ra77er]

Ah okay didn't see until now your saying playing them shorthanded. I'd probably be pretty aggressive with them pre flop but it depends on your table composition. If your more of a passive style of player you will get taken to value town many many times here.

[FourLengthsClear]

Early position A3, A4 is a hand to fold. How often do you see players busting out with that sort of hand when another A comes on the flop?

[Le_Donk]

easy fold
use a starting hand chart

[Ra77er]

Shorthanded at a cash game it can be played. He's not playing in a tourney here or a full ring table. Position is still first thought process > then knowing makeup of your opponents ie lag, maniac, station etc. If your not comfortable playing these hands then the answer is simple, don't play them.

[BIGDAY]

Fold

[t-wizzle]

Small table. Call the 10 if in decent position.

[Glitch]

you should call the 10 and fold the raise unsuited especially. if youre 3rd to act or later you can even make it the 30 yourself but i would not make a habit of calling that frequently.

many times you will hit your ace and that will be a very bad thing. with a hand like that a lotta times you dont want to hit your card unless youre 2-3 handed. and as far as the possible wheel straight is concerned- its less likely than other straights because it needs exact specific cards no matter how close your 2 hole cards are together.

the raising yourself will help send a radar signal out to give you a good read as to how to play the resta the hand. there arent a lotta hands youre trying to push out necessarily.

(it is not unwise to fold for the 10 but on a loose table, you should play it more)

[senseionline]

should fold preflop unless it is suited

[Doc JS]

it's a hand that should usually be folded...because if you hit your ace, you have no way to know that you're not outkicked. You better be really good after the flop to not lose a butt load with a hand like A7o...just my 2 cents, but I suck at poker, so what do I know? LoL

[AlwaysDrawing]

5 handed I'd raise from any position besides the blinds, at a full ring, I'd fold in early position, raise in late position.

Don't limp with Ax, or you'll get yourself in trouble.

[mighty maron]

A3 or A4 is better than A7.

Safer play is to treat it like 44 or 33. You have to be deepstacked where if you hit your hand you will get paid at least 8 times the preflop investment. You are looking for a flop of two pair or better. (or flush draw if suited). The key is to know your opponents. If the opponent ships with just top pair I would play it deep stacked. Late position raise to pick the blinds five handed is also a try.

[NYSportsGuy210]

Or for that matter A,7 and under, unsuited?

On a 5/10 table I try to call the 10 and call a raise up to maybe 30(over that I'd fold). But I noticed I'm losing consistently so I modified my strategy to call the 10 and fold to any raises.

Any suggestions?

Depends on how any people are at the table and what position you are in. I would call the minimum raise but if re-raised I would fold. Your stance makes sense.

If no one raises you and your in position to pre-flop bet at a tight table you may want to raise to $30 or $35 and just take down the pot pre-flop. Do this at a tight table though.

[SBR_John]

Lot of very interesting answers and I didnt even get called a dumb azz for asking.

[NYSportsGuy210]

Lot of very interesting answers and I didnt even get called a dumb azz for asking.

Cause it was a good question. A lot of people go broke playing Ace with mid-pair or low pair unsuited. Very overrated hand.

[RudyRuetigger]

if you cant raise the hand, fold it.

no sense limping in any pot...oh yea except on sbr

[hels]

The easiest way for others to critique play is to post as many hand histories of this situation you can find.

Playing on a 5 player table Ax should be regularly played. If at anytime you can raised/re-raised you fold the **** out of it unless you flopped 3 pair with your kicker. Of course any statement is player dependent but Ax can be beaten quite easily.

For example, you have A4 -- flop AAT. You bet and are raised, you call. He continues betting on turn. Maybe he has an A or pocket Ts... your kicker is shit so at best if he has Ace you'll split the pot.

Anyways, post hand histories.

[20Four7]

I thought you were playing Omaha when I clicked on this. Was hoping it was a high/low game. Now that I know you are talking hold'em for the most part fold. I may call a raise on the button with it, if I thought I could outplay on flop ie. he wouldn't continuation bet without having something and would fold if I bet pot. Folded to me in late position I raise the blinds with it. A bunch of limpers and you have position I might call I might make a play at the pot. Again it all depends. You cannot go wrong folding this hand most times.

[GUMMO77]

In a short table like your playing on, you can raise pre flop if you are the opening raiser. I'd avoid ever calling out of position with A7. If you think the other guy has a worse hand when you are OFP, raise.

Also, on a bigger table, you should avoid playing multiple people with A6-A9, because you are usually dominated. A2-A5, getting in cheaply can be played because of hitting the straights, but of course you're going to be out-kicked and might be paying of someone off.

[Ra77er]

I saw a nice technique today in the morning tourney. Just ship the sob and pray.

[milwaukee mike]

way too many variables to give a short answer to this question.
every decision should be based on who you're playing against and how they would act in different situations. even at a 10-person table a junk hand like a3 can be raised with depending on the flow.

[hels]

A2-A5, getting in cheaply can be played because of hitting the straights, but of course you're going to be out-kicked and might be paying of someone off.

Never play these cards for a straight. That is a common fallacy. You need 3 perfect cards to make a straight and you'll waste shitloads calling for a gutter. The chances of A3 becoming a straight are the same as J7 becoming a straight. Well, actually even worse because with J7 you can make a straight with either/only the Jack or the Seven (34567, TJQKA) With A3 you can only make (34567) and being on the low end is not going to be profitable.

[hels]

way too many variables to give a short answer to this question.
every decision should be based on who you're playing against and how they would act in different situations. even at a 10-person table a junk hand like a3 can be raised with depending on the flow.

No. At a 10 player table you never think of going into a flop with this hand. Blind stealers at best.

[Sam Odom]

Fold or Raise 4x

[Ian]

You'll get better answers if you make your question less general, but Ax is good enough to steal with from late position. It's also not a bad hand to 3bet bluff with in steal situations because your opponent is less likely to have an A himself since you have one, thus making his hand range weighted more heavily to the worse hands he'd raise with.

That said, based on their preflop strength alone these aren't great hands. You can easily make top pair and lose with Ace rag. The better you play postflop, the more you can enter the pot with them in position because they're somewhat tricky to play and it takes some expertise to know when to value bet top pair/no kicker the whole way and when to be defensive and keep the pot small.

EDIT: Just my opinion...

[Pabinator]

Depends who your playing against but its a rare call

[sinmiedo]

this is my opinion only, anyA suited i will play as a call depending on possition looking to hit a good flush or straight posibility , however after the flop is an easy fold depending on the texture of the board.
Deep in a tournament is a fold unless u are defending,
I do never play them in a serius cash game, but here at SBR is a free for all, so these are land mine tables.
Again poker in my oppinion is a game that luck has a tremenud influence some times you must take chances if you ae heads up, any A is a good hand.

[sinmiedo]

Lot of very interesting answers and I didnt even get called a dumb azz for asking.

Also, I rather play any A 2 3 4 5 suited and A 10 j q k the rest of them 6 7 8 9 there are l
loosing hands in my view, i fold all of them unless i m defending or in possiton for a steal.

[OTL]

Ace-rag should be folded before the flop in early and middle position. It's a trap hand just like King-rag and Queen-rag. Top pair on the flop often does not make you the best hand when you call a raise with these cards. They're good enough to pick up the blinds in late position or to defend against a steal in late position, but proceed with caution.

[smitch124]

I'm not a huge fan of shorthanded cash games, I wouldn't be at the table to get the cards

[big0mar]

Don't play poker

Single-handed blackjack only

God bless